Martha Johanna Olson

Great initial interview with Martha and her associate Cheryl. Martha said all the right things: -We're going to take excellent care of you -We're going to "fix this" -We carefully screen our clients, as closely as you interview us to really make sure we can help you. -and what turns out to be... many more useless cliches. Martha's philosophy turned out to be, "If you have a court hearing today, you get my attention, otherwise I will not be communicating with you, until something is on fire, at which time I may or may not communicate with you." Unfortunately with this philosophy, there is no preparation, strategizing, proactive communication. You are just left wondering what's going on as days tick by. On countless occasions, I'd reach out to her office to get updates, and I was told to communicate through their office staff. The assistant then would print out the emails and put them on Martha's chair so, as Martha says, "If I sit on them i might read them." Office assistant would send emails that did not make sense, and rarely answer my concise questions. An example of a reply, "Sorry Monday Is not good sorry for not getting back to you if I was suppose to been a little hecktic around here . We have thursday morning 11AM I believe.Let me know Thank you." Just a major lack of professionalism. I would schedule appointments through the assistant but it didn't mean I'd actually get to meet with Martha. In one specific example, I show up, Martha is heading out the door and had no idea I was arriving. If it was a phone meeting, I would call promptly at the agreed time, and would always be waiting 30-60 minutes for her to call me back, IF SHE CHOSE TO. Many cases, she'd call me later that night or the next morning. I tried several times to improve our frequency of communication with Martha. She said, "I'm trying to save you time and money." I said, "Please, I'm happy to pay you more, just communicate with us!" I could go on for volumes, but will distill it for you. Martha may know the law, but she is NOT interested in partnering with you on a proactive strategy for dealing with your situation. Essentially nothing happened with my case until the day before the court hearing. I heard nothing from their office. I had to call, frantically, leaving voicemail for her, only to receive a call from the associate stating that Martha was out sick today, "Can I help you?" ZERO SUPPORT. NOTHING. In the 3 months that I tried to engage with this office, essentially nothing happened until the morning of the court date when I was working with an associate that knew nothing about my case. In having a post-mortem discussion with Martha, she told me that she was working tirelessly "behind-the-scenes" to move things, but I never knew what that work was, or the impact it had on my case. Of course, the majority of my entire retainer was still somehow gobbled up yet I received nothing substantial in terms of strategy or service. All along the way, I tried to be reasonable and open with Martha about what I needed and was expecting. Even after the court date, I tried to talk with her about how disappointed I ultimately was in her lack of support and didn't feel I received services commensurate with her billing. I'll tell you, the only frequent communication came from Martha after the fact, when she actually started responding to my emails of dissatisfaction - however, she would reply to my emails with paper snail mail letters. Just ridiculous. If she had spent half the energy she put into sending those snail mail letters during the time I actually needed her - I might have actually gotten some service.

Due to the fact that my husband and I were expecting our son when the divorce was initiated, the process was complicated and wrought with emotion. Not only did Martha handle my case with promptness and extreme efficiency, she was also sensitive to the anguish that I was experiencing at the time. Each... request that I made of Martha was executed to exacting standards. Never once did I have to wait for a response nor did I ever have any question that was not answered fully in a way that I clearly understood.