This was a money pit of a divorce. Strung me along for a year to finalize what essentially came out to what was offered in the onset. She misrepresented her knowledge / experience of the presiding judge. All 'pitbull', sure she had a great ego, which is why I hired her...but after my results, her... withholding legal information until I was 3/4 through my divorce that would have informed my decision to settle and the fact that I had to proofread her brief's (everything from spelling, grammar to requested terms)....I would find someone else.

I hired this lawyer to represent me in a custody case on 4/19/2016. Once the fees started racking up to $3000 per month for very little work, I proceeded to find another attorney since she was way out of my budget. Even after providing direct instructions to stop all work, she still continued to rack... up fees and charged my credit card without consent. I disputed the last transaction with my credit card company and the lawyer sent a forged document with my signature to the credit card company so that they could keep the money. They basically took the credit card agreement that I signed on 4/19/2016, then they whited out that original date and put in a new date, then wrote the disputed amount on the document. The credit card company indicated that they had to side with the lawyer since the forged credit card agreement had my signature. I learned a costly lesson to never put my credit card on file for ANY business. Highly disappointed client.

Like many, I read the Avvo reviews and was wowed by the 5 stars, convinced this was the attorney for me. I hired her for my divorce. She presented herself as different from other attorneys out there, seemingly passionate about one's cause and doing for the children. Ms. Hughes lives and breathes her ...work and as one reviewer said is "a pitbull in stilettos" (she does have nice shoes). Ian, her associate, is truly impeccable with his attention to detail. However, it is time to unearth more. Ms Hughes' wowed clients, briefly including me, may have missed the fact that the 9% interest that she chooses to apply to any outstanding balance, per her contract terms, is not only unorthodox practice ANYWHERE, even amongst top-tier attorneys in Illinois, 9% is NOT the statutory interest rate in Illinois! Add that to her practice of issuing invoices as many times as she deems necessary in any given time period, outside the frequency in her contract, and bar none, she fleeces her clients financially dry faster than any attorney I have known to-date including ex-US. For those who may not have that 9% interest in your contract, you may have me to thank for that. No one should keep paying more for completed work. Ms. Hughes was passionate if given carte blanche; money flowing freely is the order of the day to get her to work for you. There are no payment plans with her if you are in a financial bind. She wants a credit card on file so she can charge you whenever she starts to get uncomfortable with your balance. You barely have time to review the invoice once shared before the funds disappear from your account. If a pre-payment amount she names, whenever she names it, preceding a court session is not delivered, she may not show up in court or ask the judge to push your hearing date further down the court calendar to cater to another client who just paid her. Her invoices come so often that you lose track of why the bills are so high and as overwhelming as divorce cases are, it is hard to look closely at her bills and see how the 9% interest rate is applied or identify multiple copies of and charges for the same service items. I did. Long story short, when I saw the light, questioned her contract terms (a tad too late), inconsistent billing practices and I was no longer willing to just give funds at her beck and call, she walked. Contrary to her own contract terms, she held my file hostage to the point of brazenly disobeying a court order that required her to release my file to allow me to go trial. As such, I could not go to trial on my case; it was dismissed. Her actions cost me a multi-year divorce effort with 6-digit monetary investment, notwithstanding the emotional turmoil that goes along with it for the children and all other parties involved. As if that was not enough, she decides to pursue me in court for what she thinks is still owed her and names a figure amount that is not congruent with any invoice she shared. Her attempt through divorce court was summarily shut down. I do not think my experience is unique though I am probably one of the few to have questioned her practices. Of the ~ 100 cases she has presumably had over her 10-year tenure, per her Avvo profile, less than half have given her rave reviews. Avvo is great but it does not tell the whole story about any attorney. My advice: thoroughly review her contract (or any attorneys for that matter), trust your gut and do NOT sign if something seems off or makes no sense. Question it, review your bills and if the answers are not forthright, walk. Of course if you are willing to do whatever it takes to make her "happy" including giving her carte blanche, she could work for you. But if you only want to pay what you should AND get divorced at last, fearlessly walk away; you may just spare yourself an unfortunate experience with a "pitbull in stilettos".

I hired Tiffany to review papers for my divorce. My case was simple as both parties were agreeing on child custody and financial arrangement. Upon inquiry about my case I found some inconsistencies that turned out to be false claims by Tiffany. I did not agree to replenish my retainer, and fired Tiff...any. While I was not interested in any further representation, I still was charged without my knowledge because of credit card agreement. I received very little and poor representation for very high charges. It was very disappointing experience.