Michael A Blanchard

My experience with Michael Blanchard and his law firm was extremely disappointing. From the very beginning, communication was a major issue. Michael scheduled multiple appointments and phone calls with me, but he either didn’t show up or didn’t follow through. It was difficult to reach him or anyone ...at the firm via phone, and emails were rarely answered. I had to repeatedly call, hoping to catch someone to discuss my case. On one occasion, he told me, "We will meet after court," but when we met, he dismissed me, saying, "I don’t have time for this, I have to do it another day." He then instructed me to call his office and schedule another appointment. This kind of behavior was unacceptable, especially during such a stressful time. Michael also canceled important hearing proceedings at the last minute, leaving me scrambling to make adjustments. Worse yet, I was charged for court proceedings on days when there was no court. Despite all of this, my entire retainer was used up with no real progress or results in my case. One of the most troubling aspects of my experience was that Michael seemed to lean towards my husband’s lawyer’s side rather than defending me. He pressured me into signing a temporary order, telling me that I wouldn’t get a better deal if I went to the hearing. Unfortunately, I signed the temporary order, which was not beneficial to me but heavily favored my husband. His lack of advocacy made me feel unsupported and vulnerable in a critical situation. Additionally, Michael failed to act when I specifically requested an estimate of my husband’s tools and business months ago. Despite multiple calls and emails, he never took any steps to obtain this crucial information. Overall, Michael’s lack of professionalism, failure to communicate, and unwillingness to defend my interests made this process much more difficult. I cannot recommend him or his firm to anyone seeking reliable legal representation

I selected Mike Blanchard from Suisman Shapiro to handle my divorce on a recommendation from my family’s lawyer. I needed a CT lawyer & was told Mike was a “bulldog” - the kind of lawyer I would need & want in a divorce proceeding. After a positive initial dialogue, I hired Mike but, unfortunately, i...t was downhill from there as both the lawyer & his support team left me feeling alone & constantly searching for answers. Over the course of the divorce proceedings, it was routinely difficult to get ahold of Mike or his assistant. It often took two weeks & 10+ phone calls to get anyone to respond to me. On three occasions, Mike failed to show up for an appointment & gave no notice, so I sat waiting for a phone call that never came. Throughout the process, it was like pulling teeth to get information. I was often left in the dark & out of the loop. Mike’s assistant was impossible to reach & routinely sent me paperwork at the last minute – the paperwork was dated, which showed that she’d had it weeks in advance but failed to send it to me until the very last minute. This left me scrambling to pull together paperwork - instead of having a month to pull everything together, I had a few days. On the day we were supposed to figure out a settlement, Mike handed me a settlement agreement & said, “you just have to review the first page, everything else is the same as the last version.” The only problem was this was the first time anyone had shown me the settlement – I hadn’t seen any other drafts. Mike was under the impression I had seen it weeks in advance & had been part of an input process – he was surprised that we were sitting in a courthouse trying to finalize a settlement when no one had sent it to me in advance. Imagine how confident I must’ve felt going into that proceeding knowing that my lawyer had no clue that I had been out of the loop… Mike & opposing counsel then went into the courtroom while I waited outside. I was shocked & angry to learn after the fact that Mike had used my ex-husband’s mental health as an argument during those closed-door proceedings, when I had made it clear during our planning sessions that I didn’t want those factors brought up. After the settlement was finalized, Mike told me it would take about one month for a QDRO to be finalized & funds to be transferred. Two months later with no update, I called the office. Again it took two weeks for anyone to return my calls; they said they were waiting for me & my ex to return paperwork that they had never sent to either of us. They apologized for the oversight & sent us forms to complete, which we did immediately. Several weeks later I called for an update. They still hadn’t sent the paperwork to the 401(k) company. After another month with no progress, updates, or response from my lawyer, I took over the QDRO process, making calls every day between the 401(k) company & the lawyer to ensure the process continued. The lawyers kept saying “we’re waiting to hear from the 401(k) co. & the 401(k) co. kept saying the lawyers hadn’t yet sent paperwork. Somehow, the lawyers I was paying couldn’t get updates from the 401(k) company, yet I was able to do it regularly in 10-minute phone calls. The lawyers asked ME to keep THEM in the loop. This firm was a joke & left me scrambling, playing defense, & trying to move this process along myself. They provided little-to-no guidance, showed no value for my time, demonstrated complete lack of interest in my case – if not negligence – and cost me a lot of extra money with poor guidance along the way. I found Mike to be empathetic, but the representation & experience to be pathetic. Imagine how bad an experience has to be for the person you’re divorcing to say, “wow, your lawyer is awful - I feel bad for you.” I STRONGLY recommend you go elsewhere for your divorce lawyer. Maybe use my ex-husband’s lawyer – she was much better than mine.