Bret Doyal Fought for Me When No One Else Would - Austin, TX If you're facing a tough divorce or custody battle in the Austin area, hire Bret Doyal. I was in an incredibly painful situation: for 27 months, my ex-wife kept my son from me all because of a one-sided temporary order she used to block any real contact. During that entire time, I only got to see my child once, for just 10 minutes. It was emotionally devastating and completely unfair.From day one, Mr. Doyal took my case seriously. He truly listened, understood what I was going through, and gave me hope when I had almost none left. He is not just knowledgeable about family law. He's strategic, calm under pressure, and knows how to present a case in a way the court cannot ignore.He worked tirelessly to challenge the order and expose the reality of the situation. His courtroom presence is strong, composed, and professional, exactly what I needed standing next to me in front of a judge. Bret will not respond to your messages/texts/calls at times because he knows what he is doing and just coz you researched something OR a friend told you stuff, mate, that does not make you smart. This kinda frustrated me LOL but dude this is a BAD LAWYER! Just be patient. RELAX! His closing remarks were breathtaking and articulate! I wept! Because of his dedication, we won. I now have my relationship with my son back, something I feared I might never get again. If you're in Austin, Texas and need a family law attorney who will fight for you like it's personal, Bret Doyal is the one. I'll always be grateful for what he did for me and my child. Isaac O. read more

I could not be happier with my results! Bret was the best! He was able to modify my 50/50 custody agreement when other lawyers told me it was not possible. Bret stayed by my side throughout the most difficult years of my life and showed so much compassion, and understanding. His professionalism and persistence in my case has provided me with the outcome of a better future for me and my daughter. I was awarded, full custody with all decision making rights. I'm so grateful for Bret and his team. Everytime I needed them, they were there, answering my calls, responding to my emails. I know for a fact, that if I had picked another lawyer I would have paid soooo much more, and the results would not have been the same. Make the right choice, hire Bret to represent you. read more

Hiring Bret Doyal was the worst decision I have ever made. I was recommended him by someone who used his paralegals brother, mind you the paralegal is a lawyer who lost his right to practice law because of his own actions. Two peas in a pod. I hired Bret to settle my divorce in April 2020. I have YET to have it finalized. While I have paid thousands of dollars as a single mom, we went to court in December 2020 and the judge made a ruling. On top of that he still holds the profit from my home sale equaling a little over $25k in his trust account. This man will take you for everything you've got. Don't let his fake sympathy fool you. He has led me on to believe he will make things right time and time again. But I am filing with the Texas Bar because I'm done giving him chances. In November 2024 I gave him one last chance to make things right and he went MIA again. He lacks communication skills. He's a money hungry selfish man who has no intention of truly helping people. Please stay far far away from him. Also James Sustaita his paralegal. read more

I was referred to Mr. Doyal, and it was the worst decision I could have made by hiring him. As a lawyer, you should communicate well with your client and keep them in the loop about what's going on regarding the case. That's definitely not the case with Bret. Also, a majority of the time, you will talk to his paralegal James and not himself. He also kept resetting my court date so it got prolonged a lor longer than it should have been. The whole experience just wasn't a good one. Definitely wouldn't recommend hiring him. read more

I never should have hired Bret Doyal. Not only did I have to hound him for months to do any work, he charged me $830 for literally nothing and charged $175 for a simple text that had zero information in it. He always had an excuse as to why he was not working on my case and never got back to me. He is just as much of a thief as my ex-husband. Do yourself a favor and RUN, unless you want to be charged a ridiculous amount of money and have absolutely NOTHING accomplished, in which case he might be perfect for the job. read more

