Mark Mcentire Childress

Mark Mcentire Childress

3.6
Rating: 10.0

Licensed for 18 years

Criminal defense Lawyer at Fort Worth, TX
Practice Areas: Criminal Defense, Divorce & Separation, DUI & DWI, Family

4215 Camp Bowie Boulevard, Fort Worth, TX

About Mark

Biography

Fees and Rates

We have not found any cost information for this lawyer


Looking for an attorney? Avvo can help.

search module image

Search our directory

Quickly connect with top attorneys through our legal directory to get help with your legal issue.

chat module image

Avvo's live chat agents can help coordinate a consultation with a local attorney.

Chat with a live agent who can match you with the right attorney for your legal needs.

Chat with

Licenses

Licensed in Texas for 18 years

State: Texas

Acquired: 2007

Eligible to Practice in Texas

No misconduct found

Location

Law Office of Mark M. Childress

4215 Camp Bowie Boulevard, Fort Worth, TX, 76107

Ad

Transform legal challenges into solutions.

Connect now to review your situation.

The Avvo Rating explained

display-bg

The Avvo Rating explained

Mark Mcentire Childress's Reviews

Avvo Review Score

3.6 /5.0

40 Client Reviews

Showing 6 - 10 of 40 reviews

Posted by anonymous | January 25, 2024 | Hired Attorney

Lairs and thieves

They aren't honest about their costs and will bill you for nothing a d if you complain about their dishonest practices they will withdraw and bill you for it and hold your case hostage I asked them to do a simple adjustment it was done in Nov it's Jan and they are still billing me for nothing avoid t...hem at all costs

Posted by anonymous | June 10, 2023 | Hired Attorney | Divorce & Separation

Total ripoff

My experience with this Firm was extremely disappointing. Upon hiring them, I paid a retainer fee of $3,000 for assistance with my straightforward case. I clearly communicated to the firm that I only required help with the Final Decree, as all other necessary forms had already been filed and appro...ved by the court. The task at hand was so simple that even a paralegal could have handled it. However, they assigned Brenda Colon to my case. Surprisingly, instead of focusing solely on the Final Decree, which had already been prepared using the official county court form, the firm took it upon themselves to resubmit the exact same forms that were already completed and approved by the court, without informing or obtaining my consent. I only became aware of this unnecessary duplication of efforts when they finally decided to speak with me on the phone, long after the fact. Their explanation for this baffling action was that the new documents "looked nicer" than the official county court document. To my dismay, they essentially did nothing for me, yet they charged me $1,825 for work that I had already completed myself. Given the simplicity of my no-contest case and the minimal work required, it is evident that they attempted to maximize billable hours by engaging in unnecessary actions, such as duplicating paperwork that did not require resubmission. These actions were completely unwarranted, conducted without my knowledge or consent, and offered no benefits whatsoever to me or my case. When I discovered what they had done, I immediately terminated their services, demanded that all work be ceased, and requested a refund of my funds. However, to my dismay, they continued to bill me and even charged an additional $212. To date, I have not received any reimbursement from them. In my opinion, they should refund the full $3,000 for their failure to provide adequate assistance and their blatant disregard for the best interests of their client. I was taken advantage of and they did not look out for my interests.

Posted by Jessica | August 23, 2022 | Hired Attorney | Family

Lied about cost/ EXTREMELY RUDE

7/28/22 UPDATE I have asked they withdraw counsel as we could not come to an agreement with the billing issues. When I advised them I would have my credit card charges internally reviewed, as I did not receive the services I expected Mark threatened to sue me and tried to scare me into thinking he w...ould use this to cause problems in the family court, directly effecting my daughter. Trying to intimidate me and make me just hand over 3500 for nothing done on my case.

Mark Childress

Replied last August 24, 2022

This clients statements are untrue. When you are consulted with you are advised of a retainer fee. A retainer fee is the upfront cost of service before service has been performed. Furthermore, our fee agreement is clear on our billing practices and each client signs one prior to our working on their case. Furthermore, our invoices our itemized so our clients can review those itemized invoices to see all actions taken of which incurred a charge. Unfortunately, for this client we anticipated a simple process and quoted a retainer on that strategy. However, there can be many parties involved in a case that can cause a case to faciliate forward in a litigious manner and if a case becomes litigious because of factors outside of our control then the cost of that case will increase. We are here for our clients and understand each person has a situation unique to them but we do operate a business and we must ensure policies and procedures are met to ensure efficiency for our clients. All future clients must also know that we bill for our time and this includes communication, preparing for and attending hearings, drafting pleadings, negotiating with opposing counsel, etc. Our billing and records would show these clients allegations are untrue.

Posted by Linnea | June 22, 2022 | Hired Attorney | Lawsuits & Disputes

DONT GO HERE!!!

DO NOT GO HERE!!!!!! They blew through $5,000 in less than a month and accomplished NOTHING! They made a lot of promises before we hired them and they did not nearly meet any of them. Communication is HORRIBLE. If you want ANY updates of your case, you have to pay $80 for an email response or nearly ...$200 for a 15 minute phone call!!!!!! They charge you to breathe basically! They have no empathy and even to to talk to the finance person to understand where and why your money is going so quick costs an extra couple $100. They had to close our case because we couldn't keep up with the constant ridiculous charges but then charged us $600 to close the case?? These people do not care about you or your case, they just care about money. Go ANYWHERE else. The opposing party paid $0 for Legal Aid and accomplished more than us spending $6,000+ ever did. I am begging you to use legal aid before you even consider this place. Liars. Users. No good!!!

