I've been dealing with a dynamic and drawn-out divorce for about two years. Although I was overwhelmed by a number of emotional, professional, and financial stressors, I can always count on Mike Fischer and his paralegal Shari. Divorce sucks; there's no way around it. I feel I made the right decision in choosing Mike and his office to represent me. Things didn't always go to my liking, but again, divorce isn't exactly a trip to Disneyland. Mike refused to sugarcoat or BS when it came to getting the job done, but was also empathetic to my plight and cut me way more slack than I deserved. We just went over our 2 year "anniversary" with more work to do, and, now things are finally swinging in my favor, I have Mike and Shari to thank for their hard work. read more

DO NOT HIRE! Fischer is crooked. He's saying that the party still owes him thousands of dollars. He won't give an itemized receipt or even state what the bills is for. He took thousands of dollars from the bank account, only to still say more money is owed after never sending a request to go to court to pay for his services. CROOKED!!! Look elsewhere, don't waste your time or money. Don't make the same mistake. read more

2 yrs with this firm, lots of money & stress, save yourself the headache and look elsewhere. All the good reviews are more than 2 years old because they have been cleaned up. I was just dropped 2 months before trial, after being asked to clean out my accounts knowing they were not going to take me to trial. Mike Fischer is crooked as they come, he promised to take my case if I would leave a bad review for his brother Thomas Fischer. They have doctored my financial information, sat on useful information pertaining to my case, withheld information from me....Anyways....the state bar is getting involved from here. read more

Helpful and considerate. Although Mr.VanThiel wasn't able to take my case he was thoughtful enough to return my call and give us some much needed direction. We had lost hope and he gave us a reason to feel hopeful. THANK YOU!! read more

While I think that Mr. Fischer a nice guy, my decision to hire him led to recommendations he made that ultimately undermined the case causing delays and expenses. As an example, when I hired Mr. Fischer, my case required monitored visits with my children. Mr. Fischer strongly recommended a specific supervisor so I hired her. After months of building a case with great reports from the monitor Mr. Fischer recommended, the judge surprisingly refused to read the monitor reports and exposed that the monitor was a Client of Fischer and Van Thiel........in the same courtroom. The judge expressed it being a huge conflict of interests and the monitor reports were thrown out. After months of time and thousands of dollars on the visitation monitor, it was back to the beginning. The worst part was that I had NO IDEA. It was not disclosed to me when Mr. Fischer recommended her. An oversight that you would not expect from a legal professional. As a parent, I was deeply disappointed at the Judge's. As a professional, I completely understand why the reports were not read by the Judge. Additionally, I was deeply disappointed that Mr. Fischer did not use professional legal sense to think that utilizing HIS CLIENT as a professional on another case may be considered a conflict of interests in court. When Mr. Fischer and I parted ways. I was very unhappy with the situation and the lack of progress and I did not think I should shoulder the remaining bill. A small amount compared to what I had already paid him. He would not agree to any adjustment. Additionally, I found out that there was 18% interest charged on the outstanding bill. (something that is hidden in the contract at 1.5% monthly in the contract that you sign.) His is a much better debt collector than he is an attorney so I am paying him the full amount including the full interest. It is a small thing compared to his inability in court but something worth mentioning. Do your due diligence and ask other people in the industry for recommendations. read more

Run away!!! They made me loose legal custody of my older son by not representing me and not even showing the evidence to the judge, they inflated the fees from $2500 to $14,000, they held my money in a trust account which was money rewarded for my previous attorney fees, they filed the wrong paperwork which my ex used against me in court, they breached the contract by refusing to represent me in the ongoing custody battle which i hired them for, they open the door for adverse ruling and I had to represent myself, and now they sued me and lied that they served me and I refused service the sue me and lied that I refuse service but they never even personally served me and then they obtained a judgement against me before we even had the hearing. Be aware that he knows how to manipulate the system, he knows how expensive it is to fight attorneys, so he is taking advantage of the system. Run away instead of dealing with his firm, there are so many good family attorneys out there who actually care about their clients and are not all about money and taking advantage of people going through such tough times as a divorce or a custody battle. Lawyers like him should not practice!!!! no wonder the system is broken and innocent children suffer because of bad lawyers like this guy! read more

