Rebecca Lynne Melone

Hiring Rebecca Melone to represent me in my child support and custody modification was one of the worst decisions of my life. Not only did she meet with me then hand me off to another lawyer, Priti Khanna, without asking my permission first, the lawyer, Priti, who ended up representing me in the c...ustody trial was unprepared to answer even the simplest questions about me for the court. e.g. When the court asked Priti "why should your client have sole custody of the kids", she froze like a deer in the headlights and after a long awkward pause muttered something completely incoherent and unconvincing. This was just one of the many failures that led up to a grand finale court. Everything fell apart in court. This case was literally a battle for me and my children's lives, and Rebecca Melone's firm who has billed me for over $30k now was completely unprepared for the simplest and most basic questions before the court. After that fiasco, I told Priti I would not go back into another courtroom with just her again, and then Rebecca pushed hard to stop being my attorney because she had moved to VA Beach. Although this was true, she had moved, she had also been my attorney for close to two years, and only six weeks away from the trial date Rebecca felt that she could drop me as a client so I could find a better representation for the support portion of my trial. That was probably the best advice she could have given me, but because I only had six weeks left to court and $25k sunk into her firm already I felt I had no choice but to insist she continue on, which ended up being a HUGE mistake. Today Rebecca Melone left the courthouse while I was sitting on the stand and under cross-examination from the opposing counsel. She had a sidebar with the judge and the opposing counsel then just left me there to represent myself. The judge didn't give me the option to continue or retry the case and I was left to defend myself in court. Defending myself in court after Rebecca Melone walked out was one of the most traumatic and surreal experiences of my life. I have never felt so helpless, hopeless, and abandoned in my entire life. Basically, I've wasted a small fortune, well over $30k and counting, and I ended up with nothing to show for it but having to represent myself in court without knowing where any of my evidence or exhibits were... I have now basically lost everything,... from more time with my kids, to any hope of being able to meet my support obligations, and I may even end up going to jail because the arrears support along with the failed modification and the rule to show cause has left me broke, broken, exhausted, and devastated to my core. It is clear to me now that hiring Rebecca Melone was the worst choice I could have possibly made.

I cannot stress enough the disappointment I had in the 6 months that Miss Melone was my lawyer. She presented herself with a spotless desk & understanding of what I was in need of. She followed up by submitting a different counter claim then we had discussed & essentially nothing else for the entire ...6 months that followed. The opposing counsel had many calls scheduled with her that she blew off & when I confronted her with this she spun several different stories that all contradicted each other. She was hired in October & told me that my pendente-lite-hearing was scheduled for January 16th. When I called the week of the hearing questioning why we hadn't gone over details she said she never actually scheduled it. Upon multiple phone calls & emails pressuring her to take initiative & schedule the hearing she finally got it scheduled for the end of April. (Over 6 months after she was hired). During this time there were several issues including a foreclosing home that she disregarded even though I had fully informed her of the dire need of action that needed to be taken. The straw that broke the camels back for me was on March 11th as I was on the phone with her relaying my disappointment in her lack of follow through, I was rear ended on 66 & told her I had been in a bad accident & needed to hang up. A full week went by where I tried contacting her to finish our conversation & fire her for lack of work on my case. She never once returned my call & never once reached out to see if I was ok after the accident. I finally had to fire her via email & when I had asked for a refund on the money I paid that she never earned she suddenly came up with statements claiming work on my case that was clearly never done. Prior to me firing her the last statement I had gotten was from December 9th. That tells you how much "work" she put into my case from then on... And to add insult to injury she had the nerve to bill out for $200 on the day I had gotten into the accident & was on the phone with her to fire her. I could go on & on about the regret I have for hiring Miss Melone as my attorney! Apparently it's easy to have a spotless desk when you aren't doing any work for your clients... With her "fancy billing" I have lost 6 months of precious time & $1000 that she refuses to return even a portion of.

I hired Rebecca for my custody case. She promised me at the initial conversation that we would meet and come up with a strategy and that never happened. Not only did she not keep me updated on what is going on. The opposing party had more information than I did. She did not always respond in a timely... manner. A lot of time I have to wait for a full day to get a simple answer. The strategy that we had didn't work for court date. She also did not prepare me for testifying in court. It was a failure all around. Not having the right strategy, my testimony. I would not recommend anyone hiring her if it involves your child.

Rebecca was a massive disappointment and I ultimately terminated her for a different attorney (good thinking on my part). At my consultation she mislead me about her ability to represent me and what my outcome would be with her. She was very flow to file. Then, when she did, she actually filed my m...otions citing things that were perfectly legal for the other party to do as complaints. The kicker for me is that Rebecca never actually came to my hearings. She sent others in her place who were literally late or didn't know what to do or how to act in front of the judge every single time. I hired Rebecca to be my attorney- not them. She never explained why she never made it- is she spread too thin? Was I not a priority? Is she lazy? I only met her one time at the consultation. I fired her and she gave me a hard time about showing up to the next hearing to withdraw from my case (which, btw, she didn't show up! she sent someone to do it for her!). I also discovered a hearing that she never told me about once I fired her and received all of my paperwork back. My NEW attorney informed me about it and the new problem I now had. In a nutshell: I do not recommend her. There are many other dedicated and skilled lawyers to pick from - don't short change yourself.