Douglas Russell Donnelly

Doug is extremely knowledgable, experienced, and (almost as importantly) truly cares about the children at the center of his cases. In the almost 7 years I have been navigating the probate court, I learned just how hard it is to even find a lawyer who is willing to navigate the very particular & comp...licated nuances of guardianships & adoptions. Probate lawyers would say they only did conservatorships and uncontested guardianships. Family Law lawyers would say they don't do probate at all. Even the lawyers who were willing just didn't have much experience in the area to speak of. Not only is Doug familiar with these cases, he specializes in them. He's helped to shape the applicable laws & to defend them on appeal. I cannot express the amount of relief retaining Doug brought. I knew from our previous interactions that he genuinely cared & I knew from the word GO that he was worth every penny when he executed & filed a document in less than a week that I had been working for half a year to figure out on my own. Not only that, but when I was overwhelmed, confused, etc by a new development, Doug always had seen it before and was able to confidently navigate it while keeping me feeling informed and involved, I highly recommend reaching out to Doug for any guardianship or adoption related services.

We hired Mr. Donnelly after another local law firm botched our termination and adoption cases. Our cases were extremely complex already and then we had to start over. Mr. Donnelly is first and foremost professional but he’s an expert in his field. He knows the law and he’s an expert strategist. M...r. Donnelly stands up for what is right and with his expert knowledge in family law and especially parental termination and adoption, we were always in good hands. Also, Mr. Donnelly is a highly skilled and persuasive writer. This was really important to us. All briefs and paperwork were done with excellence and with no typos. Mr. Donnelly, we are forever grateful. It was a tough case and he was the best lawyer hands down.

I went to visit with Doug as a result of an unplanned pregnancy and the decision to place my child for adoption. Ego and narcissism are the only words to come to mind in describing my encounter with this attorney. I arrived a few minutes late waddling to our meeting, as a result of limited parking an...d being very pregnant. Doug was very rude, condescending and did not show any form of empathy in the slightest regard. Additionally, he continually boasted about his achievements and recognitions for which I could care less. Each time I attempted to bring up a question about the adoption process, including my role as a birth parent and the involvement of selecting a family he would cut me off and raise his voice at me demanding that I not interrupt him. Honestly, please save yourself the headache and waste of time and money. I ended up contacting another lawyer out of SB and Lompoc who worked wonders during my process. She was empathetic, supportive and went to great lengths to help me during this period of my life. She was the complete opposite of this clown.

We had a complicated contested adoption case. Doug was instrumental in not only winning our case, but winning it decisively and without a single person on our side even having to testify. He was fully invested in our outcome and went to great lengths to study all the exhibits (there was over 3000 pag...es of texts) to strengthen our case. He was communicative and extremely supportive to us during this stressful time but most importantly he was the most qualified and experienced attorney with the adoption laws in our state. We could not have been more pleased with his competence and communication. If you are in the midst of a contested adoption, this is the man you want to have on your side.

We were so please with our choice in hiring Doug as our representative in obtaining guardianship. In such a sensitive and emotional time in our lives, Doug provided us with comfort though his thorough, intelligent, confident and well thought out responses. We were consistently impressed with his leve...l of experience and integrity.