I spent so much money and the lawyer said 2 sentences in court and didn't even fight for me or what I wanted. Horrible, I do not recommend at all!! They will no fight for you they just let things go and change you for every little thing. Then you pay your bill and all of a sudden a day after paying your balance in full, you owe more money. Save yourself and DO NOT go here. Find a better attorney who will advocate for you and speak up in court. read more

** DO NOT HIRE THOMAS FISCHER** Thomas Fischer is an abrasive, slow action, non-listening, weak attorney. I was able to tolerate his unfriendly interaction, but it was not possible to accept his timid approach in dealing with a high conflict divorce, riddled with restraining orders, domestic violence, and an alcoholic/narcotic prescription abusing ex-spouse who also suffers from narcissistic personality disorder. Thomas Fischer greatly under estimated and downplayed the severity of the situation and the constant threats presented by the divorce. I spent about 20k for thomas Fischer to do very little more than ignore me, and to file some paperwork. ***Again, DO NOT HIRE THOMAS FISCHER*** read more

Mr. Fischer was amazing when it came to my situation involving parental rights and custody. I was in a very stressed place with little to no direction on what to do when I first called, but his knowledge and guidance really helped. read more

Not only did Elizabeth Van Thiel @ Fisher Van Thiel overbill me for items that she performed, charged me for non- performed services. She showed up for my meeting in a Mickey Mouse tee shirt, totally unprofessional. Van Thiel charged me for services and researching basic issues that my new attorney said she should have already learned in law school? She wasted so much time saying how fantastic she was on rattled on about her other cases. What a sleaze ball operation disguised as lawyers. Run away from this firm. read more

WOW --An Assistant?? Partner?? CRAIG--Was Flippant--Demeaning--Dismissive--When a Person Seeks an Attorney--They Care About an Issue--Your Arrogant Persona is WRONG--They are Plenty of Ways To tell a Potential Client they don't have a Case!! Sloppy in Appearance--Your "I DONT CARE" Attitude Seeps Thru. However--I wont give up--GOOD LUCK MICHAEL!! read more

The law firm of Fischer & Van Thiel (particularly my attorney Craig Van Thiel) have done nothing but go above and beyond for my daughter and myself. Things were rough over two years ago when I had to take primary custody of my daughter away from her Mother because of poor lifestyle and personal choices she had made. From the beginning Craig and Linda (his paralegal) were on top everything and in the end, my daughter ended up coming to live with me. However, even to this day, my daughters Mother has difficulty accepting this and on several occasions has attempted very questionable tactics but Craig was right there to bring it to the courts attention. I would highly recommend this firm for any family law issues particularly if you are single Father as I was at the time. read more

I have to say, Mike came recommended to me for a post-nup agreement I was looking to construct for my wife and I. Mike was terrific in his recommendation and consultation. I chose to not move forward with the agreement based on the knowledge I came away with from the call we had, but the information was invaluable. Having said all that, we spent considerable time on the call and Mike chose not to charge me anything. Thank you Mike!I read more

When you need a lawyer most likely you're in trouble! We had to hire an attorney because of the incident we had so we called this company in our worst time of needing help. Thomas Fisher was the attorney who was trying to help us during our fight which we found ourselves more miserable in that case with this gentleman so we ended up changing our attorney right away. He was so careless and took another case without letting us know on the same date we had our court date and he had to run from one division to another and leaving us there with no help. Plus his fees are ridiculously high. I would not recommend this guy at all if you need a lawyer make sure you don't call this company which you will be more in trouble. read more

