I had Ms. Commander as a lawyer. I am a teacher of 35 years in Va. Beach City Public School. I am unsure why I was yelled at by Ms. Commander to sign documents that would leave me broke! Today I served for jury duty and I saw Ms. Commander in the circuit court building. We road the elevator together. Funny she doesn't even recognize her own clients. I own my property and she allowed my ex to get 50,000 while he never contributed to the welfare of he home, he is not even own he deed. I paid 9,000 estimated to her and still paying! She did not recognize me because she had no intentions of helping me. Could it be that I am African -American? She never sit down and tried to understand , heck, I never meet her! I felt bullied and cheated. Please see the red flags! I had a lawyer who did not care, and could give a hen's egg about my child or us having a home to live in. My ex was abusive, narcissistic and down right hateful. Please pick a lawyer who gives a dam! read more

My divorve took a full 4.5 years, was very difficult, stressful, expensive and full of anxiety for me. I cannot say enough about Mary and Abigail and the time they took to walk through this whole process with me the last 3 years of it. It was easily one of the most difficult times of my life, but they made it much better at so many time know that they had my back at every turn. Explained what needed to be done at every step. Provided words of encouragement when I wanted to give up. I wholly trusted them thru this process. I have met many attorneys thru business and life and they are by far, the best I've known or could ever recommend. read more

Everybody at Commander Law were amazing, beginning with our consultation. They were professional, honest, hard working, and worked quickly to expedite our adoption case. They were even so understanding with the complications due to a military schedule! A huge thank you to everybody at Commander Law for my son's adoption case, he now has the same last name as his daddy, and I got a deadbeat out of our lives! THANK YOU!!! read more

Note: The original review mentioned another business and was removed. This is that review with that reference removed. It's what Mary originality replied to: Had a case they never should have taken. $7,000.00 later, I am worse off than if they never got involved. Along the way I got charged for every hastily drafted email, every failure on their part to be clear, and every phone call to clarify. I was told off, repeatedly, for asking about legal strategies, accused of second guessing them when all I wanted was clarity and understanding. Find a different firm or do it yourself. This firm will treat you badly and charge you a lot while they do it. read more

Disappointing experience overall. The document we got from them was so confusingly written that our lawyers were unable to tell us exactly what some of the clauses meant. When we requested clarification we got a terse response stating that they cannot provide legal advice, which apparently includes explaining the language in a document that they prepared. Bottom line, we wasted our money and time and did not get the service we needed. To be fair, the office environment was lovely and the mediation discussion was helpful. Would not recommend. read more

Final Decree! A huge thank you to Mary Commander, Abigail Price, Emily Backus! Mary and her staff are extra special beyond words. This last year and 3 months have been the most challenging of my life. Mary and her staff have guided me through this entire divorce process. Having such a upstanding, experienced and professional Lawyer is the key to this process. After 31 years of marriage there is allot to work out and Commander Law knows all. If you ever need a stupendous Lawyer contact Commander Law!!!! read more

Commander Law - Divorce & Family Law Near Me - Norfolk, Virginia

Mary Commander and her entire legal team are what you need on your side for any family law matter. Hands down, Mary Commander knows the Virginia family law, and practices civility and integrity from start to finish. Mary is tougher than nails and handles any high-conflict and nasty opposing counsel with ease. Mary is reasonable and the entire legal team will have you and your children's best interest as a priority. Regardless, if you have mediation or need to go to court or trial, Mary is a strong litigator and will have your back. From the beginning, Emily (Mary's receptionist) was prompt, patient with my numerous emails, and very responsive. Most of all, when things seemed bleak and overwhelming, Emily was considerate, patient, and kind with every one of my visits to their office. My first visit with Mary was a preemptive and strategic move as my ex had not filed a motion with the local court yet. Mary did not want to take a retainer fee unless needed. This was different than the 7 other attorneys I'd met with in the local area. Mary is 100% the epitome of integrity and is up front with you about your case and will NEVER charge you unnecessarily. For any other reviews that dislike what Mary might say, it is only because she will be honest and never sugarcoat any situation. This is what you need in an attorney and a legal team. Good or bad, you need an attorney and team that won't run up the bill or be fake with you. A little bit after I met with Mary, the ex eventually filed numerous motions. I had approximately 60+ pages worth of discovery and questions to respond to. As chaotic as it might seem, Abby(Mary's paralegal) made sure the process was seamless. Abby's prompt communication and "hand-holding" made the prep for the court hearing much easier. In fact, Abby had even more experience and knowledge than my ex's own attorney! The entire team kept me in the loop and made sure all my questions and concerns were promptly addressed even with Mary's schedule. Mary is the attorney you need. Granted you never know what a judge might say or decide, but the team at Commander Law will do everything they can to ensure your things go in your favor. There is nothing more reassuring and uplifting than seeing Mary in action in a courtroom. It's a great feeling when Mary and her team are fully prepared and state your case eloquently while opposing counsel continue to stumble in their responses to the points Mary brings up. I know that my ex will continue ongoing/future frivolous litigation, but as long as I have Mary on my side, I know it will be okay! read more

Went through a long and complicated custody case that involved CPS and the police because of my scheming ex. Ms. Commander was able to help me through all of the crazy shenigans and get me exactly what I asked for. She will be the only lawyer you'll ever need. She is very knowledgeable and knows how to get the job done while maintaining integrity. A rare and true gem among lawyers!! She embodies and represent the standard that every lawyer should emulate!! read more

Mary and Tatiana are excellent attorneys, both with different strengths. Together they are a force to be reckoned with and you can rest assured that your case will be handled with expertise and care, and also that you won't be charged for anything unnecessary just to line their pockets. I highly recommend Commander Law to anyone with a difficult family law case. read more

