I interviewed multiple family lawyers before deciding upon Melissa Williams. My criteria was really…read moretrying to find a lawyer that would pursue, and attempt to keep, an amicable divorce (especially if you have kids and will be coparenting..) However, you never know how these things might go and the selection of your lawyer is perhaps the biggest decision you need to make to try to keep it civil, but of course, be prepared for the worst. Melissa certainly showed her ability to aggressively push back and control the opposing counsel's outlandish requests while respecting my desire to try and find a balance and prepare us for coparenting. Not an easy request given the opposing counsel. She was always available to discuss the direction and requests and didn't nickel and dime me along the way. However, her knowledge not just of the law but of the opposing counsel's experience made all the difference. That's one of the things I never thought to interview for. Melissa's 20+ years of experience all over Travis Country was the game changer. Knowing not just the other lawyer, but also the mediators, forensic accountants and of course the potential judges really is her secret weapon. She could accurately predict what would happen next and could push back on outlandish asks knowing that the opposing counsel had tried that in the past and gotten rejected by judges so was simply trying to intimidate. Melissa, and her paralegal, really are the most experienced around and actually care, and listen, to their clients while still ensuring the best possible outcome.

Let's face it- divorce is never easy! But, after losing my Dad, my sister and then hearing my…read morehusband of 25 years was leaving me for "someone else and/or just to find himself"...all within 6 months...I was a mess. I needed honest, straight forward advice that was in my best interest. I couldnt think clearly and was overwhelmed. But, after some time with Melissa, I got centered and ready for the next steps. She guided me kindly yet firmly. She thought of things I did not even consider. How? By being wise, understanding my needs, and positioning my case in such a way that I got all I wanted and more. During one of the darkest seasons in my life, Melissa Williams was the just the light I needed. If you need her help, she will be there. If you have questions or concerns she takes her time to be sure you are clear on the facts. If you are not thinking clearly, she has your back. And Marilyn, oh sweet calm Marilyn, will be the voice on the phone that will help any way she can. The office is amazing and I couldnt be more grateful for them both. From my experience, in the end, you will realize that Melissa Williams is a brillant professional that becomes a real friend.

I cannot say enough about Becca Kennedy and Jordan Thomas. When this case started, I was facing an…read moreextremely contentious divorce with my relationship with my daughters and much of what I had worked for at stake. As a father going into family court, I was genuinely worried about what the next couple of years would look like and, most importantly, what my relationship with my daughters would look like when it was over. Becca and Jordan were there through all of it. They were honest with me even when the answer wasn't what I wanted to hear, knew when something was worth fighting over, and were incredibly responsive. There were even weekends when I would send something expecting an answer on Monday and hear back that same day. I don't like saying anyone "wins" a family law case because there really aren't winners when a family is being divided. But the results speak for themselves. I came out of the case with 50/50 custody of my daughters, while my house, vehicles, bank accounts, and separate property remained protected. If I could go back to the beginning of this case and read a review from another father who had been through something similar, this is what I would have wanted to know: Becca and Jordan will be honest with you, they will prepare, they will answer your questions, and when something needs to be fought for, they will fight for you. I'm extremely grateful I had them in my corner, and I would recommend them without hesitation.

Attorney Becca Kennedy and her paralegal, Jordan Thomas, have helped me navigate a difficult…read moredivorce with competence, experience and thoughtfulness throughout what can be an overwhelming and complicated process. I especially appreciate Becca's insight and judgment. She takes the time to explain issues, clearly, anticipate questions and concerns, and helps me understand not just what is happening, but why. Becca and Jordan are responsive and considerate and I have always felt that my questions and concerns are taken seriously. I also appreciate how respectful they are of the costs involved in litigation. They are mindful of billing and use their time efficiently, which is particularly important in a divorce case where legal expenses can add up quickly. They have treated me with kindness and respect while remaining professional, practical and focused. Their experience, attention to detail, organization, and steady guidance have given me a great deal of confidence during a very difficult time. I would highly recommend both Becca and Jordan to anyone looking for knowledgeable, capable, and conscientious representation in a family law matter.

