Brian served as my attorney for several years, during roughly, years 3-5 of a high conflict divorce situation. Over the years I have hired 5 different family law attorneys across two states, and I would say Brian is about middle of the road as far as skill and quality. However, if you have a high con...flict or potentially high conflict situation, I would steer clear of Brian.
I hired Brian quickly ahead of an emergency hearing. He and Rebecca were very responsive during that time, and I was happy with the outcome of their work. He seemed to look at things analytically/academically, and I liked his focus on the facts. (Some attorneys spend too much time bashing the opposing party and trying to play off your emotions, which Brian does not do.) After that initial period, things were relatively quiet, and I didn't have any complaints.
Drama persisted with my divorce during my time with Brian, but things were a lot calmer than they had been years earlier. I felt like the attorney I had during that earlier time was in the trenches with me and really had my back. I never had that feeling about Brian, but things weren't as difficult, so I stuck with him.
About 8 months ago I anticipated needing to make an important decision involving my children. I was worried that the decision had the potential to lead to substantial conflict with the opposing party (which wasn't new). I reached out to Brian, and he offered his counsel. This was months before I would need to act on the decision. As time went on, and I did my own research online, I felt less and less confident about the counsel he had given me. Over the next four months, I checked in with Brian periodically about his guidance. He confidently repeated the same counsel. Finally, the day came to act on my decision, and despite my uneasiness, I followed Brian's counsel. It was truly in my kids' best interest, and I wanted to trust my attorney.
Unfortunately, the outcome was worse than Brian anticipated (or I anticipated based on Brian's counsel). I am now facing the possibility of being held in criminal contempt and losing joint legal custody of my kids. I don't think these outcomes are likely, but I am confident that I wouldn't be in this situation if Brian had better anticipated the outcome of his counsel and or provided better counsel.
Regardless, just being served with accusatory documents, and knowing I will have to appear in front of a judge to defend myself when I thought my choice was sound because my attorney implied that it was, is very, very painful. I told Brian that I felt like he had let me down and that he didn't have my back. Brian disagreed respectfully, and we basically agreed to disagree. As always, Brian came across as academic in discussing the situation. It left me feeling like he saw me as an interesting case in a law book instead of a real person whose life was now turned upside down (unnecessarily in my opinion). Choosing to follow the sole course of action Brian offered has affected me very negatively--emotionally and financially.
This may have been a one off, but I feel like this was the first time I needed Brian in the trenches with me, and he really let me down. There were so many opportunities during the months before I acted where he could have suggested another course of action. When I looked at blogs from other family law practices that touched on my situation, their counsel did not align with Brian's, but he continually reassured me with his unwavering counsel. I also noticed in the last year, Brian was much less responsive overall. I can't even remember the last time Rebecca picked up the phone when I called their practice (after receiving no email responses for days).
In my disappointment, I hired a new attorney. She is clearly more responsive, transparent, and skilled than Brian. She quickly saw what I believe Brian should have seen. I feel like she has my back and I can trust her.