Lisa Sterling Arnquist

I came to Lisa for assistance in organizing and possibly attending court to represent me in a simple request for order hearing. I consulted with her initially by telephone and I should have elected to retain another attorney after half of the consultation was spent hearing about her and her family v...s her learning more about me and my family and how she could best help the entire consultation. I did retain Lisa though because I was naiive and believed her when she said she has a heart for this work and would do all that she could to assist me. I paid $2500 for her to only help me with paperwork!!! She did not file a single thing on my behalf- I submitted everything. She did not write a single document on her own- she simply edited court documents that I had started and gave me advice. She billed me for every email and phone call even though many of them were only necessary because she did not take the time to read the timelines and summaries that I had prepared to save any attorney time in becoming familiar with my case. I had a LOT of paperwork even though my case is paternity case but it also involves two restraining orders, an innocent 4 year old, an assigned minor's counsel, and two highly educated parents - I sought legal help because I very much wanted to limit my time with court appearances and limit more daughter's exposure to more dysfunction. I spent hours working on my own paperwork, ultimately appeared in court alone pro per, and still paid her $2500!! I'm still confused at present what I paid for- I truly feel like my money was stolen. Worse thing? There was ZERO follow up after my court appearance to ask if my goals had been met or if I needed any further help. She did NOT go above and beyond and her representation/ consultation with me was not competent or ethical in my opinion. She even charged me for the telephone time I spent respectfully asserting my displeasure in how she was helping me and how much work I still had to do. Please consider your options carefully prior to hiring this attorney. I was sorely disappointed.