I have had Michael Fischer as my lawyer for 5 years due to the fact my ex takes me to court once a year and I wouldn't use anyone else. Each time i've gone into court Micheal has has been at the top of his game and i have always received more than I expected. Michael has always been very thorough and has helped me through some pretty rough times. He always made me feel like he cared about my case and always fought for everything that I wanted. Micheal made sure I was prepared for court or mediation and calmed my nerves before court with his ability to make you feel relaxed. I promptly received phone calls back if he was in court or with another client. He was always very professional and knowledgeable. I even have recommended his law firm to my brother, who now uses Micheal as well. read more

Very disappointed with this firm, I was basically walked out with the words that I will never forget "Come back when you can afford a lawyer." I was judged by my income, if I didn't have the money I wouldn't be wasting my time looking for a lawyer, right? Never again. A second consultation was schedule but the person whom I spoke with again just kept asking about the money. Now I feel harassed by this company with the messages and comments they keep posting. read more

I just finished an initial consultation with Mr. Thomas Fischer and had an excellent experience. I am going through divorce mediation with a different attorney and just wanted another opinion on my case. Mr. Fischer spent well over the 30 minutes scheduled for my appointment to answer all my questions and pointing out things to consider with my case. When the consultation was over I got my wallet out expecting to pay for the extra time but Mr. Fischer refused. Even if he had charged me it would have been worth every penny for the information I was provided. The office staff was extremely friendly also. If my mediation doesn't work out or I need other legal assistance, I'll definitely be back. Thank you Mr. Thomas Fischer! read more

Mike Fischer recently helped me through a divorce and could not have been more reasonably priced and I feel that I received a fair settlement. His office staff is great as well. Arlene was a great help to me. I would refer him to anyone in need of a great attorney. read more

I would not recommend this attorney. Getting divorced is emotional and confusing. What I needed was a lawyer who not only understood the law but who could also explain the process clearly and concisely. This firm had no credit card, no wifi for important paperwork and struggled with the financial calculations for spousal and child support. This should be basic and clear as part of the process. I started with them and switched to another lawyer who was more organized, thorough and well spoken. Glad I did! Best decision for me! read more

I used this firm back in 2010 & they were great. Which is why I decided to go back to them this time around for my youngest son. Unfortunately, I was disappointed in the service I received. Emails back & forth with Dennis, the paralegal, proof reading, sign here, sign there, all was ok. I was under the impression they would contact me and let me know when I had to be at court. I was at work one morning & I received a call from Dennis asking if I was on my way to court because Michael Fischer was there and did not see me. I was never informed of my court date. I had to literally run out of work to get to court. Very upset to say the least. Luckily for me, the other party did not show up to court. That alone did not sit well with me. Once there, Micheal was there waiting for me in the hallway but didn't really address the matter at hand... The following week I emailed Dennis requesting some copies of paperwork I was missing. No reply. After I called the office, he emailed me stating he'd get me those copies. One month later, still hadn't received the copies. I ended up getting the copies myself from the courthouse. I had a credit on my account, monies I had left over from the retainer, well, I had to go into the office to ask about it. 2months from the court date and no refund. No notice as to when those would be refunded. In the office when I inquired about then, they said we'll mail it out....no thanks. Pretty sure my case was done and over with at this point, they issued me a check. So....I don't think I'll be using them again... read more

DO NOT USE THIS FIRM: LAZY, INCOMPETENT IDIOTS. The biggest family law case of the decade, Elkins, and they are not familiar with it. They take your retainer and then as soon as the check clears they are AWOL. I couldn't even get them to write a declaration for me. And horrendous in the courtroom---need to take a public speaking class. They are responsible for having my family taken from me. They are not only incompetent, I would say what they are doing is bordering on criminal. read more

Craig Van Thiel is an attorney with real heart. He has never let me down, he even showed up to an Emergency hearing directly upon returning from vacation, after only a days notice! The attorney and staff are concerned about me, as a client, AND the welfare of my children. The staff is responsive, and the paralegals are excellent. Divorce hasn't been easy, but I feel like I'm in the best hands with Fisher & Van Theil law firm. read more

