Tawnia R. Wienke

I would not recommend Ms Wienke for anything other than simple settlement and doc prep. Beyond that I would highly advise against hiring her. Our case involved contentious litigation with an opposing attorney who was constantly making statements that were provably false. I had to raise the point... with Ms Wienke that filing for strict rules of evidence would be helpful. As a member of the Bar I'd think this would have been an obvious choice, but Ms Wienke didn't mention it as an option. Once I brought it up, she acted enthusiastic and it did substantially reduce the craziness that came from opposing counsel, in my opinion. Why in the world is the client the one having to reminder of options in the law?! In the courtroom, my impression was that Ms Wienke was easily confused, easily thrown off by unexpected occurrences, and wasted time on subjects the judge had already said he refused to consider. Another tactic I later learned of that Ms Wienke failed to suggest was requesting findings of fact and conclusions of law. This could have significantly helped us, including in a potential appeal, but Ms Wienke didn't make any such recommendation. Once the order came from our evidentiary hearing, I noticed that the judge used a version of the law that had been replaced 2 years prior. I waited a week or so to see if she would mention it, but again I as the client had to be the one to point it out. Ms Wienke also seemed oblivious of appellate decisions from the last few years that would have helped us, including one that reminded that judges they are not allowed to arbitrarily restrict hearing time if requested to extend. Other than paperwork production, I felt most of the time as if I was crafting the legal strategy and she was a glorified paralegal. Not worth the money I was paying. All the sympathy in the world that she may show a client doesn't change my belief that I'd rather have a better lawyer...which is why we ended her representation after about a year. It also seems as though there was frequent turnover at her law office. Not sure what that was, but they went through several paralegals during the time she represented me.

Let me start off by saying how much of a pleasure I had working with this firm. Tawnia was very knowledgeable and helped me through what I felt was a tough divorce. When I hired Tawnia I didn't know what to expect. If you consider hiring Tawnia, know you will be represented by someone who is knowledg...eable, patient, easy to work with along with a team that will communicate thoroughly through your family law case. Feel confident that you're best interest will be priority.