Amanda Elizabeth Schmidt

I found Ms Schmidt to be very knowledgeable regarding the specifics of my case, timely with document preparation and honest when presenting the available options. While my case may not have been complicated, it felt complicated to me. Ms Schmidt calmly walked me through each option, defined the pos...sible results of any chosen option and made several valid suggestions.

Amanda was great, she has been representing us since 2009 in an ongoing custody battle. She is on top of all paperwork and proceedings and very knowledgeable about the law and your rights. We have received what we wanted plus more in the standing court order regarding custody and child support. I wou...ld recommend Amanda and will continue to use her for custody issues in the future.

As if going through a divorce isn’t Bad Enough, hiring an attorney like Amanda Schmidt with the law firm Ward Pratz & Associates located in Glen Burnie, Maryland just makes the whole situation that much more abusive, painful and expensive. My brother’s wife had plotted/planned and was able with the h...elp of the State of Maryland to get him restrained from his home, with nothing but the clothes on his back. My brother’s wife had soaked him in mace and called the police. When the police got there they asked him if he wanted to go to the hospital and when he said no they gave his wife possession of everything (all his keys) and took him to jail. When he got out of jail he had “NOTHING” thanks to the police and our useless judicial system, so my mother helped him financially. She was 85 years old and working in a school cafeteria for less than the attorney fees a month, but would put some of her savings with her pay check and pay the bill every month. Now for why you should stay clear of Ward Pratz & Associates. When we met with Amanda Schmidt she came on strong. She stated that men aren’t treated right in the state of Maryland (if you’re a woman you can probably replace the word men with women because I’m sure a woman would hear the same sell pitch), got into what all she was going to do and wanted a retainer of $1200. She missed her calling she should have been a salesperson. Anyway, she convinced us that she was going to help my brother. I spent hours searching the internet for case info, printing pictures to present as evidence, coping laws to reference, writing to Judges, etc. I printed out and gave Amanda so much stuff to work with, if she would have used it I think my brother would have gotten something out of his 37 year marriage. I could fill the internet up with things she didn’t do for my brother, but it would take but a second to tell you what she did “Nothing”. After the court gave his wife everything and the case was over my brother, mother and I met with Cathleen Ward about how Amanda had handled the case. During this meeting Cathleen Ward said that “it was a difficult case”, at which time mother replied “if it was too difficult for you why didn’t you said so instead of just keep taking my money”. What this tells me is that if you could settle out of court and really don’t need an attorney (in other words, uncomplicated, straightforward and requires no labor/work), and you just want to pay thousands of dollars to have someone sit beside you in court than this is the law firm for you. Going though a horrible divorce and losing everything is abusive enough without being totally used up financially and mentally by attorneys. The result would have been the same without this law firm, BUT mother would still have her $12,000. Amanda was totally useless.