Derraugh Josephine Manion-Dawson

Derraugh has been helping me with my custody case for several months now, and she is a very solid lawyer. She is thorough, even-tempered, inquisitive, and receptive to information. Her office is efficient and effective. She is good at answering questions, and is resourceful about researching the l...aw. She is the total opposite of a fake "yes"-man. She never made me any grand promises that I would win my case for sure, but instead she questioned me thoroughly, making me really think hard about my case, which helped me gain an even clearer sense of how to push forward with it. Her office helped with court forms and filing deadlines. She helped me try to reach a settlement in my case, and stood up for me when the other party was disrespectful, rude, or doing things that were inappropriate. And when the other party refused all settlement offers, she prepared herself for court and performed excellently in the courtroom. And I do mean excellently. She was fully prepared in court, highly organized, and above all, calm. Her questions to me were very well thought out, and highlighted exactly the points I wanted the court to understand. When she thought my answers could be even better on the stand, she refined her questions and helped me say what needed to be said. She was quick on her feet when questioning the opposing party's witnesses, too, and (most impressively) she knew not to let go of the opposing party's witnesses before she had exhausted every possible question to them. This meant that there were some "awkward" silences in the courtroom while Derraugh paused, thought about what a witness had said, maybe referred to her notes, and then came up with another question for them on the spot. It is those awkward pauses that may have ruined my case if I had tried to represent myself without her. In my normal rush to fill silences, I may have prematurely released witnesses from the stand before I thought to ask them more questions. Derraugh didn't give up during those times, and instead thought of many new, insightful questions to ask. The questions she asked witnesses in court enabled her to (on the spot) put together an exceptional closing argument for my case. Derraugh had done good work for me from the moment I hired her, but her most impressive moment was delivering the closing argument for my case in court. If you're looking at hiring a lawyer, most likely you know your case pretty well, and are passionate about it. But unless you have years of public speaking experience and are familiar with a courtroom, ask yourself, what would happen if you tried to stand up and make a speech to a judge about your case? Would you sweat, shake or stutter? Would you trip over your words, or accidentally go off on tangents? Would you wring your hands, make nervous gestures? Would you be angry and come across as too aggressive? Derraugh had none of these issues that most non-lawyers like myself would have at least some of. She was strong, clear, passionate, unflappable, and dogged. She left out no point I wanted to make, and presented the court a summary of my case that was even better than anything I could have said, myself. She had understood my case, made it hers, and did everything she could to put it in the best light possible for the judge. Disclaimer: I had a very positive outcome in my trial, and that's not something that can be promised to everyone. But I knew that Derraugh was the right advocate for my case even before the judge awarded me a big win, when she gave her flawless closing argument in court. I knew at that moment that even if I lost my case, Derraugh had done everything right, had made no mistakes, and that I could not have done a better job myself. If you need a lawyer, hire her. She will work well for you.