Bernadette McNicholas

Bernadette McNicholas purposely prolongsthe divorce case to increase the costs. Very unresponsive, does not answer emails neither phone calls. She even charges later for the “free initial consultation “. I wish I read her reviews before hiring her . Do not waste your time neither your money with th...is lady.

I hired Ms. McNicholas for my divorce and she is an excellent attorney. However, she purposefully extends the conversation whether by phone or email to charge you as much as possible. There are no simple answers from her; a simple question is turned into a meeting at $375 hourly. Also, she has no c...ompassion for the divorcee during the process.

If you have nothing but money and no interest in settling your case....then hire Ms. McNicholas. If you don't want to be defended, and be made to feel like 'you're imposing' or that you’re annoying because you don’t understand the legal system or what is going on with your case…..then hire Ms. McNi...cholas. If you want to hire someone who seems confused and ill-prepared to defend you, or at the very least can adequately articulate your position and/or strategy to you or anyone else for that matter, then hire Ms. McNicholas. She is very, very good at filing never-ending, needless petitions, motions, briefs etc. and then not following through on any of them. She is extremely adept at covering her bases, with endless note taking and convoluted emails with no clear strategy ever being set forth. Emails weren't responded to. It sometimes took weeks to hear back from her, which was even more egregious based on the fact I was paying for three! people who were allegedly working on my case. Complicating a very simple case that should have ended quickly was instead turned into a never ending circus of paper work that meant nothing and complicated things even further. And most specifically, decimated any savings I had. If you'd like to get continually harassed (and threatened to be taken to court when you are her actual client) with bills and actually have a motion filed against you in the beginning phases of a trial, then hire Ms. McNicholas. There is no doubt Ms. McNicholas is a courteous human being..as a lawyer would never, ever recommend her. Less than zero stars.

She got me great results in regards to my keeping assets, and getting the case back on track with the judge, after my disastrous first attorney. She is detailed, thorough, knowledgeable, punctual, brusque, and extremely expensive. If it wasn't so expensive it would have been funny what she billed ...me for.... Like another reviewer here, I found some of her billing to be questionable. The mundane side of her billing is that it is probably generated through a billing software program... Though her minimum billing is calculated in the commonly used 6 minute interval (1/10 of an hour) she starts the clock for every activity tied to you -- no matter how quick the activity, it is billed at least as 6 minutes -- leaving voice mails, reading 2 sentence e-mails, etc. Good luck trying to figure out the bills, they run into multiple pages. It's up to you to keep the conversations/e-mails/etc. limited and on-point; she will happily watch the clock if you start to wander off-topic or get emotional.

I hired Ms. McNicholas and her team to represent me in a divorce. My expectations were exceeded. Ms. McNicholas' knowledge of the law is obvious, but the experience she brings to the table is priceless. Her awareness to the "what can/most likely will" happen next is so sharp it actually helps prep...are the case. She doesn't sit back and play "wait and see". Ms. McNicholas took an active listening role in the "oddity" of my case and was very proactive - not judgmental (and trust me I had some crazy stuff going on!). Her professionalism carried through each interaction - like iron she was strong, firm and tough on issues, like silk she was caring, helpful and supportive to her client. Cheap? NO. But in my humble opinion, worth every penny.