John Howard McKinley

I hired McKinley to do my divorce and custody battle in 2010. He comes across as confident, knowledgable, and aggressive, of which he is all three. However, as shortly after the case started, I found him to be abrupt, not forthcoming, and completely unhelpful when it came to strategy. He would gat...her facts, but would not advise me on how to come across, nor how the system worked. He would answer questions tersely, with the least amount of information possible, which would naturally lead to more questions from me. This information-hoarding created a cycle in which I would rack up billable hours unnecessarily. it also led to mistakes on his part which cost me thousands. At times he was flat-out rude, which i did not appreciate from a hired contractor at all. He was a poor listener, thinking he knew best in all circumstances what information was needed; however, his performance in court was hit-or-miss, as the only times I came out favorably was when the laws were clearly on my side. Otherwise, when it was up the the judge's discretion, I usually came out on the losing end, even when the other party had inferior lawyers. Thinking his familiarity with my situation might help, I re-hired him for child support. What a mistake. He was a no-star lawyer here, and was a complete waste of money. He divulged no information on how to present my situation to the court, and offered zero insight on how the amount was calculated. It was obvious he took the case just to bilk me of more money, as he put little effort into it, just showing up with nothing. I could have had no lawyer present and ended up the same, save the undeserved lawyer fees. This guy is the epitome of what gives lawyers the poor reputation they have, with high fees, no insight for the paying customer on how to come out the best way possible, and a good-old-boy attitude in court with no appreciation for the seriousness of the situation the the client.