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.

It's somewhat difficult to put into words how thankful I am that Doug was our lawyer. He knows the law inside and out and was willing to explain the details to both us and our birth mother in language that we could understand. He guided us through the process ensuring we completed all of the paperw...ork correctly and timely. Doug knows how emotionally challenging the process is to begin with while dealing with a legal process that is daunting and sometimes overwhelming. This provided incredible comfort to both of our families. He gave expert tips that he has learned throughout his 40+ years in this field. After a difficult time, Doug provided actionable guidance that I think made all the difference in our case. Additionally, even though there aren't many issues that he hasn't faced already, we had a challenge that he hadn't come across. He researched and because of his knowledge of the court systems was able to draft and have approved a special document that mitigated our issue. He is truly exceptional, and I am so thankful he was our attorney! I would recommend him to anyone seeking a knowledgeable attorney that will do whatever he can to make an adoption as seamless as possible.

Douglas Donnelly did such an amazing job on our adoption. He really helped make a stressful situation so much easier. I was so overwhelmed with the whole process, and all the paperwork.....and he took all of the work, and made it seem so easy. I am eternally grateful for all his help in adopting our ...son. I will definitely call him again, when it is time for our next adoption.

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.

While possibly more expensive than some adoption attorneys, in this case, you get what you pay for. Doug Donnelly knows pretty much everything there is to know about adoption and will not need to bill you for hours spent doing research. He made our somewhat complicated adoption as smooth as possible ...and we are forever grateful for his services!