Michael Alan Ward

During my search for a divorce attorney, Michael was the only one that actually spoke to me on my first call without asking for my checkbook upfront. I am writing this review after my uncontested divorce was concluded. Everything Michael agreed to with me, he kept his word. He accurately estimated ...the duration from end to end. Court takes their own time to sign. Please keep in mind that my divorce was uncontested, and my ex wife and I were in agreement on terms. My advice to everyone is to do your best to agree on all terms in advance. The process is so much smoother. Initially, I was going to try out the speedy two week guaranteed divorce , but they were forcing me to go to some class for 4 hours. With Michael, we had minors, but didn't have to go to court at all since again we agreed on all terms. No hearings, no fuss, no alimony, no child support. Divorce could not have been a more pleasant experience. I took a chance by paying the full fee up front even though he only asked for half. I was lucky that Michael is one of the few honest lawyers I have had experience with. Basically, you keep your end of the bargain, and he will keep his. He is not the least expensive, but also not expensive. He is very reasonable as compared to other attorneys, so all in all, please don't hesitate to consider him if you need a divorce attorney.

I hired Mike Ward to handle my divorce and in my opinion, I found him to be knowledgeable and offered very sound advice. Unfortunately, in my opinion, his billing wasn’t as sound as his knowledge of the law. Despite the fact that his contract specifically states that he will send monthly bills, I onl...y received one and that was after repeated phone calls and emails. My husband and I reconciled, I asked Mr. Ward to send me the remainder of my retainer. He ignored this request. I hired another lawyer to have my retainer returned, but Mr. Ward ignored this attorney’s request, so I filed a complaint with the Virginia Bar Association. The Bar sent an Investigator to interview Mr. Ward and review his files. It took two visits before Mr. Ward was able to provide two bills which had never been shared with me or the Virginia Bar at their initial request. Mr. Ward claimed he couldn’t send them because he didn’t have my contact information, which is untrue since he had sent me other information and my full contact information was listed on the contract he created for his services to me. In addition, we had been communicating via email, so it was always possible and simple to send me or the Virginia Bar the information in this manner. The bills given to the Investigator were in the format called block billing-i.e., lumping several tasks together to come up with one number. This is not an appropriate billing method for legal services and not in keeping with any other lawyer’s approach I have previously engaged for personal or business services. Of course, since I had never seen these bills, I was unable to question them until it was too late. Unfortunately, Mr. Ward received $12,000 from me on work that was never performed. In my opinion, if you select Mr. Ward for your attorney, you will get a very knowledgeable attorney, but you should request monthly statements and I wouldn’t give him a large retainer.

While you will feel very comfortable with his knowledge of the law, it would probably work in your favor on judgement day if he would apply that knowledge upfront with any form of preparation. Just the simplest effort would have changed the outcome to my favor. As my current attorney (working to undo... the damage that was done due to Mr. Ward's lack of any effort toward my case) stated, "you were totally screwed!". I simply do not have the assets to pursue the case as this attorney perfectly presented everything I have and more to my ex. Best advise that I can offer is to run fast and do NOT look back!