Patrick A. Dougherty

I hired Mr Dougherty for my divorce. After nearly two years and NO minor children involved, it still wasn't finalized. I never received copies of anything pertinent to the divorce. The final straw was when i met with him to find out what was going on, he used paperwork I had gathered myself becaus...e he couldn't find his. Several minutes into our meeting I had to tell him I needed the paperwork back because I had questions about it. Not thorough, Not friendly or supportive when I needed it the most. My file in his possession was 8" thick and I had only THREE copies out of my large file because I assume he didn't want me to know what was going on...because the answer was NOTHING going on. My file was sitting in a corner gathering dust. I left that meeting feeling defeated because he was NOT representing me the way a professional lawyer should. I had to hire a different lawyer out of much anguish and frustration with Mr. Dougherty! I would never recommend him to anyone for legal services!

Mr. Dougherty represented me in mediation for a divorce. He seemed to be knowledgeable about the law, however, I do not think that I got the best representation from him for the divorce. He seemed to acquiese to the opposing attorney view points on several occassions during the mediation process. ...He was very slow to get certain divorce documents ready for the final Divorce Decree. I ended up reviewing and writing the actual divorce decree as the opposing attorney tried to sew up several issues that Mr. Dougherty did not seem to be oppose to for these legitatment issues concerning my work related retirement plan. At the end of the mediation session; Mr. Dougherty made a point to go over to my former wife and "shake her hand". My former wife's attorney did not do that to me! In the end, I had to fire this attorney and have another attorney represent me and review the divorce decree that I had to modify from the opposing attorney. At the end of the whole proceedings, I ended up owing this attorney over $7,000 for his poor representation of me in most aspects of the divorce.

Mr. Dougherty represented me in a trial in Probate Court in which the issue of our family farm of 140 plus years was being sought by unworthy persons. Mr. Dougherty was instrumental in saving the family farm for us. His litigation skills are exemplary, and watching him trip up witnesses who were enga...ging in perjury was phenomenal. He even got a witness to admit to embezzlement. I cannot think of any other attorney in Manistee County that would have done such an excellent job. He was always professional and courteous, and what he did not know about farming he learned by asking questions and taking direction from us. Thank you Pat for helping us to save our family farm. We truly appreciate you.