Betsy E. Cornatzer

As a long standing client of Ms. Cornatzer's, I had a child custody case in which she was my attorney. After one consultation, she was hired. She was very professional, punctual and honest. Due to her vast knowledge in juvenile law, I felt confident in her abilities to represent my case. I was kept i...nformed of all correspondence in my case and there were no issues communicating with Ms. Cornatzer. I would highly recommend her to anyone needing legal assistance in the state of Virginia, specifically the Tidewater/Hampton roads area.

She was the court appointed attorney for my kids, who claimed to fight for their needs. After repeatedly saying that they wanted less time with their dad and stepmom, she literally became a second attorney for my ex husband. We went 7 months without any contact from her, then less than a week before ...trial she pops back up and only visited him. My kids asked for no more than a week with their dad each month. Their dad wants to split custody and her entire report stated his argument. She did not do her job and now my son texts me almost every week that he is with his dad saying how much he hates it there. It’s sad and depressing. She did not do her job.

I hired this attorney to complete a custody case for me and gave her 80% of her flat fee, as a down payment. Not only did she not show up for court, but she was not very attentive to my needs. I disliked that I rarely got a return call and that she always used her family as an excuse as to why she ...couldn't discuss my case. She was hired for two months and nine days before she attempted to get my case continued because she could not make it, knowing that when I first hired her. She sent an apology letter to me and asked to stay on my case, but I just wanted to hire someone new. That is when I found out that she was not only keeping my $2000 deposit, but that she billed me an additional $1315 because her flat fee no longer applied since I fired her. We never signed a contract and I was not aware that her standing policy was to charge $195/hr if she is fired from a job. I felt like I was taken advantage of and that she should give me a refund. She never made a court appearance or filed anything in my case aside from sending a continuance request (via letter) to the court and sign a guardian ad litem form for me since I was technically represented by counsel. Very disappointing.