Last February, I was in the market for a lawyer to assist me with my child custody battle. I was referred to this office from a close trusted lawyer (who was unable to take my case due to his branch of study and who said this office is willing to help me with fees). I stepped into this firm had everything on hand and ready to go- Mr. Jerry Snider welcomed me into his office and he explained to me how these cases work. Mediation. So that day, I gave him and his secretary Kelly, all the information that they would possibly need, as well as a payment in full. (I thought that's how it goes when you do business- or atleast to be taken seriously) also, they did not lower the fee whatsoever- not even a payment in full discount, but whatever they still got their money. August comes around and finally we have a set Mediation date ( I understand courts are busy,so I don't blame them). However, this being my first time in court I wanted to prepare myself. So I would call, and as inconvenient as it was for Kelly, I finally got ahold of Mr. Snyder. He told me that there was absolutely nothing I could prepare myself for. ( I was thinking maybe come in with a paper listing what my ideal time sharing consisted of- I mean it wouldn't hurt and if I froze up atleast I would have something to help, I've never done this before please cut me some slack.) Well that's what I did, wrote exactly what I thought would be in the best interest for my child. Oh silly me, I came to mediation and was hit with time share, transportation, communication, child support (which was already court ordered), taxes, I mean you name it and it was there. I wasn't prepared whatsoever which resulted in a high level of anxiety and crying. Which I was told to stop since there was nothing he could do about it. Hah. Why couldn't I have been smart enough to come with all of this written down?!? Oh because it's my first time in court and I hired the first lawyer I was recommended without doing ANY type of research. So I totally take blame. I ended up getting what I wanted-somewhat, but not with my lawyers help. Let's not talk about the proof I had for harassment and my child fathers history with drugs...that my lawyer told me not bring up, or the restraining order that I needed him to assist me with. After 30 or so minutes he was just trying to get me to agree to the father's wants because he had to pick his kid up at 5 or something of that nature. THATS PROFESSIONAL. I pay you in full and you try to hurry out of my case and get me to just say yes (when absolutely nothing the father wants is beneficial to our child??) to whatever the child's father wants- are you kidding me?? I thought lawyers aren't suppose to be pushovers. Not to be rude but maybe I'm wrong. But I wasn't budging If he wasn't going to fight for me I was going to do it myself- it's my child we're talking about here. So the complaints about the time of my mediation grew substantially by 5 o clock. Maybe my mediation wouldn't have taken so long (4hrs) if I would have been prepared prior and didn't have to work out dates, math, etc right then and there- that takes time. Anyways. Mediation done. So waiting for our agreement to become official and until now ( September 2014 to now August 2015)- I have had questions/concerns. I thought since I paid them to handle my case well they could help me, boy was I wrong. Let me go ahead and state my next complaint. If you don't want your calls answered or returned-by all means this is the place for you!! I can't tell you how many messages I've left Kelly. I even started asking the other secretary in the office to forward me straight to Jerry's phone (thinking oh maybe Kelly's just too busy and he would expedite or remind her to atleast call/email me). Well I got a few emails back in October after I got the official copy of the mediation agreement and that was it. I had a few concerns about a few months ago- one being that my child is with his dad (summer break- I pay to get him there dad pays to get him back) well his dad said he couldn't pay to get him back... Umm what do I do about this??? So I called my awesome lawyer. And called. And called. And well it's it's been 2 months. Thankfully I got my kid back- unfortunately I still haven't gotten a call back. Shocker. So since I'm a newbie to the whole "court scene" is it normal that once you finish up an agreement with the court and your attorney are they just able to be done and not return your calls? I mean I paid you thousands.. In full.... Just to get dropped-without notice. I understand I'm not your only case but hey whatever pays your bills right?? I can go on and on but I feel as if I touched the main things. I highly DONT recommend hiring Jerry and Kelly. You will waste thousands. Just my opinion. read more