I met Sarah at a Second Saturday divorce workshop hosted by Melanie Johnson. sarah represented me…read morefor the first 6 months of my divorce proceeding. Sarah told me she wanted to bring on Travis Granger because Sarah thought my ex-spouse would be more willing to work with a male litigator. After firing Sarah and Travis, I found out Sarah bought on Travis because she was out of the country vacationing in Europe. Dealing with Travis and Sara was a costly nightmare. I paid them nearly $30,000 and they didn't even negotiate temp spouse and child support for me.

They took my money for a consultation but called the next day to tell me they were too busy to take…read moreany new cases. Quite unprofessional, in my opinion.

This is an update, three years after the finalization of my divorce and my subsequent bankruptcy…read moredue to Ms. Bustos's disastrous handling of my case. I don't want this to happen to anyone else. (Ms. Bustos dropped my case at the last minute, after burning her way through my line of credit entirely). As a result of my bankruptcy (for over $70,000, $50,000 of which had gone into Bustos's pockets), I have had to forfeit 50/50 custody of my now 10-year-old son, and now I'm forced out of the state entirely. She will not protect you. She will not do the work you pay her for. And I am not the only person she has done this to either. Note that non-profit lenders won't work with her anymore because she has a record of this immoral and unjust behavior. She had to hire her own attorney to fight the grievance that I filed with the State Bar of Texas for professional misconduct against her that took a year to resolve. Write to me if you would like more information, if you need help planning to fight back, or even if you just need to talk about it: hitchens.michaela@gmail.com. I have heard four others who were also her former clients. Divorce is hard enough with the best of attorneys. Bustos will make you wish you'd never been born, but you will recover with time.

Since Thomas is no longer at this firm, I will update this review. I will also update again pending…read morethe closure of my case. Lisa and her team have been working hard and have done a good job, even when dealing with difficult opposing counsel. I appreciate her team responding so quickly and getting right to the point with the matter at hand.

If you want a great lawyer experience then use Ms. Bates…read more When trying to rewrite our Will it was surprising how expensive other places were and very corporate in nature. We chose Ms. Bates because she provided a service at a value price and a private practice not a corporate machine.

I am deeply frustrated with the appalling services provided by Mrs. Bates as an attorney. Not only…read moredid she have the audacity to offer me a mere $100 discount in exchange for manipulating my original statement, but her incompetence and lack of focus were blatantly evident throughout my entire experience. I strongly caution against ever considering this firm for any family services, as Mrs. Bates consistently proved herself to be an attorney who is utterly inept and fails to offer any valuable strategic advice. To add insult to injury, I was forced to personally chase after my divorce decree a staggering two months after it had already been signed. It became painfully clear that Mrs. Bates's negligence and distortion of facts required me to seek the assistance of a competent law firm to rectify the mess she had created. Save yourself the headache and avoid Mrs. Bates and her firm at all costs. I am deeply frustrated with the appalling services provided by Mrs. Bates as an attorney. Not only did she have the audacity to offer me a mere $100 discount in exchange for manipulating my original statement, but her incompetence and lack of focus were blatantly evident throughout my entire experience. I strongly caution against ever considering this firm for any family services, as Mrs. Bates consistently proved herself to be an attorney who is utterly inept and fails to offer any valuable strategic advice. To add insult to injury, I was forced to personally chase after my divorce decree a staggering two months after it had already been signed. It became painfully clear that Mrs. Bates's negligence and distortion of facts required me to seek the assistance of a competent law firm to rectify the mess she had created. Save yourself the headache and avoid Mrs. Bates and her firm at all costs.

From my personal experience (I have a lot of experience with attorneys) Elizabeth Schwartz and her…read moreoffice are a great team. On our court date, the opposing party had not provided us with any information despite several attempts by Elizabeth and her office to contact them to give us some kind of information regarding the hearing. We received none. Walking into court I was unsure of what to expect. Despite being unprepared due to the lack of communication by the other party Elizabeth stood up and fought and argued the points that were being attempted to be made against me. She stayed focused and confident and ultimately resulted in a dismissal. An ability like that can only come from experience. A great experience during a rough time.