Never never never, did I mention NEVER, hire this firm. I made the biggest mistake of my life being scammed into believing Mr. Fischer would be able to help me in a small spousal support issue. Mr. Fischer lied to me and stole over $13,000 from me. Mr. Fischer is a very bad attorney and will not provide anywhere near the service he promises during your free initial consolation. Don't ever hire this firm, please hire anyone else it will be in your best interest. He's a fraud and will only steal as much money from you as possible like he did to me.. The only really good thing Mr. Fischer is good at is BILLING YOU! On the first of every month like clockwork even if the first fell on Christmas Day!! Not to mention the Interest he charges you on a bill based on over billing that he did all the time. Worst Lawyer ever!!! Never never never hire Mr. Fischer ever.. You will get very poor representation and you will lose in court guaranteed 100%. And he will steal you blind.. Please I'm not a bitter ex- client, but what I am is someone who will always pay for great service when provided but when it came to Mr. Fischer that's not what I received. It was all lies from the beginning and the lies never stopped until Mr.Fischer realized he couldn't get any more money out of me, and decided to excuse himself as being my attorney. Never hire this liar and cheat, he'll just take your money and run.. You've been warned!! read more

My Custody case involved my Ex-wife who had a 10+ year history with both the Child Protection Services and the Family Court Services. Thanks to Fischer & Van Thiel's professional representation, I have a greater custody share with my children. It is absurd that an Individual can say Mr. Fischer ruins children's lives when in fact, it is the Family Court Service's "Counselors" who recommend custodial percentages, with Judges occasionally modifying those orders... NOT the Attorneys. I had a very good experience with Fischer & Van Thiel. Mr. Fischer is an outstanding, competent, reliable Attorney! read more

Fischer and Van Thiel in my opinion are the most professional attorneys I have ever dealt with. My divorce was tough enough without the proper representation but they made it as painless as possible. I feel like this company actually cared about my concerns and fought hard to get me through this rough patch. I don't plan on getting another divorce but if I do you bet I'll be back here. read more

If you're going to hire an attorney, don't waste your time with this firm. It started out well, then all I got was a round around from Craig. Everything was a process, nothing actually got resolved so after wasting and going in the hole $4000+ I decided to fire them and start searching for a new attorney who could get what I needed to get done. My divorce has been going on for well over a year and should not have been this complicated. If you have money to waste he is the attorney for you. All he does is make everything a longer process than needs to be and bills you. I would not recommend him to anyone. read more

My experiences with Fischer & Van Theil are completely different than those of the other posts (maybe perhaps because I won my case and they both seemed to have lost theirs)... I was ready to give up more to my ex-wife (custody and child support)...but after my consultation with Craig Van Thiel, it was determined that I had miscalculated the support payments and had more parental rights than I thought. He was also able to reduce the number of years I would need to pay alimony by nearly 5 years (saving me thousands of dollars!!) I thought that I knew the law and my rights...but in the end I really needed some good advice and representation which worked tremendously in my favor. I'm sure that I'll end up in court again at some time in the future (I'm almost positive that my ex will try to find a more sympathetic judge this time around). Family court is incredibly unpredictable so I'm very happy that I competent counsel to help me.. read more