Mary Commander and her staff are BULLIES !!! TO THEIR OWN CLIENTS. condescending, self-important, defensive, unorganized and argumentative, oh and she will putatively charge you for arguing with her. It's called "telephone conference". I was scared, stressed, despondent, frightened and expected strategy, advocacy, and some solidarity from my lawyer. Basically she was my EMPLOYEE. But NOPE. She treated me with contempt and rudeness. Don't expect her to have any compassion or patience. And for the love of St. Peter, don't get confused or she will nail you to the wall.....with an expensive response. My emails were misinterpreted and misunderstood and the response I got was hostile, defensive. BOOM $350. I am a highly educated, super sweet southern belle who never thought I would be going through the divorce process. Give me a break here, Mary... I got a big, "FU...and give me your money". NEVER hire a BULLY. They will treat YOU the way they treat the world. You can quote me on that. Should she respond to this review, bet u a dollar she will blame someone other than herself. read more

This law firm is probably the best in the area for family law. They are knowledgeable to the point that other attorneys actually call Ms. Commander to ask her legal questions on their cases. Ms. Commander is a straight-shooter who doesn't waste time or her clients' money. She is honest about what your options are and ensures that you do not spend your hard-earned money on paths that won't get you where you want to be. I would recommend Ms. Commander and Ms. Mendez to anyone. They are hard-working and brilliant attorneys that don't nickel and dime their clients. read more

The administrative staff of this law firm that I dealt with are the worst I've ever experienced! I paid $300 upfront for a consultation appointment I made yesterday at 2:38, and all I was told at that time was that the consultation had a $300 fee that was separate from the retainer if I chose to hire them. I called to cancel the appointment 3 hours after booking it but they were closed so I left a message on the answering machine and when Emily, the "administrative assistant" called me back she left a message stating that they will not process a refund for the full amount, only $260 because they charge a $40 cancellation processing fee. I called back right away, very upset because this policy is not listed on the receipt and she didn't inform me of it over the phone when I made the appointment. She was unhelpful, and snarky. When I got off the phone with her I called to dispute it with my bank but they couldn't do anything about it and stated they didn't see a refund pending either just the original $300 charge. So I called back a second time and I asked to speak to whoever was in charge and was denied that opportunity and told no one was available that day. I informed her I was disputing the charge with my bank and going online to share my experience of feeling scammed by their unknown policies, Emily continued to speak over me and when I told her to stop interrupting me she hung up on me. They never notified me of any of these so called "policies" up front when I made the appointment, or on the receipt I received via email after the booking. They claimed the policy is listed in a separate email that was sent with the client intake sheet, I have yet to open this email because it didn't come at the same time as the receipt and I left work after receiving the receipt email. Regardless of where they put the policy, they don't let you know about it until after it's too late; to conduct business and charge fees that are "hidden" until after a transaction is made is shady at best. If I had been notified I would be charged $40 to cancel the appointment, I would never have booked it. As I was writing this review I received another phone call from the firm, this time by a paralegal. She was calling to inform me that they would refund me the full amount but that if I made a bad review anywhere online they would "take legal action" against me for defamation. This paralegal also spoke over me and was extremely rude. It is my opinion that this law firm really needs to work on their policies, customer service and transparency. If this is how they behave over a cancellation I can only imagine the difficulties I would have had if I had kept the appointment and hired them. Do yourself a favor, avoid up front charges for consultations, in my experience it's a bad sign. This review is my opinion and my recollection of the event that took place today. I would not recommend this firm to anyone. read more

Mrs. Commander knows a lot, I'll give her that, so she's probably good to have that free consultation with. However, it was abundantly clear that she didn't want to be bothered much after I paid the retainer. Without the benefit of walking into her office, her communication efforts are abysmal... over 9 months, only twice on the phone, and takes literally weeks to reply to any email, and even then with only 1 sentence. She spent so much time telling me what she wouldn't do, wouldn't present in court, and what questions she just flat out wouldn't answer; which seemed directly contrary to me asking what "could" be done. She did seem to know what to expect when we went to court, but to a fault. I questioned a few things in the paperwork everyone was pressing me to sign only to have her blow over my concerns as "nothing to worry about". I'd say Mrs. Commander's ability as a lawyer is mediocre at best, and that people should seek out a more competent one. To this day I don't believe I did anything out of the ordinary to deserve such blatant disregard and disrespect from her. Despite awards bestowed on her, Mrs. Commander has been one of the worst lawyers I've ever experienced. Steer clear, spend your hard earned cash elsewhere. read more

I cannot recommend this attorney. Mary Commander was my attorney for my divorce. her fees have been over $25,000.00 to date. She advised me that the house was completely mine, since I assumed an existing mortgage before marriage. She even chastised me for even discussing a settlement with my spouse regarding the house. She also advised that my former spouse's marital infidelity did not matter according to VA law. Eight months later she sent me an email the night before a settlement meeting stating she was wrong. I was advised and convinced to sign an unfair agreement that most likely cost me tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in excess of what I believe a judge would have awarded my former spouse. When I voiced my concern that the settlement was unfair, she replied," That I got what I wanted". To add icing to the cake, Mary Commanders office botched/failed to file the orders for my marital share of my former spouses two retirement accounts, costing me another approximately $20,000 and continues to bill me for her paralegals "attempts" to obtain the QDRO information that should have been obtained prior to the divorce being finalized by the Court. Choosing her as my attorney was absolutely the worse financial decision of my life! I am considering a complaint to the VA Bar. read more