Zachary Thomas Townsend

As the title states, avoid this attorney and anyone associated with him at all costs. It would be difficult to list all the issues of professional misconduct this "lawyer" engaged in during his representation of me during my divorce, but I'll try. For starters, upon receiving his retainer, he advised... me to immediately stop paying anything to my ex spouse, as "child support is determined by a judge, not by what your estranged spouse decides it should be". Before my divorce was even finalized, I was already paying back-child support. When I asked him how this could happen, he simply said, "well... you haven't been paying any child support". When I reminded him that I did so on his advice as my attorney, he quickly changed the subject. He would routinely set up conferences with him during the proceedings, keep me waiting 30-45 minutes, and when his iPhone buzzed during our conferences, he literally got up and walked out of the room while I was in mid-sentence. Getting him to return a call during the divorce was worse than pulling teeth. After the divorce, when I called him with basic questions about the standard aftermath of the case, he wouldn't return my calls at all. The only thing he seemed to want to discuss during my divorce was when his next check was coming. I can assure you from personal experience that should he decide that today is the day he needs payment, he will not even discuss the case with you until payment is made. During the conferences we did have, I essentially had to bring him up to speed on the developments he was supposed to be seeing to and protecting me through as my hired attorney from square one - each time we met. It was obvious he wasn't working on my case at all. His basic strategy, to paraphrase, throughout the divorce was "we're going to give them everything that they ask for, so that they don't ask for anything more". When you hire an attorney, you do so because you do not understand the legal system and need someone to protect your rights. If you didn't have this lack of knowledge and need of services, you would obviously represent yourself. I can assure you - I would have done far better going into court without an attorney than going in with Townsend's representation. I've spoken to other attorney's in the area and members of the IL Bar Association since my divorce, and they have all informed me that Townsend and the Crosby Law Firm are constantly under review by the IL Bar Association's Ethics Committee for just such issues as I brought to their attention. I would urge you - Look into it yourself. I can just about accept the code that a lawyer's job is not to see that justice is served, but rather to ensure that the best outcome possible is achieved for their client. I cannot accept the code Townsend and his associates follow, which seems to be that it doesn't matter whether or not their client's best interests are served, only that their client's checks keep coming in. When I told Townsend this was costing me far too much for the results I was getting, and I was having to take out bank loans to pay him, he casually replied, "Well... lots of people live beyond their means"! Unbelievable. At that point I was too far invested in him to retain another attorney, but I know wish I had simply "lived beyond my means" and fired him, because the end result would have been the same. He took me for over $10K and got me nothing I stated I needed in our initial consultation. On the day the divorce was finalized, he didn't even read the final settlement until we were in the conference room outside of the courtroom 20 minutes before we were to go before the judge. After the papers were signed in court, I was never able to contact him again, despite numerous attempts. Save yourself the money and the disappointment you'll feel from knowing the attorney you paid to protect you has no interests in your best interests, and go to court without representation rather than retain this man.