Teresa Sexton Cole

Absolute outstanding representation. Ms Cole represented me in an interstate custody battle to regain custody of my son after eight years. Her knowledge of the law, attention to detail, and tireless preparation before trial resulted in a one-sided victory in court, when the obstacles appeared insur...mountable going in. In court, she was nothing short of amazing...controlled, agressive, and extremely quick on her feet, Ms Cole was able to paint the opposition into corner after corner, and seize on multiple pop-up opportunities that smashed the underpinnings of their case. Following the case, Ms Cole and her staff were equally adept at taking care of the details of visitation and child support. They dealt with what, in my personal opinion, was questionable behavior with impressive grace, without ever leaving the high road or loasing the advantage. They answered insult, bluster, and trickery, with professionalism, cool patience, and agressive application of the Virginia Code to mantain the advantage. Ms Cole earned every penny her firm billed. All calls were returned within hours, documents were prepared and filed within days, and she or her staff would personally deliver documents and filings to the courthouse to ensure they were received and negotiate with the clerks to expedite the process. Her billing was fair, and each month, I received a detailed account of exactly where the money was spent. She used paralegals and associate attorneys whereever practical to reduce costs, and in the end, the cost, while not cheap, was it was well worth it. By expediting the trial process and reducing the out-of-court nonsense, she saved me tens of thousands of dollars.

Teresa not only successfully navigated a very ugly and twisted divorce over a 12 month period, but she provided expert advice and counsel for the next 6 years when my ex spouse continued to attack my reputation in every conceivable way. She won every time we went before a judge - and I can't remembe...r how many times that was. I hope I have no need of her in the future but I would call upon her in an instant.

Teresa was able to sort through my incoherent babbling, my kids fears, their father's constant posturing and legal maneuvering, years of legal documents and a very emotionally charged situation and get the results the kids (and I) needed and wanted - which is to say, no more flying across the country... to spend 4 weeks of their summer in less than safe and enjoyable circumstances. The kids spent all year worrying about their summer visit - literally from the time they returned they started worrying about the next visit. (And so did I.) I did not want them to stop seeing their father, but after several years of anxiety, bad stories, etc. felt it was time for him to come here to see them. They also were done wasting holidays with him, as he didn't actually celebrate the holidays, and meanwhile they were missing celebrating with the family, so they wanted to stop holiday visits as well. Teresa was able to talk to all of us in a meaningful way, understanding what we wanted, were afraid of, didn't want and assuring us constantly that we were not being unreasonable and in fact, that we had put up with way more than we needed to, that the law provides protection for the kids when visiting the other parent. (Previous lawyer had assured me there was nothing to be done about the situation.) I can't explain how hard I, in particular, was to work with, but Teresa was able to parse through my turmoil and determine what was going on, what needed to be done, guide me though the steps I had to take, guide the kids through their parts, and of course, prepare a valid legal defense that ultimately was agreed upon. She totally supported us, she exhibited a very clear understanding of the law and post divorce situations. She and her team were also responsive, reliable, intelligient, professional and very skillful with us and with the opposing counsel. We have had several years of peace with their new visitation plan, thanks to Teresa. She truly gave us our lives back. I have talked to her recently on a new unrelated matter and she was very helpful with that. I have recommended her to other women going through difficult divorces the past few years and they have been very happy with her. She will fight for your rights.