Law Office of Bret C Doyal - Divorce & Family Law Near Me - Austin, Texas

Like Chelsea's review below, Doyal was not my lawyer, but my ex's 3rd lawyer for a year or so. She had 4 lawyers in total, so it wasn't entirely Doyal's fault. When she hired him I checked reviews and found he employed a disbarred attorney as a paralegal, one who was disbarred for taking his client's money and not doing his work, so many times he got disbarred (all easily found in Google). Back to Doyal, I found some old records of dishonest people Doyal had partnered with before (again google is your friend). I felt bad when my ex hired him because I suspected he would take as much of her money as possible and simply delay things, but since it was good for me to have him as opposing counsel at trial, I kept quiet, even at the risk of unnecessary delays, which did happen. He tried every tactic in the book to delay proceedings and not comply with multiple court orders. We prevailed in every motion we filled during that period. At trial, besides prevailing on everything and getting the division we asked for (60% for me, 40% for her) the judge granted me over $13k in lawyer fees just for the motions while he was my ex's attorney. So he cost her twice, his fees, plus my lawyer's fees. To clarify, trial was with my ex's 4th attorney, not with him. The 4th was another dishonest attorney, but that's another subject. My ex criticized him and his disbarred former attorney of a paralegal at trial trying to convince the judge that all the delaying tactics and lies to the court weren't her fault, and get off the hook (although she was more at fault than him, so it didn't work). Of course, having my ex as a client must not have been easy, but if it was completely her fault, he should have left the case. Instead, he kept charging her and enabling her tactics for a year. I'm not sure if he quit or she fired him, since she is a proven liar it's hard to say, but she claimed she had to fire him. I am posting this review for anyone thinking of hiring him, think twice. If he is the opposing counsel, you just need a decent lawyer and you are off to a good start, but expect a lot of delays, lies, and possibly multiple motions to compel. read more

Buyer beware: Bret C. Doyal was my ex-husband's atty for nearly a decade. Why am I writing this review? Due to Doyal's greed, my ex-husband kept paying him to practice awful and underhanded attempts at a revenge-style divorce. We went to court more than a dozen times in the first five years! He lost all. Doyal did not care one iota that my children were in danger (my ex no longer has any visitation). Doyal is a monster. While I am not a fan of my ex, Doyal stole from his 6-figure salary with slick, ridiculous promises. He drew out and exacerbated a situation that had been on a road to co-parenting. Doyal, knowing full well of my ex's adulterous drug and alcoholic ways, tried to reduce me to rubble on the stand... several times. The stress was horrible. I believe that Doyal would still be trying if my ex would have continued to pay him. My ex ended up owing me money (5 figures) on top of the divorce settlement and no longer has visitation with my daughters. Had my family not financially backed me... I shudder to think. Thankfully, Doyal lost. Again and again. Again, I know it looks like I came out ok and why am I reviewing...The stress and nightmares associated with this man's greed is a tale no one deserves to tell. Just ask my ex-husband. Doyal wants money. Nothing else. He will bulldoze over anyone to get it. read more

Stole $2500 of my retainer from me after I informed Mr Doyal he was no longer needed, bad at what he does do not use

Took weeks to get email, and Just hope you don't have to chat with his paralegal James S, Either too long in the biz or or just doesn't have good phone etiquette for customer service-based calls. read more

Bret helped me with a pretty messy real estate lawsuit. After hearing my case, the judge agreed with the law office of Bret C. Doyal. They saved me thousands and are worth every penny! read more

It usually takes a lot for me to post a negative review. I often feel guilty for possibly compromising someone's business. However, I feel like everyone, and I mean everyone, need to be warned about Bret Doyal. My husband hired Bret to take care of a parental suit brought on by his ex-wife. The suit was pretty nasty and my husband was super vulnerable and really needed someone to fight for him. We flew from Boston to Austin to be there the day of mediation. Bret and his Paralegal, Heather Cantu, both showed up and quite honestly KILLED it in mediation (in an amazing way). Bret really went to bat for my husband and he left there feeling like HE actually came out the winner of his ex's suit. Because Bret did such a good job, we paid him another $3,500 to redo the entire Order and incorporate the mediated agreements. Bret insisted my husband's current Order was "crap" (and I quote) and that he would redo it all and make it read perfectly. Almost instantly after receiving our $3,500, Bret disappeared. When I say "disappear", I mean it. The guy didn't answer emails AT ALL. The three conference calls my husband setup with Bret went missed every time. Eventually Bret would call and would smooth talk us and give us a false sense of hope, only to disappear again. Fast forward, FOUR MONTHS later (after dozens of unanswered emails) and we get an email from Heather, Bret's paralegal, telling us they are only going to put the EIGHT line items that were agreed upon in mediation in the Order. We were floored. Absolutely floored. We paid him OVER THREE THOUSAND dollars to now put EIGHT items in the Order rather than "redoing the entire thing". We decided to fire Bret and file a grievance with the State Bar of Texas. We filled them in on what happened and let them know we could submit dozens of emails if they needed it. We were told they didn't need anything and they'd be investigating. This means, there WAS just cause for them to open this up to an investigation. Bret's response to the grievance was providing the State Bar ONE email that we sent him telling him thank you for kicking butt in mediation. Mind you, we never denied he did great in mediation - it was after the fact. AFTER we paid $3,500. The grievance complaint went in front of a panel of volunteer lawyers and we received our letter last week (now almost a year after we hired this loser) that they found no wrong doing on Bret's part. Surprised? Not at all. We asked dozens of times to submit all of the emails proving our claim and they insisted they didn't need it. Am I pissed? Who wouldn't be? But one thing I do know, is that karma is worse than any win on a grievance. It's GLARINGLY apparent that between my review and the similarities in the others posted about Bret, that this guy is hands down one of the worst lawyers you could hire. And to the State Bar of Texas - this won't be the last you hear about Bret C. Doyle, I promise. And to Bret - karma comes full circle ;-). read more

