AVOID AT ALL COSTS. Gross negligence and mismanagement. I am writing this review to warn others before they make the same $5,000 mistake I did. I retained Jodi Ann Donato for my case, and my experience was a complete nightmare of negligence, incompetence, and improper billing. I paid a $5,000 retainer that was supposed to cover three court conferences. The firm only "represented" me for ONE, and Ms. Donato didn't even show up. She sent a substitute lawyer who knew absolutely nothing about my case, and I had to pay for this substitute out-of-pocket on top of my retainer. Then, Donato Law actually billed me for the two-hour call they supposedly had to "prepare" this lawyer who showed up completely unprepared. The lack of basic diligence was shocking. They didn't know my case location. Ms. Donato assumed my case was in Suffolk County and didn't realize it was in Dutchess until I pointed it out. This was clearly written on the Order of Protection. I was then billed for the firm's errors to fix this. They didn't read court documents. Ms. Donato later admitted she "only read down to a certain line" on the Order of Protection and completely missed that child support had been granted. Contradictory and negligent advice. My emails asking for specific legal advice were ignored. I was then yelled at by Ms. Donato for doing something she claimed was on the order... the same order she repeatedly failed to read. My retainer was drained to pay for their mistakes. I was left completely unrepresented and abandoned after my money was gone. I feel completely taken advantage of and misled. This firm did not protect my interests; they only protected their bottom line. Also after posting this review to Google Jodi Ann Donato contacted me via email asking me to take the review down in exchange for $500 and then she would require me to sign an NDA. This is highly unethical behavior for a lawyer. read more

I am very happy that I went with my gut feeling about Jodi and her firm! Jodi was approachable and listened to what I needed (I was sure she had heard similar stories) she never let me feel that way though. I expected my matter to last over a year, because she knew what she was doing and how to call out my ex on lies and nonsense I was able to get more than I ever thought! I was depleted and mentally exhausted by the time I got to Jodi, thankfully she was on my side. I hope my friends do not ever go through what I did but if they do I am sending them to Jodi and her team!!!! read more

I only see one other review on here but my experience has been exactly the same. I wish I had seen it before I hired her. She was a terrible attorney that never seemed to know what was going on. How could she possibly provide suitable representation when she couldn't even remember details of my case, that I had discussed with her in length for months. She actually called me by the wrong name during a court appearance. She doesn't seem to be able to handle her caseload. She is always late, doesn't give updates of pertinent information and will take an eternity to respond to calls/emails. When she does finally respond, she breaks up into several emails what could be accomplished in one....smart move for her because she charges per email but is completely immoral and BS. I stayed with her longer than I should have because I paid the retainer, but she was the absolute worst. It's not a comforting feeling when you feel like your own lawyer doesn't like you and isn't representing you well. She was rude, unprepared and totally useless as an attorney. I hope this review will keep someone else from wasting their money and getting screwed in court due to poor representation. read more

It seems like she has too many cases and not enough time. I was there for a divorce and she never reached out to update me on the progress (sometimes I gave her weeks and then called to find out nothing had been done). She'll drag it out. I don't know if this is to get more money or simple overbooking on her part. I felt like the last person she wanted to hear from and embarrassed me in the first zoom meeting we had with the other lawyer. She just rambled on about a bunch of people they both knew. Then she basically stopped the meeting because she had thought that I owned the house when in fact my wife owned it. I told her that it was my wife's 10 times and wrote it down. It was embarrassing. Particularly since her lawyer was rattling off case law and precedent and she was just yelling at him and talking about things that did not pertain. Billed for every single email and phone call. Negotiate this with her to lower this BS. 3 weeks without ANY correspondence from your lawyer should afford you 1 free $40 email. I ended up doing it myself and basically got charged a $5000 fee for her secretary to write it up and mail it. This went on for about 14 months I think. She needs to lessen her caseload or pick either divorce law or something else. If she didn't hose me for 5k I'd feel bad for her. read more