Shawn Michael Dorward

We hired Shawn in 2017 to represent my husband when he was wrongly accused of aggravated assault in York County. I heard that the McShane Firm was the best around, and when I placed my initial call for consultation I had every intention of hiring Justin McShane, as I wanted the best of the best. S...hawn was the attorney to call me back. I was an emotional wreck when he called me, and he took the time to listen to what had happened. My husband was attacked by 3 men, one of whom had stolen our car a month before and we had charges pending against. The assault took place in retaliation to these charges, yet the investigating officer never looked into motive, and immediately assumed my husband, who had a stroke a month before, is disabled, and was just diagnosed with cancer, was the perpetrator. He spent 3 months in prison with cancer, and without proper medication for his complex medical conditions. We lived in absolute hell for the 2 years that these charges were pending. From the very first phone call, Shawn immediately and passionately vowed to defend my husband. I was given the choice to hire any attorney in their practice, but from that first consultation, I went with my gut and chose Shawn. His professionalism, compassion, and empathy were evident. It was a bit scary for me to know that I wasn't choosing the man that the firm is named for, but something in my heart told me that Shawn was the true man for the job, and Shawn proved me right every single step of the way! Over the next two years, Shawn represented us fiercly in each proceeding (so many I can't even remember the number). He, and his paralegal Amanda were always on their absolute A Game, with collecting all of the evidence and keeping us abreast of exactly what was happening in very confusing and scary times for us. He gave us his cell number and answered calls and texts from us promptly, and at all hours of the day and night. Shawn collected the necessary medical information for my husband to receive medical bond, thus enabling him to receive treatment for the cancer that was killing him, and to be home and nursed back to health with his 2 children and myself. Shawn's hard work truly saved my husband's life! My husband calls Shawn a bulldog in the courtroom because he digs in and fights for us to the end. This is absolutely true. Shawn was up against much of our evidence being suppressed and horribly twisted news stories that painted my husband as a monster. The recording of our hour long 911 call somehow disappeared! The call proved we reported the assault and asked for help. The hospital records were even altered and my husband overheard the officer telling the medical personnel that there was nothing wrong with him, and that the record should reflect that! Despite all of these unbelievable barriers, Shawn took this case to a jury trial and won! He has a commanding presence in the courtroom, and his likable and professional demeanor have proven to be invaluable in the good working relationships he has with the DAs and judges. It is horribly traumatic to live through something like this. However, with Shawn on our side every step of the way, it gave us some peace of mind knowing that he was not just fighting for us, he was really WITH us. He made the scariest time of our lives bearable and ensured that our family would not be broken up. Our kids will never again live the hell of seeing their innocent father "behind the glass" of a prison visitation room. We highy recommend Shawn to any and everyone needing a defense attorney. We never thought we would genuinely come to love him, but he feels like family to us now. He truly is a super hero. We will be grateful for his representation for the rest of our lives.

I can’t say enough great things about Shawn and his paralegal, Amanda. After being charged with a DUI, which would have been a second offense, and having my CDL license, I knew that the consequences would be horrific for my family. After contacting several other attorneys and being told, “I’m a law...yer, not a magician”, and that I would have to do at least 2 weeks in jail and 2 weeks house arrest, Shawn was my magician. From the initial contact he made us feel comfortable and that we really did have a fighting chance, and I knew that I had to hire him. He told us that he would do what it took and wanted to get this pled down to a non-DUI offense, and that he did! At the preliminary hearing, Shawn managed to work a deal with the DA to where I pled guilty to a summary offense and nothing more. No license loss, no jail time, no probation. He is very personable which made talking to him incredibly easy after such an embarrassing mistake on my part. It’s a well known fact that you get what you pay for, but a loss of license, loss of job, and jail time would have cost me a lot more. Thanks Shawn and Amanda for all of your hard word, reassurance at the most stressful of times, and for always being available and responsive.

Shawn is a very personable and intelligent attorney. I was confronted with a DUI for taking perscription meds 2 days before. It seemed ludicrous but it was being pushed to the limit. In the end after 18mo a not guilty verdict was handed down. I originally questioned hiring an attorney of his caliber ...but I am fortunate that I had.

In 2016 my son was involved in a pair of marijuana related DUI charges which eventually required the services of an attorney. We had hired an attorney from the Harrisburg area when the initial DUI charges were filed but weren’t particularly happy with him so we looked into other options and came acro...ss the McShane Firm and attorney Shawn Dorward. We would end up working with Shawn for over a year and a half as things would turn out and we were very happy with the work he did in that time. He represented my son in a bench trial, a jury trial and an appeal and I thought he did an outstanding job in all cases. These are what I felt were Attorney Dorward and the McShane Firm’s strongest points: - Responsiveness We had an initial consultation over the phone where Shawn took the time to go over costs, potential outcomes, options, etc, which then led to a face to face discussion and throughout that initial time we felt that he was paying attention to our concerns and the particulars of our case individually. Once we had decided to go with him, throughout the next year and a half he and his paralegal, Amanda Jones, were always responsive to emails, they set up conference calls on the spur of the moment or face to face meetings whenever needed. Amanda always provided copies of important documents and filings and I don’t recall any times where questions or requests for advice went unanswered. We never felt that we weren’t a priority or that they didn’t have time to accommodate us. Many times we arranged for calls or meetings on the same day the request was made. - Competency/Preparedness Shawn was always on top of the timeliness of filings and making sure all appointments were kept. In the year and a half we worked with him, Shawn was in a courtroom in front of a judge at least five times where I was able to observe him with other defense attorneys, assistant DA’s, the county DA, etc and in EVERY instance I would say Shawn was without a doubt the most competent, prepared and impressive attorney in the room. As I mentioned earlier, we had direct experience with other local attorneys and without question Shawn was much better prepared than any of the others we had dealt with. - Results In our experience, the end results were in line with our expectations. The jury trial resulted in a not guilty verdict and most of the credit would be due to Shawn’s preparedness and experience in working in that environment. In the other cases we felt the results were the fairest judgments that could be expected, given the circumstances. Overall we felt that Attorney Dorward and his experience with DUIs were a big help in making sure there were very few surprises along the way. In summary, we had no regrets whatsoever going with Shawn and the McShane Firm. For representation for DUI related cases in the central PA area I would highly recommend them and would go with them again without hesitation.

Shawn was my lawyer for a DUI case, in which I was charged with a General Impairment DUI after a car accident that was precipitated by bald tires, not alcohol. I had been drinking, but my BAC was under legal limit. I was still charged with a "General Impairment" DUI. There were a lot of issues, an...d Shawn helped me with every one of them. My charges were brought down to summary offenses. Wonderful and upfront. Prompt and very very personable. I was very happy with Shawn and the McShane firm. They work very hard for you!