Debra R Schoenberg

Debra took my case when I was sleeping on the floor of a 7 bedroom mansion with my newborn in my arms. I was trying to leave a horrific abusive relationship and she gave me a way out. For that, I am eternally grateful. I continued to subject my life the emotional abuse of my kids father as far as 8 ...years more and another child. Debra probably silently judged me but she still allocated space for me into her caseload. I was wildly different person back then and very angry. I can say Debra has led me to freedom at least 3 different times. Thank you.

I met with Debra Schoenberg last year right before COVID hit. I was impressed with her confidence, her skills and experience. I needed a strong guiding person to help me with a divorce from an abusive partner. I was very nervous as our visits quickly turned to virtual due to the pandemic. Her off...ice not only made this seamless for me but they provided advice on how to work through my situation while dealing with quarantine. I was very happy with the results.

I was referred to Debra by a nonprofit group that helps women in abusive relationships like myself. They told me Debra wanted to help, so I called and set up a phone consultation with her assistant, letting her know I was being referred from Shalom Bayit because i wanted to try to divorce my abusive ...husband. It was a big, emotional, and scary step for me, but I was finally doing it. However, from the second Debra picked up the phone, she was so hostile and intimidating, I started crying. She interrupted me a few seconds into me explaining my situation and said she didn't care about any of that, she had a checklist she needed to get through. Then she barked orders at me like a drill sergeant. "WHEN did he last try to hit you?" "It was right after Thanksgiving-" "Did I ASK what holiday it was after? NO! Give me a date! You have to give me a date! HOW close did his hand come to your face?" "A few inches-" "NO!!!! Was it ONE inches or THREE inches?!" The conversation went on like that, with me shaking and crying into the phone, wondering if I'd made a terrible mistake. Finally, she made it through her checklist, so I tried asking my question finally (concerning custody of my son and how to best protect him) , and she shut me down and said she didn't want to talk to me any more until I got a restraining order against my husband, and hung up. After consulting with a few other lawyers (none of whom treated me like that!) I found out that restraining orders are actually very complicated and not always the best solution even in abuse situations. I can't believe Debra was ready to shout advice at me without listening to my situation. Why did she ever volunteer to help abused women?