Marilyn Fletcher Longwell

Prior to signing with Marilyn Longwell & Associates, I expressed my concerns and what I was looking for in a firm to represent me. It was very important to me to hire an attorney who understood the emotional effects this matter had on me and didn’t just view me as a case number. I was assured that th...ey understood and that my needs would be met. After shopping around and talking with different firms, I decided to move forward with Longwell & Associates, as I was assured that Marilyn would care about my case and work diligently for me. She was mostly friendly to begin with in my initial meeting, although no phone calls, emails, or other communication about my case was given to me. After signing the contract and several thousand dollars later, I was appalled to find that she had no interest in me as a client as she quickly assigned my case on to an associate. Marilyn is not concerned with your needs as a client, and the most I heard from her is when she was worried about her check being on time. This was even more clear after working with a new firm and having only pleasant experiences.  With Longwell & Associates I had to chase them down after every court appearance to find out what occurred. They seemed put out to give me updates on my case. With the new firm, I received a prompt phone call after each appearance with an explanation of what happened and the plan moving forward. My new attorney would email and call to check in and see how I’m doing, and not even charge for that. It was clear that they cared about me and how this was affecting me. It's unfortunate that this is the case, but even upon finding new representation, it was made apparent to me that Longwell and Associates has a terrible reputation in the industry, and had I known this, I would have thought twice before hiring them. I should also say that their questionable reputation was made apparent from multiple firms when I made the decision to look elsewhere. Marilyn and her legal team often seemed clueless and getting facts from them was extremely difficult and I was often pushed back with a generic response of “I’ll have to check on that” and not hearing anything again regarding my question. If you are concerned with communication from your lawyer, this is not the firm for you. I had to actively call and email to get any form of status which is not what you want in this scenario. Any legal issue is draining, but it's made worse when people you hire to represent you are working against you the whole time. I hired a new lawyer who was quickly able to get the case thrown out. He provided me with the answers Longwell & Associates were never able to give. If they had any clue what they were doing, they would have realized that the cause should have been dismissed almost a year ago. Instead, due to incompetence, they continued to bill me for months of work that didn’t need to be done. I suppose the joke is on me as I wasn’t more proactive in finding new representation until late in my case. I cannot make the decision for you to hire Marilyn Longwell & Associates or not, I can only urge you to deeply consider your options and if your legal matters are prevalent to you and cause you stress, then please go elsewhere and save yourself the aggravation. Other attorneys will not string you along to ensure they have a steady income from you.

I hired Ms. Longwell and Associates to represent me for my divorce starting in November of 2014. The "simple" divorce has dragged on for 2 1/2 years now...I was divorced in March of 2016. The reasons for the long delays were caused by my now ex- husbands lack of turning in any paperwork on time, even... those court ordered to do so. It has gone on and on with motion after motion being filed and going no where. I am still owed money by my ex husband. I was shocked to just find out that Ms. Longwell proceeded to file a motion to drop me as their client, stating that she could no longer help me due to a total lack of cooperation on my ex husband's part and my inability to work with her. It's not "in their best interests to continue". 2 1/2 years and all I asked for is what is owed me, nothing more and nothing less. My ex-husband was ordered by the judge to be at a hearing and didn't show up, nothing was done about it. That I put on the judge. Her associate, Mrs. Fitzpatrick, is the lawyer with the financial saavy as she did all of the financial paperwork. They would both show up in court when only one was needed, then charge me for both of their time; including just discussing my case between themselves would result in a fee. Ten minutes talking to the judge would result in being billed for an hour if they had to wait. You can't ask any questions if you don't understand something, either by phone or email without being billed. I have all the paperwork to support my claims. I now must find a new attorney to help me or attempt to get my ex husband to pay me on my own. I ask, is this fair?

Marilyn came with high praise from my investigation. She lived up to that praise. She is not only incredibly knowledgeable about the law, but it is her vast experience with all the "players" (judges, consultants, experts, legal colleagues) that gives her an edge above others. If you are looking fo...r a "shark," then you won't want Marilyn. That is not to say she is not aggressive. She takes full advantage of every nook and cranny of the law but she is not abusive in so doing. More than once did she talk me off the ledge and our case is now over to my satisfaction.

Marilyn and Ebony were very professional in how they approached my case. They did not treat me like my case was like every other case they have dealt with. And above all, they treated the case honestly and ethically, never telling me things just because that was what I wanted to hear, rather they wer...e honest and forthright.