Janet Elizabeth Dockstader

I was the Petitioner for a domestic violence restraining order case and Ms. Dockstader was opposing counsel, representing the Respondent. She is a competent lawyer, approachable, does not appear to have any negative disposition towards the parties she opposes. She obtained police reports through a su...bpeona and did not attempt to intimidate or leverage her legal knowledge against me, while we reviewed the reports together. Ms. Dockstader successfully defended her client from be restrained, though she was not successful in her request that I pay her clients attorney's fees. Her ability to successfully argue a case that was quite complex is indicative of her professional capability. Additionally, the witness the Respondent brought would have been easily discreditted or ruled to be unfairly biased in favor of the Respondent had they testified under oath. However, Ms. Dockstader extracted the maximum possible benefit from the witness by inferring statements which were never tested with cross-examination under oath. As much as this may have to been to my detriment, recognition for the litigating ability demonstrated in due, in my opinion.

Janet is a nice person but I would not recommend her as a lawyer if you have a complicated case or you are involved in a paternity action or divorce with a difficult ex partner. She did not represent me well and my bill ballooned to almost $30,000 on a case that should not have cost more than $10000 ...to handle. She quoted $5000 for a paternity/child support action and I paid her $5000 retainer. She urged me to additionally file a TRO domestic violence/restraining order case without reviewing evidence beforehand to see if my case had merit, and after billing approx $12,000 for the TRO hearing in just a few months' time, advised me we should have it dismissed on the basis there was not enough evidence to continue! Couldn't an experienced attorney have been determined before filing and billing $12K to begin with? She's supposed to be the expert here, after all. To make matters worse, my ex has been difficult through the entire OSC/paternity case, getting non stop continuances to drive up my bill and delay proceedings. I was on a $2000/month agreed upon payment plan with Janet for each month my ex got continuances...the court kept approving the delays which can happen to YOU. Janet's bill for the OSC alone ballooned to a whopping $16,000 while I waited for my case to be heard. That does not include the separate $12,000 for the TRO hearing she later asked me to dismiss once she billed. I never received a dime of child support or attorney fees while I was waiting for trial and Janet couldn't get any of this for me through 3 different hearings. After paying her firm $16,000 in a matter of months, while still paying the $2000/month, sometimes $3000/month, Janet suddenly demanded the title to my CAR be signed over to her right before a court date a few days away, which I would not give her; I quite frankly believed as every court date was coming up, Janet was going to drop me due to any open balance on my case of up to $5000. I felt that I had my ex fighting me on one side, and Janet my own attorney on the other, especially when she demanded the title to my car. I was already paying $2000 per month, each month with a payment plan I was abiding to! This was so disgusting. The final straw was when the judge wanted us to return the next day to discuss child support and Janet said she couldnt because she was unavailable for two months due to other cases and her impending family vacation. So I had to wait another 6 weeks for her to return, which meant more bills from her firm for drafting, filing, calls, etc., and when she returned without warning, she simply quit on the basis that I had an open balance and was not paying it fast enough. $2000/month was just not enough. I ended up not even having her for my trial. She couldn't get me child support, custody, attorney fees. She had me file a domestic violence case and then told me to have it dismissed, almost $30,000 later. I had a whopping bill from her firm and not a whole lot to show for it. I wish I didn't have to write this but it is all true.