I cannot say enough about how much I appreciate Elizabeth and her entire team. Although custody and…read morechild support issues are never going to be easy to maneuver through, I felt heard, understood, and even appreciated during my entire ordeal. They kept me looped in on important updates through timely emails and were willing to jump on calls to talk through questions and events as needed. Thankfully, Elizabeth and Kate were able to put my nerves at ease while preparing for and attending zoom depositions and court. I felt prepared as I knew exactly what to expect. Although my situation often felt scary and overwhelming, they were able to help calm these intrusive feelings by being upfront and direct with me. (They also helped me laugh at some of the ridiculous things as well, which I truly appreciated!) I hope this review helps for anyone feeling stuck and scared in their situation, unsure of what their next move looks like. When you enlist the services of Elizabeth and her team, you can rest assured that you will be in good hands.

Catherine understands the law, but she also understands people. She communicated with me in a way I…read moreunderstood and helped me negotiate a favorable settlement through collaborative divorce. Though I hope never to need a divorce attorney again, if I ever do, I'll go straight to Catherine.

I hate to publish this review, because as a human being I really like Mrs. Benouis. However I could…read morenever recommend her as your divorce attorney if you are going through a difficult divorce. There were many elements missing, and I can only cover a few, but here goes: There was a lack of a strategy, mathematical competence, and frankly focus. I was recommended to sign, and did an atrocious 'Temporary Orders' that was very beneficial to my ex, which incited here to not move towards a divorce at all. My eventual replacement attorneys told me it was the most one sided temp orders that they had every seen, against me. There were 6 figure math errors on the asset spreadsheet. I was charged thousands of dollars for this spreadsheet and I literally fixed it myself in 2-3 hours. There was significant work that I did regarding pre-marital financial claims and that I provided to Cathy, that was quite useful to my next attorneys, that she didn't even utilize. They just sat in a pile. My wife had committed criminal acts that Cathy refused to broach (even though I asked her to over and over), that my second attorneys were quickly able to leverage to get me a favorable settlement. Essentially Cathy placed no financial or time pressure upon my ex, therefore handicapping my settlement. Cathy offered 62% of the considerable estate to my ex at mediation. In the end my wife got about 45% of the estate based on my legitimate separate property claims. Pretty certain Cathy marks up outside services such as financial tracings, thousands of dollars since she sent me extra invoices that the Tracing company knows nothing about. She will charge you extra if you pay her using CCs whereas other attorneys don't. On more than one occasion she called me while driving around, with bad reception, 1x while driving through a drive-thru, and billed me $600/ hour for this. Eventually when I realized how bad my representation was, I made a list of my complaints, it was sort of a last chance for her to acknowledge her mistakes. She gaslit me more than my ex-wife, denying everything, messing up numbers in her explanation, etc.! I swapped attorneys (Smith & Bledsoe were my new attorneys) and when I told Cathy she made it clear that I would regret it terribly and be back. Boy was she wrong. My new attorneys quickly turned the tide of the case. They (new attorneys) filed a reciprocal Discovery and in it brought up my wife's criminal actions (things I had requested Cathy to do repeatedly, and she had all but refused) which instantly led my wife to pursue settling the divorce. My new attorneys were 66% of the hourly rate of Cathy, btw. In fact they didn't charge me for brief e-mail communications (i.e. can I swing by to talk), something for which I was billed for constantly with Cathy. I wasted $10s of thousands of dollars with Cathy, and so much personal stress and extra time that was totally unnecessary as a result of using Cathy. I also almost lost an extra $500K or so. Nothing was going to make my ex-wife reasonable, but the correct strategy makes a huge difference. My divorce is now settled although I still have 3 weeks to go till I get my home back. I really don't know how Cathy has so many glowing reviews. Maybe she was a different attorney in years past. That said, I would not take down this review unless I received a significant refund on the services I paid for, that frankly were not worth the money. Choose wisely!

I'm extremely grateful to Aubrey for her support during such a difficult time. She has been…read moreincredibly patient, empathetic, knowledgeable, and responsive throughout my divorce case. She always takes the time to answer my questions, explain things clearly, and provide detailed guidance and advice. After having a very different experience with my previous attorney, I immediately felt the difference when Aubrey took over my case. She made me feel heard, supported, and confident that my case was getting the attention it needed. Going through a divorce is never easy, but having a lawyer who is not only knowledgeable but also genuinely compassionate has made a huge difference. I truly appreciate Aubrey and would highly recommend her!

Aubrey helped me understand what I needed to do as I had not sued anyone before and greatly…read moreappreciate her assistance.