Paula Rieghns

DO NOT HIRE - I’m very disappointed in my experience with attorney Paula Rieghns. After working on my case for over two years and collecting significant fees, she abruptly withdrew just before trial without just cause. This left me in an extremely difficult position with little time to prepare or sec...ure new representation. I expected better communication, commitment, and professionalism—especially during such a critical time in my case.

Beware Paula. Red flags went off during my consultation with her. "Are you ready to fight." "You can always file for bankruptcy." She is actually worse than the attorney I fired. Currently my friend had to let her go because she just kept making sure her divorce case does not settle. Even when the ot...her party was ready. She would purposely not have documents correctly written or not ready. Worst legal advice to keep the divorce case going. Not trustworthy or professional.

I was billed for time that was actually work done by the opposing attorney! Never have I seen such money grubbing tactics. Many expect lawyers to be sharks,and have little morals,but she sets the bar at an all time low. I fired her,did not get back any of my pricey retainer,which really,none of it wa...s used. There wasn't time. I got a new lawyer at half the cost and had the expected outcome. I will be taking her to court to retrieve what I paid although even if I wasn't,what I did pay was worth it to be rid of her and her extreme greed and rude behavior. Seems like that is a recurring theme with her.

Paula was very unprofessional in how she spoke with me and opposing counsel. She advised me to do things that would make my divorce take much longer than it needed to. Her number one goal was to make money. She even advised me not to try and see my own children, because it put me in a better financia...l position. She disregarded what I wanted as her client and bullied me into seeing things her way while I was going through the most stressful time in my life. I am glad I finally woke up and hired a lawyer that had my interests and my children's interests in mind.

I retained this attorney for my child custody case. She did what she could until the GAL report came back not in our favor. She then advised me to send her a list of inconsistencies that we found in the GAL report. Once receiving this from me, she is withdrawing from my case, admitting that she la...cks the experience to help me. She also gave some very bad advice, advising me to go to DCFS for one of my concerns with the child's father, putting me in a deep hole with my case. She also failed to give me any guidance in regards to what the GAL looks for. On top of this, she completely failed to communicate that she would not be there for some of the court appearances, leaving me to drive over an hour to the courthouse for no reason. Beware of this attorney.