Mary Elizabeth Van Orman

I hired Mary Van Orman to take over a case and went from bad to worst. She was a disaster and all the other negative comments on Avvo are confirmed by what I experienced. Staff turnover, no show court appearances, not filing documents we requested, no meeting to prep for trial, to name a few. It was ...a horrific and stressful experience that I would not wish on my worst enemy. Oh one more thing, she can't even type!

I just found these reviews online and wish with all my heart that I had done my research into this attorney BEFORE I invested all of my time and money. I found Mary through a professional contact; the initial consultation went very well. For that meeting she was focused, articulate and very passion...ate about representing me so I hired her. She felt that as a professional black woman, I was historically underrepresented and she wanted to be an action of change. I felt a little uncomfortable at the time that she brought my race into the matter but gave her the benefit of doubt; she was the licensed attorney. After she cashed my check, however, it became a completely different story. My calls and emails went unreturned and when her office staff did decide to answer the phone they had no clue whatsoever where she was or when she would get back to me. During the time that I employed Mary as my attorney, she went through multiple para-legals in her office. I went into trial completely unprepared, frightened and confused. She arrived late into the courtroom and when I tried to question her about her behavior she said something about a sick child. I waited outside of the courtroom until Ms. Van Orman came out and confronted her about it. That’s when she told me that she would need more money if I wanted to continue with her services and when I told her that I wouldn’t give her a dime she said “Well, you can’t afford me anyway”. I terminated her as my attorney and found someone else to handle my case which was settled weeks later. I am only writing this review so nobody else gets hurt like I did.

She took my money and never returned a call. I had a court date and never showed up. Her office didn't even know were she was. Than when I tracked her don't she said her child was sick. Come to find out she dose not even live with this child. The child is a adult in California. To this date she has ...not returned my calls.

Mary was never prepared in my case. She was running back and forth between courts making excuses. Her employees told me all their clients were mad. She did nothing on my behalf. I'm amazed she still has a license to practice. My first request was to change my maiden name back -- she failed to do ...even that.

I was unable to get a hold of her for almost 2 months. I went to her office downtown and found that she had been locked out for not paying her rent. I found a Woodlands location and went there and was told the same thing. I've dealt with 4 different paralegals during the first 6 months of my case.... She sent a law clerk to represent me at my mediation. She did not show up to my hearing because she was 'out of state, honey!'. I fired her and she refuses to return my file that has the originals of important evidence and photos. I too have filed a grievance, do not expect to recover anything but she should not be practicing anymore. I told the guy at the Woodlands office that I hired her because of her good reviews. He said those were all fake and that she has been doing this to her staff and clients for several years.... Unbelievable!!!