Stephen W French

My number one piece of advice for anyone seeking legal counsel in clarion county: RUN (don’t walk) to Attorney French’s law firm. Attorney French is one of a kind. He gives REAL advice, not fluff in hopes that you’ll hire him. He offers free consults as well. He WILL work hard for you until your prob...lems are diminished, not just take your money and waste time. He is worth every cent.

I hired Mr. French to legally change my daughter's last name. I explained during my initial consultation with Mr. French, that although my first husband and I had already been separated for over a year when my daughter was conceived (by my now current husband) the state of Georgia where she was born ...would not allow my daughter's biological father to be named on her birth certificate due to the fact I was technically still married to my first husband at the time of conception. As my daughter was due to start elementary school, my husband and I desired to change her last name before she entered school. I called a couple of attorneys (in May) inquiring about the possibility of having her named changed legally by August before school began. Mr. French assured me this was indeed possible. In June, during my consultation with Mr. French, I gave him a check for $1000 for this purpose. The check was cashed immediately. In early August, I had not heard from Mr. French or his office. The first day of school was only a couple short weeks away. I contacted his office to inquire and was told my ex-husband had not signed and returned the paperwork they sent. When I questioned as to why I was not made aware of this, time being of the essence, I was told they "were about to contact me". I contacted my ex-husband myself. He sent me a copy of the paperwork received from Mr. French's office. The paperwork my ex-husband was sent, clearly stated my ex-husband was my daughter's biological father and by signing this form, he was terminating his parental rights. Of course, knowing he is not my daughter's biological father, he refused to sign the papers. But Mr. French, nor his office, contacted me with this information. I was not made aware of this before contacting Mr. French's office myself. When I asked why my ex-husband was sent these particular papers, obviously a contradiction to everything I explained in my initial consultation, (which I was charged over $200 for), I was informed the papers were "standard forms" they send. Frustrated, I demanded Mr. French's office send "non-standard" forms, paperwork appropriately reflecting the unique circumstances. My ex-husband was eventually sent appropriate paperwork, but my daughter started school without the name change. Mr. French's office contacted me with a court date for November. The MORNING OF that date, I received a call from Mr. French's office. Mr. French's office was suppose to run an ad in the newspaper for a set period of time announcing the child's name change. It was not done. Therefore, the court date had to be postponed until this was complete. I was literally walking out the door to the courthouse when I received the call! In December/January (I can't recall at this moment), my daughter's name was changed to her biological father's name. Although her name is now legally changed, I still do not have a Birth Certificate reflecting this. What I did receive was a bill from Mr. French's office charging me another $500 dollars, over $200 of this attributed to having to speak to my ex-husband, a conversation that would never had taken place if Mr. French's office had not sent the initial inappropriate paperwork to begin with. I was also charged for the phone conversations I had to have with his office in order to have the appropriate paperwork sent to my ex-husband. I have not paid Mr. French the additional $500 and I have no intentions to. My personal opinion based solely on my own personal experience with Mr. French and his office, is I wouldn't recommend his services. The audacity this office displayed by charging me additional money for their blunders, lack of care and detail, despite the fact that I did not receive what I hired this office for in the time period I was assured, is appalling to say the least. Unless, the bare minimum is what you seek, look elsewhere for council. You deserve to get your money's worth and not receive an additional inflated bill for their incompetence.