Carolyn C Swiggart

Attorney Swiggart represented my soon-to-be ex-spouse in a contentious divorce case. I was represented by a very well-known divorce firm. It soon became apparent that Attorney Swiggart had a much better grasp of the issues and personalities while clearly understanding how to get the job done efficiently. Throughout her involvement in the case, she exhibited the highest ethical and professional standards, and no matter how heated things became, she was always polite to me and my lawyer while keeping her eye on the ball. In addition, she knows how to negotiate really well—and not all lawyers do.

I've been a client,and I've read the other reviews. All I can say is that when it came time to do my agreement, Swiggart was very thorough. She made sure that I read each of the paragraphs and understood all the terms. We had a very complicated divorce. I chose to settle rather than go to trial. But I knew what I was getting into. Did I take my ex "to the cleaners"? No-- but we got a fair settlement, saved a lot of legal fees, and we have had peace. Friends who went through a trial (with other lawyers) didn't get everything they wanted, either. At least we knew what we were getting.

Carolyn did a great job for me in a very difficult, high conflict, divorce case. She "got it"-- she knew exactly how to "read" the other side and constructed a strategy that met my needs as well as to resolve the matter in an efficient way. She takes the high road, but can also wage war when necessary. Carolyn communicated well with me, and shared her thoughts at each stage. I found her billings to be fair. She did not prolong the divorce, and did not create problems where there weren't any. I had choices-- which is something that some of my friends have said they didn't necessarily get from their attorneys. Overall, I was very satisfied.

Attorney Swiggart is the perfect example of why most people regard lawyers as shysters. Four examples: FIRST, she was hired as my divorce attorney on the basis that she claimed she would immediately obtain the return of $135,000 my ex had swiped from a joint bank account. But three months later she'd made no attempt to pursue the money and declined to pursue then on the basis of her claim that a settlement was imminent. Then Swiggart participated in a joint conference with my ex's attorney wherein my ex sought agreement to spend $50,000 to $100,000 on my son's medical needs. I agreed and this was witnessed and approved by Swiggart - I agreed to the expenses IF AND ONLY IF the missing $135,000 was used for the child's expenses. But in the end, again, I never saw any of the missing $135,000. And I ended up using other monies regarded as marital assets. To add insult to injury, Swiggart assured me that my incursion of related child-care expenses that exceed 50% would be reimbursed. But after billing me for professional services to assemble receipts and negotiate with opposing counsel Swiggart never got a penny of my money back. SECOND: During discovery my ex repeatedly failed to cooperate with requests for document production. After billing me for a significant amount of legal time wasted on chasing appropriate documents Swiggart advised me to pay her fees to prepare a Motion to Compel. I had to invest several thousand dollars in this motion. And Swiggart assured me that the judge would award me the right to recover legal expenses incurred. However, Swiggart failed to appear before the judge to argue the motion I paid for. And more importantly she made no attempt whatsoever to inform me in advance that she did not attend to appear in court. Furthermore she made no effort whatsoever to advise me and obtain my consent to abandon the effort. Swiggart then billed me for professional services to file a Motion to Retain, a motion she filed NOT because it was her idea. Rather, I directed her to do so on advise I'd received from 3rd party attorneys. Essentially I'd had to pay hire third party counsel to coach me on how to manage an ineffective lawyer. Thus I spent several thousand dollars in legal expenses which was a complete waste because Swiggart elected on her own to simply not appear in court to argue the motion on her client's behalf. If that is bad enough I finally did get a modicum of document production two months later, after spending yet more money on Swiggart's legal time. However, the interrogatories that Swiggart had me spend thousands of dollars to obtain were never signed by my ex! The document can therefore repudiated. Accepting interrogatories from an opposing council in an adversarial and uncooperative divorce, AND failing to insure that the interrogatory documents were actually signed when delivered to her is irresponsible and asleep at the wheel at best. In my layman's opinion this is incompetence. THIRD: I had co nsultation with my CPA that resulted in my requiring certain language in the divorce agreement that protected me from inappropriate capital gains taxes. Its a crying shame that Swiggart argued with me and insisted the language was unenforceable with the IRS. To add insult to injury Swiggart said she was refusing to include the language I requested in a draft to be submitted to my ex. Note that Swiggart has no credentials as a CPA, but declines to recognize my CPA's expertise in tax matters. This matter was only resolved when I informed Swiggart that we had a stalemate because I would refuse to sign a divorce settlement that failed to include the language recommended by my CPA. She eventually capitulated and the language my CPA wanted me to have is included in the final agreement signed and filed with the court. Whose side is this lawyer on, anyway!? FOURTH: Adding yet more insult to injury, once my divorce was finally on the books I promptly paid Swiggart in full. I then fired Swiggart in writing, and demanded the return of my complete file. Swiggart declined to return my original do