Ashby Leigh Pope

Ms. Pope was retained for custody. Despite it being obvious that my ex didn't want to care for his kids, but wanted to lower support payments & control things, she didn't advocate for us. He filed first; the assigned GAL asked where my petitions were, so I asked her the same & was told I didn't need ...to file petitions of my own... So when his grounds were revealed & they were OUTRAGEOUS, I had no recourse to open my own "change in circumstance," so I was left ONLY fighting against my ex's stupid crap. Several "deals" were tossed back & forth but none were good for my kids. Ms. Pope kept telling me I could NOT take a single day of visitation from my ex but every deal he offered cost me 12+ days per year. When you know the other party is looking to open support, you don't change days for a loss on your behalf. When a GAL can say, even to your kids' therapist that it's obvious the dad doesn't really WANT his kids, you don't GIVE that dad more time. You FIGHT for the time the mom is asking for, the kids are asking for, & the time the kids' teachers say is better for the kids. There was a last ditch effort by my ex to dodge court, but 1) the deal gave away a HUGE piece that was what he initially filed on (so I was agreeing to something I whole-heartedly believe is a detriment to the kids), 2) placed a ridiculous NEW stipulation on my time w/ the kids, & 3) gave him 3 days for every 2 days that were "added" to my time, so I was losing days overall. She yelled at me over the phone when I tried having a frank discussion w/ her about how I felt she was poorly representing me/us. She repeatedly referred to me by a very specific, derogatory term. I asked her to stop using the word & she persisted. She repeatedly told me I would lose & didn't bring half of the evidence I compiled despite it being pretty solid in the way of shining light on my ex's habits. She told me not to call witnesses because he had dismissed his, so we would look silly. She told me that one of my children's therapists would be a HUGE detriment to my case when the therapist said EVERYTHING to the contrary (& this has been reaffirmed several times!), so this professional, my strongest witness was never called. When asked about it, the therapist couldn't understand how Ms. Pope got the impression that he would be a detriment to MY case. He showed me my son's chart where he logged the information & it was reviewed again when the case was continued (I retained new counsel), & nothing he said about me was negative; in fact, the therapist agreed that it was obvious my ex doesn't want the kids, but he wants control & that's not a parent you put in charge. Period. Regardless of the issue that brought us to court this time, she put her own bias about a parenting style/choice first. She decided that the issue my ex chose to bring to court this time was something she agreed w/ him on & therefore, didn't represent me/us well. There was a lot more she could have done, especially w/ every text, email, screenshot, & witness I gave her, that she just didn't do. Her entire strategy revolved around settling out of court despite me repeatedly telling her that was not going to work - if we could settle, we wouldn't be here for the 7-8th time in 3 years. If we could settle, I wouldn't have thrown away $6,000 for an "advocate" to help argue my side. At no point did she say, "Don't offer that," during negotiations, so when one of his deals came back seizing on something I offered, but w/ additional demands, she blamed ME for giving too much away! Her advice was always, "Give away this big huge thing that was agreed upon during the marriage, to the point of signing documents to the affect of the agreement, then take what scraps he will give you for added time w/ your kids... even if it means it's not really adding time & costs you in child support, peace of mind, and sanity." The best interest of the children was over-ridden by a singular issue when it shouldn't have been.

Mrs. Pope tried a family law case on my behalf. She was well prepared for trial and it showed in the courtroom. She kept me well informed throughout the process and was always available for questions. Her fees were very reasonable and the service was excellent. I would highly recommend Mrs. Pope for ...any type of legal matter in the Tidewater area.