Carole Ann Smith

I hired Carol for a complicated divorce matter and she virtually wasted my fees. She did nothing whatsoever to help me and I believe that she only cares for her fee, not her client. If I could I would hire someone else and never go to her. If you need a lawyer who cares about you, this is not the ...person you want.

I hired Carol Smith in 5/2012 for my custody matter. Her retainer was $3000. During the consultation, I expressed concern about my last attorney and his billing process. Carol assured me that she would provide a monthly accounting of what was left in the retainer account and would notify me when the... balance reached $500 so that I would be aware that more money was needed. This was the expectation that SHE set forth during our consultation. Carol did not do anything positive regarding my case. She also put pressure on me to sign a stipulation at a court hearing when I did not like the verbiage of the stipulation which gave the respondent an advantage. Carol was negligent in getting the signed stipulation to me in a timely manner. My calls and emails were all IGNORED. Carol also allowed an error to be adopted into our stipulation without any clarification even though she was completely aware that an error had been made in the report. This error affected my time-share and parenting time with my children and was not able to be corrected until the next court date. After approximately 60 days of ignoring my calls and emails, Carol stated that I was out of money with my retainer and asked me to sign a Sub. It took me two weeks to accomplish obtaining the Sub from her which delayed my opportunity to file my motion in Pro Per. Prior to signing the Sub, Carol asked me if I would like her to finish trying to “correct her mistake” with the other attorney and our shared parenting time, however it would cost me additional money to do so. I declined her offer. Carol NEVER gave me an accounting of my $3000 retainer fee. I NEVER received one bill from her although I have several emails that were sent to her requesting such. 45 days later, at my next court appearance, I was informed by the Respondent’s attorney that he had sent my attorney “Special Interrogatories” and they were never forwarded to me by Carol. She received them the day prior to signing my Sub. Because of her error, I had no ability to object to the Special Interrogatories which required me to answer all of them as I represented myself. This lawyer is only in it for her pocketbook. As soon as she heard that my mother in law (who had loaned us the retainer money) wouldn’t fork over the $10,000 retainer that she wanted to take my matter to trial, she STOPPED advocating for the best interests of my children. I have since hired an attorney that returns my calls and was able to assist me with all my goals in family court. I urge you to look elsewhere for your divorce or custody matter. Out of all 3 attorneys that I have hired for this matter, she THOUGHT she was the best but she was actually the WORST. You would be better off representing yourself. I know I was.