Theodore Robert Kern

Mr. Kern represented me in 2021. I wanted to wait until my case was settled before speaking about my experiences, so if you have found this review too late before experiencing the same please forgive me. These are my opinions of my experiences as a client. I met with Mr. Kern and described my situ...ation to him. He presented himself as a competent and experienced attorney with a specialty in family law. Reading through other reviews here, it appears his specialty is adoption and I'm sure he has done good work there and has helped a lot of people. He listened to my concerns and gave some feedback, and in my limited experience and knowledge it seemed like good feedback/advice at the time. I would go on to retain Mr. Kern , a mistake I would regret. It wasn't until about a month later when I noticed something was off. Mr. Kern often did not respond to questions via email. When he did respond the answers were sometimes vague or even non-answers. Having now been to a successful mediation I can confidently say the mediation with Mr. Kern was a mismanaged and mishandled disaster. Despite my pleas; from my perspective Mr. Kern did little to nothing to prepare me for mediation, did not provide useful feedback on my independent preparation for it, and otherwise did not represent me or my interests during mediation. During mediation Mr. Kern asked the mediating attorney for advice and guidance concerning the matters at hand. This is when I found out he was not as competent in this area of practice as I needed him to be, during a mediation. Mr. Kern did not advocate for me, and at some points was openly ridiculing my lack of legal knowledge in front of the mediating attorney. Please bear in mind I had begged him to prepare and educate me beforehand in the months leading up to the mediation. The mediating attorney appeared far more knowledgeable and I received my education and advice during mediation. A week after this predictable failure of a mediation, Mr. Kern contacted me to disclose he would no longer represent me as he didn't feel as though he could reach my goals. My opinion was Mr. Kern likely knew he could not reach my goals during our initial consultation months previously. From my perspective Mr. Kern knowingly accepted a retainer from me and wrote specific actions he was responsible for in a Representation Agreement (filing of contempt charges), with no intention of ever executing the agreed upon actions. I feel this way because had he intended to do what he said he would, he would have done it, and without me begging and nagging. I contacted Mr. Kern and made it clear I was not attacking him or his character as a person, but as an attorney he did not perform anywhere near to my expectations, he failed to execute the scope of our Representation Agreement, and I felt that I was entitled to be refunded some fees. His response to this was he would not be returning any fees. I have had time to think about this situation and how it could have worked out differently or had a better outcome. The only solution I could imagine working was to avoid Ted Kern. I have also had a lot of time to work on forgiveness and giving Mr. Kern the benefit of the doubt. In this situation I cannot give him the benefit of the doubt. He is a nice man and sells himself well, but he did not instill confidence in his abilities to me and did not perform to a level congruent with his hourly rate. When someone knowingly does some of the things Mr. Kern did (or failed to do), gets called out for them politely, and refuses to apologize or offer reparations for their actions we can deduce the issue may be related to issues of character versus a mistake made. My opinion I've developed is he is of poor character professionally. Be careful who you choose in custody matters, some attorneys are more engaged than others. In my case, he felt like controlled opposition and I was often in disbelief regarding his conduct.

My wife and I retained Mr. Kern's services for a custody dispute involving a family member we had been caring for. He was patient with us the whole way, explaining what we could and could not expect. When the situation turned less contentious, he pivoted to help us with the (ultimately successful) ad...option process. We have never once regretted our decision to hire Mr. Kern; he is a good, ethical lawyer, and we are so thankful for his services.

Ted was there every step of the way during my divorce. It was an ugly and stressful divorce but I knew that any time I talked to Ted he would bring a well reasoned and patient response to all of my questions. He is a fighter and he will help you to make the best possible decisions during such challen...ging times. I will be retaining his services for many years to come.

Mr. Kern replaced my last lawyer in my divorce. Mr. Kern came highly recommended from a friend of my family. Mr. Kern turned my divorce around. Mr. Kern Is extremely knowledgeable and honest. His trustworthiness is impregnable. Hiring Mr. Kern was the best decision I could have made and I highly reco...mmend him to everyone.