Audrey A. Jefferis

My case had sensitive circumstances involving custody of my son and his safety. Audrey was able to put in a place a temporary agreement that protected him, and was extremely helpful at mediation for getting the results I needed. She was patient with me while I let my ex-husband procrastinate our ca...se until my son was older and his safety was not at risk (the temporary agreement continued to protect him for years). She kept in touch with me, but never pressured me. She is a very compassionate and understanding person. When the time came to finalize the divorce, Audrey was thorough and helped me sort out every detail. In my long and drawn out divorce, I could not have asked for a better lawyer to represent my son and I. I am forever grateful for her help with getting me through a very difficult time in my life.

I hired Audrey for a year to deal with a custody modification. In that year, she was prompt to collect her fees, and the discovery requests my ex was pelting me with. Yet, after she fired me for using a crowd funding site to be able to pay her additional trial retainer fees (because she was unable t...o settle the case through mediation), I hired another attorney, who immediately got to work sending my ex her own discovery requests, interrogatories, and mandatory disclosure. Audrey didn't make even one discovery request, and when I asked her why she wasn't doing to my ex what his attorney was doing to me, she said, "We're not going to play that game." BUT THAT'S THE GAME OF COURT, and had I continued with her representation, I'd have likely walked into court unprepared, with weakly argued points, and lost majority custody of my daughter. We'd have walked into court relying on only the depositions she conducted, which were worthless based on her questioning. I was upset when she fired me, but I resolved the case with my new attorney in mediation, for 1/5th what she was charging for trial retainer. Under new representation, I also saw all the opportunities the law had for me to avoid trial, that Audrey failed to tell me about. Her staff turned over 3 times in the year I paid her! I lucked out that she fired me, but I'd have been luckier if I'd trusted the few negative reviews, instead of my gut, which liked Audrey's personality.

My case was referred to her office for mediation. She did a great job negotiating what seemed like a battle that would just go around in circles. She maintained her professional, calm, down to earth demeanor throughout the long hours and showed genuine concern for our situation. She spoke to me an...d asked me what I wanted and what I thought would be good for our children. She reminded me that I was there to make the decisions for my own family.