This attorney owes me money. He will not respond to my certified letters asking for the money he owes me. In my opinion he did not represent me as an attorney should. He was hired by me and it is my feeling that he failed to do his job as soon as he found out I was getting a divorce settlement, he stopped putting any effort into my case. In fact, in the beginning he stated he would handle my case for $2,900 because I was low income. He later stated in court that he was charging me $3,700. Well he picked up my settlement check from opposing counsel and deposited it into his account, which was well over $14,000. He came up with these outrageous, some bogus, fees for my case and sent them to me after over a year of me trying to get a statement of charges from him. Long story short, in my opinion he stole thousands of dollars from me, not to mention he's a big flirt...... I would NEVER in a million years want this man to represent me or anyone I know. Straight up in my opinion.... he is only in business to make money, not care or help people that come to him lost and confused and in need of someone that is passionate about helping people. I DO NOT RECOMMEND HIRING The Office of Bret C. Doyal. read more

Bret Doyal handled my case that had been going on for over 10 years. He was able to handle my case better than any other attorney I retained in the past. He made me believe in attorneys and the system again. I would recommend him to anyone needing any family law or divorce issues handled. He will definitely fight for you. read more

Getting divorced can be extremely hard. Bret was extremely professional, personable and working with him and his team was easy. Communication was a breeze and having him in court was amazing. I always refer friends to him now. read more

Bret C. Doyal is a slick talker who will convince you that he is going to solve your problems. He charges more than the average lawyer because he says he is that good and it allows him to devote more time to your case. The only thing he is good at is taking your money. He will tell you what you want to hear, but he'll put forth the least amount of effort to accomplish that and, in the end, he will blame you for not achieving your goals. He has failed to produce an invoice, even after several written requests. My advice to any future client is to get everything in writing; if his office calls, especially if message is "Bret is handling it", immediately send an email confirming the content of the call. The only person Bret Doyal seems to represent is himself. In my opinion, Bret Doyal is a crook. read more

After shopping for an attorney for over a week I finally met Bret and his team from a recommendation from a friend who is a criminal lawyer who used Bret Doyal for his own divorce. I had two thoughts when this recommendation was made: he is either a friend of the attorney or is truly a good attorney. From the results, I have to say he is one of the best lawyers in Austin for any matters involving divorce or child custody. When other lawyers in other fields of practice use a particular family law lawyer for their own cases, that's a statement in itself. He helped me with a modification. The whole process was easy with the law office of Bret by my side. I recommend him highly to all of my friends. Bret and his team was there for me every step of the way and filed everything in a timely manner. The paralegals in the office were very friendly and answered all my questions promptly and accurately. I have had negative experiences with lawyers in the past, I'm relieved to know my lawyer in my corner has my back. I saw some negative reviews on here from other clients but it honestly seems like most of the negative reviews are from the same person who has questionable ethics and a bone to pick with our beloved Bret C. Doyal. Do yourself a favor and swing over to the offices and have a chat with the attorney himself, he is an honest and hardworking attorney that decent people deserve to have in their corner ! read more

This guy will do as little as he can get away with doing once he's got your money. After telling the judge he'd have our final orders drafted in 2 weeks, it took him 3 months; just to draft some basic child custody papers, even with temporary order enacted to base the new orders on. Negligent may be an understatement. read more

