David Richard Plumb

I hired this attorney and it was the worst mistake I made and hiring him nearly cost me losing my kids Between December 18, 2024, and January 2, 2025, Mr. Plumb failed to respond to multiple emails, provided a draft affidavit only 24 hours before the January 3, 2025, court deadline without prior cons...ultation, and submitted a document containing numerous factual inaccuracies that he did not correct despite being notifiedMr. Plumb arrived more than 30 minutes late to five out of eight scheduled hearings. He provided case updates only after two hearings. All the other hearings he would not even though I would actively schedule meetings. He frequently failed to respond to my emails in a timely manner and was often inconsistent in his responses. I did not know when he would respond and when he would not. Also his resposnes did not seem to follow an order or priority. He would remain seated during hearings even though everyone would stand up out of respect to the magistrate. There were two billing discrepancies—one for $3,500 and another for $5,000 during which he threatened to withdraw representation unless payment was made. The errors were later confirmed to be on his office’s side after my husband made three to four follow-up calls. Mr. Plumb recommended Jamie Niesen as a forensic psychologist. Public records show that Dr. Niesen was previously involved in a case where her professional conduct was questioned regarding the accuracy of reported information. Mr. Plumb failed to follow up on filed motions; for example, when asked about the status of a contempt motion filed two months earlier, he stated that he did not know its progress. After I expressed concern by email regarding Dr. Niesen’s suitability and requested guidance, Mr. Plumb stopped responding. This pattern of delayed or absent communication occurred repeatedly. Mr. Plumb missed the deadline to submit evidence to the GAL and requested an extension directly from the GAL without copying me or filing formal documentation of the request. I subsequently compiled and submitted the evidence to the GAL myself. Mr. Plumb forwarded an email from the GAL five days after its original date, delaying my access to information. He spoke with the GAL on August 28 but did not inform me of the discussion. I only became aware of it after reviewing the GAL’s billing records.

I hired David for my divorce and custody issues. I paid around $15k for his services. We had many "update hearings" with the Magistrate. At no point in time did I feel that we had a plan walking into these hearings. David is the least curious lawyer I've seen. After about $10k of retainer g...one, I realized that he never really asked me any questions. He never communicated with my ex's lawyer. He failed to send a drug test results to the GAL. It took him almost 4 months. I expressed to him in real time that I would like to have more of a presence at the hearings rather just sit there and let her lawyer smear me. I provided plenty of ammo for David to fight back with but he rarely used any of it. His paralegals did most of the background work but when I had questions specifically for an attorney, he was nowhere to be found. For example, his parallegals kept harping on me provided my ENTIRE social media history. I refused to do so for obvious reasons. My ex didn't provide such documents but the paralegals wouldn't move on until I did or talked to David about it. The next time I talked to David was at the hearing. The icing on the cake was one month before the final hearing, David's firm was dissolving becasue the head was retiring. They gave me the option to choose a different lawyer in the firm or stick with him. I didn't want to go over everything with a new lawyer. I picked David. a couple weeks later, he emailed me saying that he would need an additional $12k for THE FINAL TRIAL! He then gave me a week deadline to decide. I mulled it over, then sent him a list of questions of how he plans to use this money to help me attain my goals....basically asking what his plan was. I sent this to him with about 4 days left until his deadline but he replied about 14 hours before it expired. He held to the deadline and withdrew as my attorney the next day. I could have done what he did for all of that money! I ended up representing myself in the trial and got almost everything I wanted. Her lawyer asked why my attorney hadn't done the things until now. I discovered that if i would've worked with her attorney myself, I could've had this resolved months ago. I cant decide if he's incompetent, lazy or overbooked. I'm leaning toward overbooked. He definitely shouldn't be charging the rates he does. He'll be a flat fee lawyer soon. There's nothing wrong with that. I didn't have any budget limitations for my case. I was willing to pay whatever I needed to. He left me hanging with less than a month to go. I got the job done myself. If I had basic knowledge of divorce proceeding motions etc, I could've saved a bunch of time. I feel bad for blasting him like this because he seems like a decent guy. He's just not worth the money he's asking for.

David will read this review and become very defensive like he did for all of the other negative reviews he has received and probably say something to the effect that I was not a “real client” or he worked really hard for all of his clients. I can assure you my bank account says otherwise. David tal...ked a big game during my consultation, but sadly it was all talk. David was arrogant, and yet provided nothing to justify his arrogance. He had no problem charging the fees a great attorney can charge, but for me and for my family he was no great attorney. There is no shortage of divorce/family law attorneys in Columbus. Save your time, hope, and money and hire someone else.