I want to start by saying that after reading some of these terrible reviews, it really caught me…read moreoff guard. Nothing in those 1 Star reviews sounds like this law firm. Amanda and her staff are probably the MOST professional and transparent business I have encountered. When you get a lawyer, you don't want someone that is going to tell you yes, yes, yes I can do that. You want the truth. Is this a good move? What should I do? How much trouble am I in? etc.. Amanda is upfront, honest, compassionate and most importantly, she is a damn good and professional attorney. She's what we old heads call a "straight shooter". She has fostered professional relationships with her colleagues and has a very good name at the courthouse. If she says she can help you, then she can. My case involved custody in which it would've and could've been contested but she worked closely with the opposing counsel and helped us come to an amicable agreement that was fair and in the best interest of the child and not emotionally charged decision making parents that are no longer together. I'm sure a lot of you can relate to that. The best part? It was fast. Her staff was very helpful and professional as well. If you want a lawyer that will be straight with you and tell you what you NEED TO HEAR and not what you WANT TO HEAR, then Amanda and her staff are the team you are looking for. She will not let you down and her fees are the best in the county without a doubt. Give her an opportunity to represent you and give yourself an opportunity to get some calm and peace knowing that she will fight for you.

Jay Selena bianca all the people in this law firm are absolutely wonderful. Jay is the best lawyer…read morearound!! He went above and beyond and his fees are so reasonable. I can't say enough how great he and his staff is. Selena is so friendly and professional everything done beautifully!!! Bianca realtor just the best!!! She also goes above and beyond to help her clients. Thank u to the rest of the firm for all you did for us!!! Selling a house thru there company is the best decision I ever made. God bless you all warmest regards Susan miranda. PS there professionalism is unmatched!!!! Best law firm around!!!!5 stars all the way!!!!!

We acquired Mr.Sims's for a family related matter in the court and we were very pleased with his…read moreprofessionalism,kindness and understanding of the gravity of the situation and acting accordingly. A must have attorney on your side if you're facing a difficult situation where seasoned legal counsel is needed. A+ experience dealing with an unpleasant situation. Great value for your time and money.

I would recommend hiring Hurman R. Sims if you're in need of legal help. His paralegal Ashley is…read morefantastic and answers very promptly.

Has always done great work with all of my legal needs! Has done my divorce and all of my speeding…read moretickets!

At our first meeting, I was very pleased. He seemed like he…read morewould do whats in my sons best interest. I found out about our court date at 8 o'clock the night before!!! Some of us have jobs that we can't just take time off of like that. I didn't speak to him for months so we were not prepared at all!! My ex was able to have witnesses that I couldn't because my other sons do not live in the state!! Obviously they knew about the court date but I didn't! I would have to email the same thing over and over again and was billed for it. I found out very quickly that I was just paying my money for the lawyers to go in the back and make an agreement anyway. Things were not brought up that should have been such as domestic violence. I feel like my kids were not cared about at all. They just take your money and lack empathy. I'm still waiting for all of my paperwork to be returned years later!!!!

This lawyer not only charged us a $200 consultation fee, which seems to be the standard in this…read morearea, but also $1000 to file an answer with the courts that costs a quarter of that to file yourself. She claimed it was to "represent" my husband, and then wasn't in court at all. She has given him incorrect information consistently, nonsense about time stamps on court documents and judgments, etc. Do NOT use this lawyer. I recommend Larry Hudspeth!!

From the owner: The Law Office of Ann D. Maready is now serving the Jacksonville, NC, area and focuses primarily on…read morefamily and divorce law. After being a partner at one of Onslow County's premiere law firms, Ann Maready decided to open her own practice, devoting her

Like someone else said if I could leave no starts I would. I paid for a consult she didn't even…read moreknow the answer for me and said she would get back to me and never did. Scam scam scam stay the heck away from her.

receptionist hung up on me because I asked why it was $250 to state the issue I'm having with my ex…read morewife to see if I needed a lawyer. very unprofessional experience and I accomplished nothing. seek other help people.