Wish I would have read all the reviews before trusting Bret with my case. I went to him after I was served with divorce and child custody papers. He said he cld take my case with a retainer of $7500. I told him I wld get back to him after I tried to come up with the money. I am on disability but let him know that my older children and i had just recently inherited my parents home due to their death. So of course I told him I wld do what ever need be for my 4yr old son. I explained to him tht his dad had never done for his son while living with him and definitely not since he looked us out of the house we lived in. Ok so 4 days before time is about to be up for filing an answer he emails me and asks how things are going. Told him I was still waiting on getting a loan and tht i didn't have money to pay a retainer at tht time. He told me to at least let him file an answer for me and then we cld go from there. The Monday 10am deadline came up and I called the district clerk office and they said nothing had been filed yet but maybe due to the Thanksgiving holiday the e files had not all made it in. Called again after 11:30 and they advised me to call my lawyer because nothing had gone in yet. Called Bret and he said he was on it as we where speaking. He then said when cld I get into his office to do paper work. In the agreement he stated tht I had requested his service late on the Monday evening of the filing date. Me not understanding just signed. Turned out he filed an answer til 2:09 on the day of and during tht time my husbands lawyer went in at 1:35 and had a default judgement signed against me. He then said due to all the work tht was going to be done his retainer had gone up to 20k. I saw he only made it seem like he wld fight really hard for me and only did what he had to too get by. After having to turn my child into his dad Mr. Doyal had the nerve to tell me tht hge needed the money soon because he was struggling to buy his sons their Xmas gifts. He eventually withdrew himself from the case on the day court was set for motion for new trial was held. I had paid another lawyer the day of court $2500 to go into court with me tht day and Bret asked cld he give him $1000 of tht for what he had done for me to tht point. Which other lawyer did. He got me intro this mess and then just bailed on me. By the way Mr. Doyal the loan I had been waiting on is getting finalized and I wld have keep to my end of the bargain on paying you. read more

Brett Doyal was my lawyer back in 2013 for about 4 months. First he made me put up a retainer fee of 17,000 for my divorce telling me that the judge would make my husband pay the bill since he was causing the need for a divorce. My husband was mentally ill and threatening to kill me and had tried on 2 occasions. Brett did get me a restraining order extended that was already in place by the court due to my husband being arrested for cutting me with a butcher knife. Other than that he didn't do much else. I would call the office often trying to find out what was going on because we had a court date but only got to talk to his assistant or the office girl who handled the phones. We were supposed to go to court and nothing had been done and Mr. Doyal would not return my calls or tell me when or what I was supposed to do. I had to do all the leg work, get all my documentation from my husband's arrest. I had to get the info from the officers who had witness my assaults, so subpoenas could be sent to them. So they could testify in court for me. Then I found out they had not been sent, I had to go to his office pick them up and hand deliver them myself! It was crazy. We never made it to court! My husband committed suicide after unsuccessfully trying to kill me again before the police could arrest him. So we never got divorced. When I asked for a refund, after about 4 more months of me calling trying to get my refund. I got a bill for over $20,000! He charged me 400.00 a minute for every time I spoke to either him, his assistant or the girl they had answering telephones at his office! I was charge for asking about my bill! This guy is as crooked as they come! How he sleeps at night, I have no idea! And did I mention I am on disability and am living on less than $1100 a month! All I can say is don't be stupid and use this lawyer. You will regret it! read more

BEWARE !!!!!!!! I live in another stated and found Brett Doyal online, I explained my case he sounded very knowledgeable, and stated it was just a matter of serving all parties involved and having the case dismissed. He stated he would get started as soon as he received his flat rate fee, which I paid immediately with credit card,that was November of 2016. Fast Forward Jan of 2017 no word Re: case. I researched my case online and found out he filed the necessary documents. I started inundated his email inbox and made constant phone calls to his office speaking with Alma,to no avail. Now we are in May 2018. (2) years later Mr. Doyal still has made no contact with me regarding my case. I have tried contacting his office spoke with Veronica stated she would look up my case and called me back of course that did not happen, 2 years later and I still have no answer Re: my case.and it does not look as though I will get one from Mr. Doyal. read more