Shari Jo Reich

Just a horrible experience. She was late on most things; my divorce was dragged out 6 months longer than it should have been. I was working out of town at the time. Shari Jo didn't want to communicate by E-mail; and insisted on using regular post and by telephone. She either didn't return my call...s or returned them more than 48 hours later. At the beginning, the regular mail was delayed by many weeks due to insufficient postage or just returned to sender; Shari blamed the postal service. I offered to pay more for expedited mail; Shari Jo said she wasn’t setup for this. After some months, Shari did improve and put sufficient postage and faxed or sent by express mail key documents. Still, turnaround on documentation got slower as the case progressed. There were too many surprises. One occasion she called me and said she had 5 minutes before going into court regarding interim spousal support; she asked me how much I wanted to pay. When I asked, she wouldn't or couldn't make a recommendation. She said that she contacted me via regular mail; one of the letters returned to sender, sent a mere few days before the court date. I was out of the loop on this court matter. Afterwards, I was in shock and awe especially when I found out the price tag; significantly higher than MY recommendation. I was all set to drop her for this and a half-dozen other reasons. I called and spoke with her assistant; Shari was always too busy to take a call on the spot. Her assistant called back and said that Shari would call me in a week or two. Only when I told the assistant that if I didn't hear from Shari in 24 hours else I would drop her, that Shari actually called back promptly, and for a change, was polite. Many occasions, Shari would tell me something and then weeks later, totally different. One example was final spousal support. When I asked, Shari said she would fight anything exceeding the interim support payment. The other side came back and asked for more and a longer term. Shari said I would get slammed in court and give them what they wanted. At the beginning of the process, my spouse and I each had to do a financial disclosure. My spouse indicated a negative net worth and wanted me to pay legal expenses. I told Shari my spouse had tens of thousands in savings, not to mention wedding cash gifts deposited in my spouse’s accounts. I had proof in the form of statements. Shari said it didn’t matter and to pay my spouse’s legal expenses. So much for what I was told about Shari being a Tiger in court. Shari was too busy and, in my opinion disorganized. This was a simple case; no children, no real estate few assets and a short term marriage. Yet, it dragged on. I looked into getting another attorney. I received free advice from another local Buffalo lawyer whom recommended to keep Shari this far into the case. He said my interim support payments seemed steep and was surprised on how laid back Shari was in comparison to my spouse's lawyer whom he thought was more of a negotiator. Shari’s attorney fees were seemingly reasonable, they didn’t exceed the nonrefundable retainer. I only received a single hand written summary of hours, less than half the retainer, few dates on the hours, 3 months into the case. I would have been better off paying more for a responsive, detail oriented, better organized and caring lawyer. The savings in support payments would have more than offset the additional legal costs, not to mention the aggravation of dealing with a lawyer that just wasn’t into my case. It took close to a year before the agreement was finally signed off. I even got dinged by my spouse’s lawyer for more support due to what he deemed excessive delays blaming me!? I couldn’t figure that one out since I already started paying support 6 months prior. If you have Shari Jo as a lawyer and she isn't being responsive from the get go, drop her. It won't get any better and in the end cost more and cause you no end of grief.