I had used Elizabeth for my divorce case and everything seemed to have gone well. When my husband and I decided it would be best for my two older daughters to be adopted by my husband I called this firm again and hired Elizabeth. Throughout the whole process it was a hardship. Elizabeth had quoted that this would be $3,000 or $5,000 if my daughters biological father contested. When we went to trial she was so unprepared and came to trial dressed so unprofessional. We could hardly ever get a hold of her she hardly put any effort into our case and did horrible in trial. Even other attorneys noticed. She doesn't seem to really have much knowledge in this area so I am very surprised at a review I read here that had mentioned she did. We ended up paying a total of 12,000 dollars for the whole thing. Attorneys that have more knowledge and are so much better had mentioned how they were even sick to their stomach when they heard of this. I would always get my bills on time or emails when I wouldn't pay them so I could actually reach her. She completely took advantage of my family and I for the little effort she made on our case and how she performed. What she charged us was honestly a rip off and the firm truly does not seem to have their clients best interest. The only reason we even won the trial was truly thanks to my daughters public attorney who showed a genuine interest in helping my girls. Her closing argument was amazing and she did so well in court. The way Elizabeth was so unprepared, unorganized and unprofessional was honestly embarrassing. I am only writing this review because I really hope to help someone avoid what my family and I went through. We invested everything on this case for our daughters and all this firm truly seemed to care about is what and how much possible they can take from you. They never tried to justify there wrong in taking only what they deserved and I am honestly disappointed with how the whole process was handled. I hope you all find this helpful and please consider carefully and do your research elsewhere before trying to hire this attorney for a case. I can't speak for the other attorney in this firm but to allow someone like this and to not take the correct actions and handle it properly. Makes you just as wrong. Thank you everyone for taking the time to read this. read more

Mr. Fischer was wonderful. By far exceeded my expectations. When there was a problem with my case Mr. Fischer got it resolved immediately and updated me along the way. Would definitely recommend. read more

I'm very thankful to have found Fischer & Van Theil. When I felt my life was over and didn't know which way to turn, Mike Fischer and Shari Hile ( paralegal) did an amazing job bringing me down to earth and answering questions so I understood my rights.During the process of mediation, Mike told me what he felt was in my best interest and then what would be discussed, straight forward so I could choose wisely. Right after divorce court when I cried my eyes out, Mike was there to reassure me that everything was going to be ok. He is am amazing lawyer and truly cares about his clients. His work ethics, professionalism and care about his clients has been a blessing. I have already recommended then to a friend contemplating divorce. I will from now on use this firm and recommend it to my friends. Thank you to all the staff. read more

These guys over bill hours for everything. They charged me $685 for an email they didn't even really answer. The attorney spend .2 hour reading my email (takes less then 1 minute to read an email) then sent email to their para legal who spent .2 hours (I didn't ask the paralegal the question) who then talked to each other and spent another .2 hours each apparently on my question which should have took no time at all except writing me back an email which I was billing another .2 hours. I still can't even figure out what I was really billed for. l spent almost $6500 and the only thing they really did was file my petition for divorce, talk to my wife's attorney once and answer 2 emails. (all that for $6500). I ended up firing these guys and got another divorce attorney to mediate my divorce for $4000 so I'm going to honestly have to say these guys over bill and are not up front about their billing at all. Not sure if they are good attorney's (they may be excellent lawyers) but they are not cheap so unless you plan on spending a minimum of 40K I wouldn't even bother with Fisher and Van Thiel because you will burn through 20K before your first court date or if you have any questions. There are much better and cheaper attorneys out there so you have been warned. read more

I'd give 5 stars but we all know going thru a divorce is never easy nor fun or cheap! But other then going through a divorce. This firm went above and beyond for me and my family! I knew going into this with my ex he would try and drag it out and cost me more money. Craig never once allowed that though! He always made sure we kept it to the point! Arlene the paralegal on my case was so beyond helpful I mean that doesn't even explain how helpful she was. There was times where she was in the office before hours and would respond to my emails and calls. I know a couple times even stayed past hours. Not many firms I know of do that. We all have familys and who wants to stay late at work? I had quite a few expartys because my ex made it more then difficult. There was a time Mike another attorney in the firm came on the case while Craig was out to help with my case. They always gave me great advice. Craig helped me get out of a divorce without any issues! As well as Craig & Arlene came up with orders that I couldn't be any more happier with for the visitation of my children with there father. Craig even went to trial for my case and when I tell you that man was fire in the court room! It was for the safety of my children and we didn't leave the court room with anything less then that! He made sure my side was told and most of all a voice for my childrens safety! By the end of my divorce the whole firm knew me and my case! Everyone was very hands on and helpful! There was times where I had to miss a payment or two and instead of some firms sending it into collection they worked with me! I couldn't of asked for a better firm to have stood behind going through my nasty divorce and custody battle. I knew no matter what myself and family was in good hands! read more