Mark Childress

Replied last June 23, 2022

We do not have a client by Linnea in our system so I encourage this person to contact us to further address their inquiries. Most of what’s stated in this review is not true of our policies and procedures or was disclosed in detail prior to retaining us. We do bill for all work that we conduct on a case, this does include emails and telephone calls. This is disclosed in our fee agreement and is of no surprise to our clients. There is not a charge of $100.00 to speak to someone in the “finance” department. If a client disputes an invoice or has an inquiry they can reach out to the firm. They’re offered the option of scheduling a pre-paid call for $47.50 if they prefer to discuss their inquiries via a scheduled phone call and this is offered as a convenience to clients and is not a requirement. All of this information is provided in very clear detail to clients and this is good information for our future clients to know as they should read any and all correspondence that we send to them in full.

Posted by Gil | June 15, 2022 | Hired Attorney | Child Custody

Contract violation

My adult daughter who is medically disabled and receives SSI hired this lawyer for a Parental Order modification for an initial fee of $3500, the extent of her savings. Not only did he not honor his signed contract with regard to the Parental Order modification with her, but he also asked for an addi...tional fee of $2000 approximately 12 months later. He failed to explain to her on her initial call with him how she would be billed or that additional money would be required for the Parental Order modification. Further, he did not send her a monthly or bimonthly invoice so that she could see how her money was being spent. She had never hired a lawyer before and didn't understand how her money being was used. She had no idea that every cell phone call, every email, every text would be billed against her. I filed a complaint with the Texas Bar Association on behalf of my daughter and to my surprise they dismissed the case. He had hired a lawyer to defend himself against me. I am a professional engineer and have no legal background. However, because of my engineering business of 40 years I do know a little about "contract law" and that he violated the contract.

Mark Childress

Replied last June 16, 2022

This is a false review. This person actually went to the State Bar of Texas with a similar complaint, which was found to be not true. This review should be removed. We just reviewed this person’s case file and their 6th attorney is now removing himself from the case because this individual is completely unreasonable and out of control. Having hired six lawyers and every one removing themselves from the case says just about all anyone needs to know about this individual.

See All Client Reviews

Mark Mcentire Childress's Lawyer Endorsements

Endorse Mark
Suzanne Stevens headshot
Suzanne Stevens

Family lawyer | Nov 13

Relationship: Fellow lawyer in community

"I endorse this lawyer."

Samantha M. Wommack headshot
Samantha Wommack

Family lawyer | Mar 18

Relationship: Co-worker

"I endorse this lawyer."

Justin Jared Sisemore headshot
Justin Sisemore

Family lawyer | Mar 18

Relationship: Co-worker

"I endorse this lawyer."

Michael S. Waddington headshot
Michael Waddington

Family lawyer | Oct 08

Relationship: Fellow lawyer in community

"I endorse this lawyer."

View All Endorsements
Samantha M. Wommack headshot
Samantha Wommack

Family lawyer

Justin Jared Sisemore headshot
Justin Sisemore

Family lawyer

Experience

Rating:  10.0 (Superb)

Honors

2022

Peer Review Rated, Martindale-Hubbell

2022

Rising Star, SuperLawyers

2022

Rising Star, SuperLawyers

2021

AV Preeminent 5.0 out of 5 Peer Review Rated, Martindale-Hubbell

2021

Top Attorney, 360 West Magazine

2020

Rising Star, SuperLawyers

2020

Top Attorney, 360 West Magazine

2019

Rising Star, SuperLawyers

2018

Rising Star, SuperLawyers

2017

Rising Star, SuperLawyers

2017

Peer Review Rated, Martindale-Hubbell

2016

Rising Star, SuperLawyers

2015

Rising Star, SuperLawyers

2014

Top Attorney, Fort Worth, Texas Magazine

2013

Top Attorney, Fort Worth, Texas Magazine

2012

Top Attorney, Fort Worth, Texas Magazine

2011

Rising Star, SuperLawyers

2011

Top Young Lawyer in Texas "Rising Star", Texas Monthly Magazine

2011

Top Attorney, Fort Worth, Texas Magazine

2010

Top Attorney, Fort Worth, Texas Magazine

2007

Top Attorney, Fort Worth, Texas Magazine

Work Experience

2014 - Present

Owner, Law Office of Mark M. Childress

2007 - 2014

Senior Partner, Sisemore Childress & Associates, PLLC

Associations

2014 - Present

Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce

2007 - Present

American Bar Association

2007 - Present

State Bar of Texas

2007 - Present

Fort Worth-Tarrant County Bar Association

2007 - Present

Tarrant County Family Law Bar Association

2007 - Present

Texas Young Lawyers Association

Sample of Legal Cases

Grandparent's Rights

Won sole managing conservatorship of three grandchildren.

See More Legal Cases

Education

2006

Texas Wesleyan University School of Law

JD - Juris Doctor

2004

Texas Tech University

BBA - Bachelor of Business Administration

Speaking Engagements

2021

State Bar of Texas

Anatomy of a Child Custody Case

Languages

English

Avvo Rating

Our Rating is calculated using information the lawyer has included on their profile in addition to the information we collect from state bar associations and other organizations that license legal professionals. Attorneys who claim their profiles and provide Avvo with more information tend to have a higher rating than those who do not.

What determines Avvo Rating?
  • Experience & background Years licensed, work experience, education
  • Legal community recognition Peer endorsements, associations, awards
  • Legal thought leadership Publications, speaking engagements
  • Discipline Disciplinary information may not be comprehensive, or updated. We recommend that you always check a lawyer's disciplinary status with their respective state bar association before hiring them.
Avvo Rating Levels
10.0 - 9.0 Superb8.9 - 8.0 Excellent7.9 - 7.0 Very Good6.9 - 6.0 Good5.9 - 5.0 Average4.9 - 4.0 Concern3.9 - 3.0 Caution2.9 - 2.0 Strong Caution1.9 - 1.0 Extreme Caution