Bridget Ann Heptner

I would highly recommend Bridget without reservation. She has all the attributes and integrity that one would hope for in a family law attorney. I spent over 150,000 in attorney fees with a "billboard attorney" who never was able to facilitate or promote a mediation, with my contentious divorce, ...that was dragged out for over 2 years. In fact, I believe some of my initial attorney's advice actually promoted more motions, mediations, useless depositions, court hearings and most importantly more attorney fees. From my first meeting with Bridget, the interaction was very different compared to my initial attorney. She only has one assistant Nikki who is always a pleasure to deal with regarding correspondence, and leaving messages. Bridget only takes enough clients in order to properly handle a case. This is crucial if you want your divorce to come to a real settlement. She is not trying to build an empire. There was no absurd paralegal fees or abuse of billing, which in my opinion was rampant with my first attorney. The most important difference was the one on one attentiveness with my very complex case, which resulted in her mediating my divorce within less than a month. She actually would answer question or concerns via email or phone promptly. I truly believe if I had her as my family law attorney, my Divorce may have never been dragged out for 2 1/2 years, and I wouldn't have lost my entire retirement to attorney fees. I already have been recommending other colleagues and friends to at least obtain a second opinion from her. She was a pleasure to work with due to her compassion, integrity, intelligence, experience and professionalism!!! 5 stars and excellent review is was earned and deserved.

I hired this attorney for a specific purpose in my post dissolution divorce case. At the time I retained her, my ex-spouse was pro-se. Ms. Heptner was very supportive of me and my case until my ex-spouse retained an Attorney. At that time she immediately turned against me. She then went beyond he...r scope of limited appearance and spoke to the opposing counsel regarding issues I was strictly dealing with pro se. Although I told her not to speak to the Attorney unless it involved her limited appearance, she continued to do so and charge me for it. She ran up my bill in these matters but I had to represent myself in court. To make matters worse, once we finally had a hearing date and it was clear we were going to win fees to continue, she called me three hours before the hearing and informed me she made a deal on my behalf and basicly shut down my case. I was forced to once again represent myself in court. When I returned from Court I received the order she and the opposing counsel agreed upon. I then sent Ms. Heptner a letter stating I did not agree with her making the deal behind my back and I wanted her to withdraw the order. She called me a few days later and was very disrespectful. She then filed a notice of non-representation and a notice of withdrawal of the original motion in which I hired her. I asked her to refund my retainer but she refused . In my opinion, what starts out as a very pleasant experience with Bridget Heptner, ends in a nightmare. I must add, I have all respect for her Legal Assistant, Nikki.

If you're looking to retain a divorce attorney that doesn't have an attention to detail retain Bridget Heptner. All joking aside, my divorce was uncontested and went smoothly, but her repeated typographical errors on the court documents created a headache for myself and my ex-wife. Quit Claim Deeds w...ere drafted incorrectly and had typographical errors which subsequently caused myself and my ex-wife to have them corrected, notarized and recorded a second time, at our expense. The response I received from her office "Well you should have proof read before you signed, technically we're now working for free." My answer is I would expect an attorney to have the information and the docs drafted properly the first time. The divorce was finalized we paid for her half-rate services, and I was left to feel as if I was inconveniencing them for asking to have it corrected. I literally paid for her to draft the uncontested divorce doc, and two Quit Claim Deeds. In hindsight I could have saved money to draft the docs on legalzoom.com myself. There are many attorneys in the area, I would suggest you retain one that will do things correctly the first time.

I normally don't do this but I felt like I needed to let everyone know who reads this review how lucky I was to find Bridget and retain her as my divorce attorney. Over ten years ago I was going through a devastating divorce and custody battle with my now x-wife. I met with Bridget and it did not tak...e me long to decide to retain her as my counsel. Not only was she informative, but was pretty much right on when it came to what was going to happen. She represented me with compassion and the right amount of aggressiveness. Not only were we successful, but my fees were about half of my x-wife's fees. She is fair and you could not find a better attorney for family law. You might wonder why I waited over ten years to write his review and the answer is simple. Just a few days ago my daughter and I celebrated her 21st Birthday. When I won custoday of her she was 8 years old. I know that me being awarded custoday of my daugther was critical in her becoming a successful member of society. Briget knew that also and it was more than just court victory to her, there was a little girl's life in the balance of this verdict. Thank you so much Bridget, you are the best.. If you would like to talk to me about Bridget as your attorney, please email me at [email protected] and I will gladly call you.

I was completely overwhelmed by the divorce and talked to about a dozen different family law attorneys in Pinellas County before I scheduled my interview with Bridget. I had already made my mind up to hire a different attorney but, out of respect to a colleague who strongly recommended meeting with h...er, I kept my appointment with Bridget. She immediately impressed me with her depth of knowledge on family law in Florida and how it is interpreted in the various judge's courtrooms in Pinellas. She and her assistant Nikki helped me every step of the way. When I needed help and direction assembling documents, they helped me. When I needed a quick question answered, they helped me (often without charging me!). When I needed someone to listen to my side of the story and offer solutions to very complex issues, they helped me. Throughout the process Bridget gave me all of the information about each part we were dealing with, offered her opinion of the situation and empowered me to make my own decision. I entered the divorce not feeling so good about myself and my life but as we progressed I began to regain confidence in myself and ultimately, by the time the divorce was final, I was a new man. I really can't recommend Bridget enough.