One of the few attorneys to handle CIVIL LAWSUITS in Jacksonville nc . Attorney oswalt is very…read morerespectful and nice , paid this firm for 2 cases, the first case was handled how I wanted but I felt like my lawyer was taking the easy way out and didn't fight for me as hard as he could of. I paid 1500 for that case. It went to court good outcome, second case I notified him I could not serve the person and that the person was running from this lawsuit, he told me he had ways to serve this person and few months passed after paying 1500 for this case he's told me he can't serve him and won't refund me or give me a partial refund or give me credit towards another case . I asked to talk to him and he wouldn't, I asked for an appointment on June 5th and he cancelled it.... Basically he stole my 1500 for a job he never completed. I am a business owner and I would never do this.

Timothy Oswalt is not a good attorney based on my experience. He had a good overall reputation when…read morewe first hired him, so I'm guessing he paid his dues early on through hard work and solid customer service and is now coasting on that reputation, because I had seen very little evidence that he is a good attorney or that he is working hard on behalf of his clients. First off, he's expensive. $5,000 retainer fee for a custody case and he still sends a bill every time he files any sort of paperwork at the courthouse which we have always paid promptly. He's been our lawyer for 15 months now and has yet to ever return a single phone call or email we've sent to him. We wait for weeks on end to get a response and end up having to set an appointment to see him in person in order to get any answers from him, which generally leads to excuses and still nothing getting done. My girlfriend is having a custody dispute over her children, who are now with their biological father due to not having a previous custody agreement between them and her ex making false allegations against us to DSS. Mr. Oswalt filed initial custody paperwork on my girlfriends behalf about 15 months ago and 5 months ago filed for court ordered visitation with her children for mandatory phone calls and visitation. It took us over a month to receive copies of the paperwork after that court appearance to set up visitation. The children's father has been spotty at best in his compliance and we have made sure to document all of the times he has been in violation of the court ordered agreement. Seven weeks ago, we had an appointment to see him about taking my girlfriend's ex for contempt of court for violating the visitation agreement and it was cancelled at the last minute by Mr. Oswalt after I had already taken off from work to get there. 6 weeks ago, we had our appointment, presented the logs and evidence of his contempt and Mr. Oswalt promised to file a motion of contempt for violating the court order. 2 weeks passed and we never received anything in the mail regarding a hearing. After several calls to his secretary asking for a status report or a call back from our attorney during that 3rd week, we received no response and we set an appointment to get a case update. During our meeting, Mr. Oswalt gave no reason for why the motion for contempt has not been filed but we gave him some more instances of non-compliance by her ex to add to the previous list of examples and Mr. Oswalt promised that he would file the motion for contempt of court. 2 more weeks go by with no communication and no paperwork in the mail to let us know the motion had been filed, so once again, my girlfriend sets the appointment so we can go see him the week after she set the appointment. We go in for the meeting and begin to discuss the case and I asked him why it has taken 6 weeks and 3 meetings to file for this hearing and Mr. Oswalt asked me to leave and that we should find a new attorney. I did not swear, yell, or even raise my voice, I just wanted an answer. Anyway, I left the room immediately and waited out front for my girlfriend, who followed me out the door a few minutes later. After I left, Mr. Oswalt informed my girlfriend that he would no longer be her attorney even though he had already been paid his retainer and other fees and I technically am not even his client since she is on all the paperwork and not myself. She offered to not have me accompany her on any more appointments and he still refused to retain her as a client. I plan on filing a complaint with the NC Bar Association regarding him dropping her as a client when we have paid every bill and done nothing wrong as well as asking them to look into a possible conflict of interest concern regarding the case. From what I have seen on another website it appears that Mr. Oswalt is the owner of another law office in town and after we first filed initial paperwork my girlfriend's ex ending up retaining an attorney who works in an office that Mr. Oswalt possibly owns and operates. I would think this would be a conflict of interest and since we retained Mr. Oswalt first, that her ex would have to find alternative counsel due to a conflict of interest. I don't have a legal background so I'm not certain that this is an actual violation, but I would think that it would/should be and if so, it should be frowned upon. I guess we'll see what happens.