One word, incompetent! We hired them in July for a custody and child support case, this is January and my ex husband still has not been served. To top it off what was filed got lost so we are back to square 1. And I quote "I don't know how to proceeded with this" this coming from someone we paid for legal advice. We are reporting them to State bar. Their Communication sucks!!!! Do not use them find someone else. that was my original post in February. Because they credited us some money we stayed with these morans for another 2-3 months and wasted more time. We had hired a new lawyer and got the process started again from scratch. we now have actual paperwork filed at the court and its only been 2 months. WASTE OF BREATHABLE AIR!!! read more

I hired Michael Fischer to help and represent me against my ex husband in a custody/visitation battle. After taking over $5,000 from me I am left in the worst case scenario I could have imagined. He is weak in court and exhibited a total lack of passion for fighting for me or my case. He shushed me in court when I tried to speak up for myself then failed to do the speaking for me on my behalf. This resulted in a misconstrued and unfair court order. Because he failed to study all the aspects of my case before court, I am now in a worse financial situation then I was before I went to him for help! He also charged me for a fake phone call in the amount of $158 which I had to demand to have taken off my final bill. I have physical proof we never had this 30 minute phone call but he insists it happened. DO NOT USE THIS LAWFIRM. Money oriented and passionless for the people they are supposed to represent. Weak in court, disinterested in justice for their clients and untrustworthy. read more

HORRIBLE promised I would come out ahead, and did the exact opposite of what I requested and billed me 6 grand for doing nothing!!!!!!!!!! they need to be reported to the bar association. read more

Great service . Went above and beyond family law . I would totally recommend these attorneys . They know what there doing . -naidycruz

I met with Elizabeth Fox before reading the bad reviews on yelp. I was hesitant to work with this firm initially but something about Elizabeth made me feel extremely comfortable and she's just that type of person you want on your team. The firm worked with me to reassign my case to a paralegal I was more confident working with (Shari) and things went very smoothly from there. The biggest decision I had was whether or not I should hire an attorney to file my child custody case. Although I spent a good amount of money, I felt confident, prepared and supported throughout the process. It was such an emotionally draining experience, even with an attorney representing me, that I cannot imagine trying to manage it alone. Mediation and hearings are quick and when it comes to what is best for your child, it's important to know what to say, how to structure statements, what information is relevant etc. It just so happens that my case started picking up during the holidays. Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year and on top of that, Elizabeth got married. I don't know how she managed to do it all but she did and quite flawlessly I might add. Communication was consistently on point and she was always one step ahead of me. When we went to court, the judge knew Mrs. Fox and respected her feedback during our hearing. I don't believe you "win" child custody cases but I believe the court orders did outline what was in my child's best interest and I owe that to the team at Fischer and Van Thiel. read more

I employed Michael Fischer as my counsel in my divorce recently. Mr. Fischer and the office staff were very professional and everything went smoothly from start to finish. The fees for his services were very reasonable. The office staff and paralegal were knowledgeable and competent. Communication was never an issue as my calls and concerns were answered very promptly. I would highly recommend this law office. read more

Craig was supportive and professional during my divorce. Steered me right all the way through the process. I received great advice and guidance. Professional and friendly. He took a lot of the stress out of the process for me. Highly recommend. Military friendly as well. read more

Thomas is one of the few honorable lawyers I've ever met. He's a pleasure to work with and provides clarity throughout the entire process. He really cares about his cases and his clients. I couldn't recommend him enough. read more