Colleen M. Haddow

Bottom Line - Colleen Haddow is the BEST attorney I could have ever wished for --my only regret is that I didn't start with her from the beginning. Ms. Colleen Haddow came as a recommendation from my previous law firm following failed mediation in a highly complex, contentious, and financially dra...ining divorce and custody case. The opposing counsel - whose professional reputation precedes her as a person devoid of ethics and civility, made finding a willing, capable, and affordable replacement daunting. Colleen personally and immediately took my call for an intake interview. When I opened by informing her of who opposing counsel was, she simply laughed with complete confidence, accepted my case, and immediately got my case moving on the right track. Unlike opposing counsel in this case, Colleen is a legal professional with impeccable integrity and ethics; but not to be confused with someone who submits to bully tactics or shies away from confrontation in or out of the courtroom. In contrast, Ms. Haddow is emotionally intelligent and well versed in the rules of the court to effectively persuade and, if need be, compel cooperation from even the most difficult of personalities. In doing so, she also remained a steadfast, approachable, and responsive attorney (often responding to me within minutes), who consistently addressed my concerns, provided objective perspective, and gave absolute sound guidance amidst the evolving challenges within the case. In short, she kept me sane and grounded in arguably the most stressful and emotionally draining period of my life. In addition to her superior soft skills, Colleen also demonstrated unmatched expertise and experience in distilling and framing the key issues of my case (fully explaining the legalities), to include those I hadn't initially seen, understood, or considered. She proved invaluable in interpreting and exposing financial information, indiscretions, and activities. She was also proactive, strategic, anticipatory, and prepared always and on all fronts. I am convinced that she and her abilities alone are the REASON that ultimately resulted in my case outcome far surpassing my initial expectations from failed mediation, and resulting in a final settlement that exceeded my best-case scenario in court (albeit that she was fully prepared and willing to execute). Colleen saved me thousands in legal expenses, but more importantly, she helped me overcome a series of short-term losses in exchange for an overwhelming long-term gain in my journey to a new and better life. In the strongest terms possible, I highly recommend Colleen Haddow for all family litigation.

Colleen came recommended to me without hesitation from another esteemed family law attorney cited in USA Today as a top attorney in the DC area. I am so thankful for the recommendation and that I took this attorney's advice to retain Colleen. Colleen helped me navigate my separation and prepared ...me for trial with calculated wisdom, grace, and finesse. Ultimately yielding to a judge to decide what is best for the ones who matter most is excruciatingly hard; Colleen's command of the law, intimate knowledge of the details of my case and her execution in court were phenomenal. Her attention to detail, personal commitment to excellence and outstanding professionalism allowed a judge to clearly see the case before him. After custody, we were able to settle final terms in mediation. Again, Colleen ensured I was well prepared and that all the details were understood, disclosed, and terms fair and reasonable to bring my divorce to a close. I would not hesitate to recommend Colleen to anyone looking for an attorney with whom they can openly dialogue, solicit advice, and pay exceptional value for an elite standard of service. I tried one attorney before Colleen, witnessed and endured what the attorney on opposing counsel brought forth both in court and mediation, and am so thankful that I had Colleen with me to finalize what has been the most difficult time in my life. The results were truly unparalleled.

I retained Colleen in 2012 for what I hoped would be a relatively fast, amicable divorce. Oh, how wrong I was.... Two years, 1 4Hr pendente lite hearing, 4 trial dates, 1 bankruptcy (not mine), 4 lawyer changes on my ex-wifes part, 3 days of depositions, 2 days of actual trial, 1 appeal/cross-appea...l, and a published finding from the Virginia Court of Appeals later, I was finally divorced. The final result? I retained 100% of assets, owed no spousal support, paid my ex's COBRA for 18 months, and she owes me $15k. To provide some context, there was a lot of complexity in my divorce. For example, my company defers part of my annual bonus and a portion of that deferral is held in stock, is that treated as income or an asset during the divorce? In each year (past and future) my income changed structurally, e.g., what is deferred, how it is held, when it vests, how much discretion I have over it, etc. To the untrained eye (or judge) it could appear that all this complexity was engineered to hide either the truth or assets. The challenge was twofold, how to explain my assets and income to the court, and how to craft a proposed settlement that would stand the test of time as my income fluctuated and evolved. Colleen was able to do both, and do so in an environment that could probably be classified as a hostile workplace. When we finally walked into court, we walked in completely prepared for any eventuality. Our exhibit binder was 4 inches thick and had over a hundred separate documents. She presented the case clearly, and professionally and got all of our key points across without getting lost in the detail. While the trial was spread over two days, our case in chief was presented in about 90 minutes, using only 30 or so of those many exhibits. Everything she and the team at CCWV did, was done right the first time, and checked twice anyway. I always felt like my case had the right level of attention both at the strategy level and in details (and divorce is won or lost in the details). The length of my case, and its numerous filings, were driven almost completely by our opponent seeking delay, or attempting to win in the drafting stage, what they had not won in court. Colleen responded to each developments in the case, but she didn't use it as an excuse to run up the billable hours, or divert us from our core goals. If I needed further validation of my decision to hire Colleen, it came earlier this year in the form of the published opinion of 3 judges from the Virginia Court of Appeals. My ex challenged every aspect of our case (8 appeals). Every appeal was denied. On my cross appeal, I won. The key issue (that Colleen had pointed out during the trail) hinged on my wife's response to my original petition, way back in 2012. A small thing that she paid attention to before anyone thought it was important, that my wife's (also highly regarded) council missed. Excellence is just doing the whole job, every day. She did that, and I am thankful for it every day.