Very kind staff in providing assistance and knowledgeable. Need more of this type of energy on the…read morecommunity.

From the owner: Laird Law is a law firm that defends clients on DWIs, criminal charges and traffic violations in…read moreOnslow, Pender and Jones Counties. We also handle divorces.

In May 2018 I initially retained Ms. Rachel Sholar to assist me in a false Domestic Violence (DV)…read morerestraining order that my Ex-wife was attempting to get me charged with. This was a part of my ex plan to divorce me and get me to pay her alimony, medical, dental and half of everything that i worked for. She knew that I have a security clearance and if she could successfully get a DV on me it would destroy my career. Her friend successfully did this to her former husband and left him with barely nothing. (She's a Gold-digger or as my nephew calls it "she's trying to come up on you") (Beware Jacksonville, there's a gold-digger back on the lose and she's hungry) With the help of Ms. Sholar, we caught on to her scam. Ms. Rachel's subpoena witnesses and exposed her in court. After the case was dismissed, Ms. Sholar advised me the next steps and I retained her for the divorce proceedings. In 2019 Ms. Sholar got me an absolute divorce without me even going to court. Since I had walked out and left my ex with everything, I thought she would go away. But in 2021, my Ex came back again with her lies attempting to get money, alimony, medical, and half of everything that I owned (even down to the lawnmower and tools) under NC § 50-20. Again Ms. Sholar and her team (Ms. April and Ms. Jennifer) exposed her and sent her back in her hole for the final time with minimal impact to me. Her and her team remind me of a water Moccasin (If you think you're going to step on her client and get away with it, prepared yourself for many days of excruciating pain and possible loss of limb or life). If you're going through a divorce, custody or any ordeal involving family law a want someone that knows law and will fight for you like a mother fighting for her child... Ms. Sholar's team is the one to have in your corner.

The retainer fees are reasonably priced. Mr. McNamara is a vastly experienced and awesome attorney,…read morehowever, the paralegals working in the office are the ABSOLUTE WORST! If you retain the firm's services, you have to micromanage the paralegals to ensure the legal administrative tasks are completed and ensure they're still working on your case. Good luck getting any response from emails or phone calls. The only effective way to communicate with the firm is to show up to the office and speak with them face-to-face. If they're going to deal with a high volume of clients and court cases, they need to hire more staff and get organized. I wish I can give them five stars.

We went through almost five years with this firm for a contempt of custody order and could never…read moreget a court date and the lack of activity only encouraged the missed visitation and lack of care. When the other party got a DUI and had to go to jail our lawyer still said there wasn't anything he could do regarding custody.

John is, without a doubt, the top custody lawyer in Jacksonville, NC, and hiring him was the best…read moredecision I made for my family. From our first consultation, John demonstrated unparalleled professionalism, empathy, and a deep knowledge of North Carolina family law. He took a terrifying, high-conflict situation and provided a calm, strategic path forward that secured a favorable outcome for my children. What sets John apart is his genuine dedication to his clients' best interests. He is not just a lawyer going through the motions; he is an advocate who truly cares. He listened intently to my concerns, answered every question promptly, and was always prepared, professional, and firm in court. His expertise in navigating complex custody arrangements ensured my voice was heard. If you are facing a difficult custody battle in Jacksonville, I cannot recommend John enough. He is honest, efficient, and fiercely protective of his clients' rights. Thanks to his legal brilliance and hard work, my children are safe and thriving. If you want the best, do not hesitate to call John. He truly is a five-star attorney who delivers results. Tracy- paralegal In a town with many options, Tracy stands out as the gold standard. Her expertise, integrity, and tireless work ethic making her an invaluable asset to any legal team and a lifesaver for anyone needing legal support. Coming from someone that has been represented all the way in California for the case in North Carolina these two in this law firm have been Absolutely phenomenal. The value of this law firm has been absolutely phenomenal. I was recommended by another individual who had previously hired him on as his attorney and he had nothing but positive things to say about John and the law firm itself so advocating for my friend's judgment. He was absolutely right in the facts in regards of John being a very Professional and proficient Lawyer.