Joseph W. Vander Horst

I had the same problem as others mentioned in their reviews. Minor things were negotiated fine but the major issues, he refused to address or fight for me. I asked numerous times about specific issues and he was focused on settling without having to go to court. I said I was willing to and wanted ...to fight for them and he refused. He told me at my consultation that he would do what is best for me and would fight if needed. That was not the case and I felt like he didn’t want to be bothered by anything there was a disagreement over. I feel like he was more of a benefit to my ex-husband than he was to me and my kids. I hired him because of positive reviews as others have stated. Just a warning to consider all reviews before hiring him.

I am going through a divorce case with a minor with a women who wants to keep my son away from me. Here is what to expect from Joe, You will never hear from him. Ever. You will constantly call for updates and have his son answer the phone to tell you hes busy. You might get a call back later that day... or you will just try calling him son again tomorrow. Dont worry about making any requests or demands in your case because they will never get brought up. He had my first case thrown out and then redrawn up exactly the same way wasting time and a lot of money because he wanted more than a retainer to do so. Do not hire, you will get nothing in return except for someone to sign the paperwork off for you that you probably already could have signed yourself.

I hired Mr. Vander Horst to represent me after 2 years of problems with my ex-husband. The issues were actually minor in nature, however, I wanted to have a legal agreement established so there was no deviation. I was very clear about what I needed to be addressed. He told me that he understood and s...aid that it shouldn't be a problem. After a lengthy amount of time, I had to contact him to get a status update about my case. He told me that he that he had negotiated a deal and that he was able to get two of the four issues resolved that we had asked for and that we should be happy. The two things that he managed to negotiate was something that I could have done on my own without representation and the second was something that my ex-husband and I had agreed upon and we both needed it to be put on paper. I went back and forth with Mr. Vander Horst for months asking him to work on the other issues. He eventually sent me an email and said that my retainer had run out. I ended up walking away with more problems than I had before I hired him. Bottom line is that Mr. Vander Horst is afraid to litigate anything and he got manhandled by my ex-husband's attorney. The unfortunate thing was that I had planned on meeting with that attorney but hired Mr. Vander Horst on the recommendation of a friend. If Mr. Vander Horst would have spent the same time and energy arguing my case with my ex-husband's attorney as he did with arguing with me I'm quite certain we may have got something accomplished.