Patricia Ann Fersch

Pat is the best lawyer that I've worked with. She has a friendly, direct approach which gave me a sense of ease from our very first call. What could have been a long and drawn out divorce was handled quickly and effectively due to her expert guidance. Whenever I had doubt or anxiety about the divorce... process she shared with me earnest encouragement coupled with her unmatched expertise. Pat is professional and genuine and dedicated. I don't wish divorce on anyone but if you find yourself headed for one contact Pat.

Pat acted for me in a particularly nasty divorce that lasted all of 33 months. She got me the divorce that I wanted and a good, reasonable and fair settlement. She consistently had my best interests at heart and advocated strongly for me at every step of the way. I will always remember one poor Jo...e at the courtroom door saying to me "Wow, I wish she was my lawyer!" And I will always remember, too, the day that she turned up for a status conference, even though she was as sick as a dog. She kept me focused and realistic throughout and, frankly, protected me from myself at times. She kept me fully informed and promptly answered all of my messages and queries. She never fed me with false hopes, but was, at the same time, a tower of strength. I always had the fullest confidence in her ability to prevail in the end. Her billing was fair and reasonable and she did not hit me with absurd charges for every email interaction. I have heartily recommended her to friends and acquaintances since she acted for me. I am myself a lawyer (though not qualified in New York).

I consulted Ms. Fersch regarding a New York divorce case involving significant financial disparity between spouses and a DRL §237 counsel fee motion strategy. Her response was dismissive and partially inaccurate. She incorrectly framed the relevance of my spouse's trust fund income — confusing ass...et ownership with income available for support, which are two very different legal concepts. Trust fund income is absolutely relevant to spousal support calculations and counsel fee motions under DRL §237, regardless of whether the non-monied spouse has any ownership claim to the trust itself. She did not engage seriously with the specifics of my case and provided a generic response that did not reflect a careful reading of the facts presented. For a case of this complexity, I expected more depth and precision. I would not recommend her for complex matrimonial matters.

Patricia was positive about my divorce case until she collected my retainer. Then she tried to brow beat me to settle for alimony and support payments upon which I would have defaulted in one month's time. Further, if my circumstances changed (layoff, reduced bonus) I knew I'd be in serious trouble... if I agree to these terms for which she was pushing. Agreements can only be altered by a court if a change in circumstances is foreseeable -- layoffs, etc. are foreseeable. Essentially, if I followed her advice, I would have found myself defending against repeated attacks by my ex-wife to throw me in jail for contempt in not being able to make those payments. Her response to my criticism was that the courts did not care about fathers and would actually prefer to see me living out of a cardboard box in the bronx. she was supposed to be my advocate. she made one appearance for a status conference on my case. I had previously file a downward motionas my interim payments exceeded my income. She silently stood at attention, not saying a word, as the other side berated me in front of the judgte for not making my support and alimony payments in full. She offered not one word of support -- such as thee payments exceed his income. He's trying everything, he's paying what he can on credit card checks, we are wiating to hear on our downward motion. The judge was not pleased. i fired her immediately. i would not recoomend that any man hire her -- in my opinion i think she is prejudiced against men.