Laurel Alexandra Buchanan

Our family went through an unimaginable nightmare that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. My sister’s ex-boyfriend came home one night drunk and violently attacked her and our entire family. He was arrested, but days later he posted bail and was set free. We believed we had an easy case: over 20 photos showi...ng the injuries, a video of him admitting guilt, and statements from the children confirming the abuse. We thought the truth would prevail without the need for an attorney. We were wrong. Just three days before our family court hearing, he maliciously filed a false CPS report claiming my sister abused the children. CPS showed up without a professional sign language interpreter, despite my sister’s deafness, and I had to step in to interpret since they forced us with a court order that we needed to speak that same day. The children clearly told CPS they felt unsafe with their father and confirmed the abuse. Even though CPS wrote this in their report, in court his attorney twisted the facts, claimed I manipulated the conversation and since I was not a professional sign language interpreter, they the report thrown out on a technicality - that there was no professional interpreter present. Within five minutes, the judge shockingly awarded full custody to the abuser, who still had pending felony charges. In the following weeks, CPS reopened the case and we watched helplessly as the children were interrogated under their father’s influence. It was the most unjust and painful experience of our lives. The children were obviously manipulated to say what he wanted them to say. That’s when we hired Christopher Hernandez in Riverside, thinking legal representation would save us. Unfortunately, Christopher failed us at every turn. We paid nearly $15,000 for constant frustration. He rarely answered calls, forcing me to call multiple times a day just to get any response. He juggled too many cases at once and admitted to it. Worst of all, when it came to court, he repeatedly forgot the facts of our case—facts I had thoroughly gone over with him many times. Every time we appeared before a judge, the opposing attorney ran circles around him, leaving us devastated and without real representation. It was clear he never truly cared about our family or the outcome. In what felt like our final attempt to save the children, we contacted the office at Laurel Buchanan. From the moment we spoke, Laurel’s intelligence, professionalism, and genuine care were evident. She listened carefully as I explained the entire case and, within minutes, repeated back every critical detail with precision. Unlike the first attorney, she immediately identified where the court and CPS had failed and laid out a real legal strategy. Laurel showed us laws and protocols the previous attorney never even mentioned. She made it clear we had a legal path to reverse this injustice. Laurel and Wendy fought for us like no one else. Her knowledge of family law was unmatched, and she approached the case with both sharp legal skill and sincere compassion. She battled a dishonest opposing attorney and a flawed system with tireless dedication. Thanks to her and Wendy, we won. The custody order was reversed, and the children were returned to my sister. It was such an emotional victory that my sister cried—and Laurel, who had poured her heart into our case, shed tears with us. Laurel Buchanan didn’t treat us like just another file; she treated us like family and fought for us as if it were her own loved ones in danger. She changed our lives. I would recommend her to absolutely anyone who needs an advocate against a broken system or a manipulative opposing party. She is brilliant, fierce, and compassionate—the very definition of what an attorney should be. Thank you Laurel, here I am a year later writing this review and I am still left for words for everything you did for us.

I met with Laurel and Jeff at Decker & Buchanan during a stressful time when my family was served with a lawsuit from a car accident from 2 years ago. When Laurel was contacted our insurance had denied our legal defense, which led to us to contacting Laurel. I came across Decker & Buchanan during an ...online search, and I'm glad I did! The attorneys answered all of our questions throughly and even provided a wealth of additional information that I probably wouldn't have gotten anywhere else without retaining. Laurel provided all options and explained the process clearly. She and her colleagues were easy to contact when I had questions. We originally retained her however in the midst of retaining I received notice that my insurance would, after all, handle the claim. Therefore, we did not end up retaining Laurel, but I'm extremely grateful for all of her help and guidance. I definitely recommend Laurel and will certainly refer friends and family to her and use her in the future, if need be. Thank you Laurel!

I just met with Ms. Buchanan for my child custody battle. From the phone call to meeting her she is very professional,knowledgeable, caring, and one of the best attorneys I have met.I am looking forward to getting my custody situation to be resolved; I also am very confident in Ms. Buchanan as my att...orney.. I highly recommend her to everyone that is in a stressful divorce and custody battle!! She will do everything in her to help you out.

Ms. Buchanan took the time to learn all of the details regarding my case. She explained my legal dilemma in depth and advised me of all of my options. She greatly assisted me during the most difficult time of my entire life. This lawyer exhibited amazing wisdom, compassion, patience, understanding an...d toughness towards achieving the desired results in my case. I highly recommend this attorney!

I had a major legal problem and was referred to the Law Office of Laurel Buchanan, who had represented a friend of mine. Ms. Buchanan assured me that she would do everything possible to assist me with my legal dilemma. She listened to my story and was able to identify a course of action that would se...ek a positive outcome. As a result of her legal insight, persistence and tenacity, I overcame a legal mess, and now I am forever grateful for having such a wonderful litigator that fought for me and put me in a position of strength rather than weakness. I walked away from a bad situation and could move on with my life. Ms. Buchanan was the one person who was willing to take on my case and that made the difference.