James H Davis III

I hired Jay Davis to help me with a divorce. During my consultation, I showed Jay all the due diligence and paperwork I had gathered and he told me that I had done all of the work and the matter would be trivial to get to either a settlement or a filing, which was the basis of a 2-week timeline of mi...lestones that Jay completely neglected once he got his retainer. Over the course of the next several months, Jay dragged the process on, was incredibly unresponsive, required me to explain things I had shared with him previously multiple times, and went away on vacation when I was expecting something from him without even giving me advanced notice. Jay's lack of follow through and failure to honor his fiduciary duty to me as a client may have potentially cost me tens of thousands of dollars, if not more. Additionally, Jay advised that I begin alimony payments prior to an order from a judge. Since consulting with several attorneys now, I've been informed that this was a huge mistake and not something they have ever seen or would advise their clients to do, particularly in my case when alimony may not ever be required. Jay was at least informed of the new tax laws and how alimony might shake out *if* it were awarded, which was one positive I can say for him, but this is like saying a mechanic who suggested you change your brakes on a car that doesn't require brakes is knowledgeable about brake jobs! Finally, when negotiations broke down after Jay had assured me we were on the right track, his next advice was to engage in even more costly negotiations that would blow up his legal fees as well as other fees to mediators significantly. Be careful with Jay Davis. He is the definition of "bait and switch." Before he had me as a client, he was responding to me immediately regardless of time of day, and even met with me during the weekend. Once he had me locked in, Jay behaved like an unskilled, low wage employee who needs to be tracked down to get any sort of response from him. He claims vacations and "more urgent" matters such as his criminal cases take precedent, but this is not what I signed up for when I agreed to engaging with what I was promised to be a professional *divorce* attorney with the supporting infrastructure that commands $350/hr.

I have used the services of Graeber, Davis, & Cantwell a number of times during the past 10 years and found them to be an extremely professional and caring law firm. Specifically I have used them for real estate transactions and for estate planning, wills, and healthcare proxies, with Jay Davis as my... primary lawyer. Whereas some law firms use boiler plates and treat clients as transactions, Jay and the firm have cared about my specific needs as a client and customized to those needs. I highly recommend this firm.