Denise Lee Dirks

I was referred to the office of Denise L Dirks in August by an agency. Due to the contract between them I had a free one hour consultation. During that time frame Denise seemed to be very aggressive and made me feel great about the child custody case! I explained the situation and Denise said that sh...e would have to bring in her associate attorney to help work on the case with her. When I asked Denise how she felt about my chances of custody she said, "We will 100% win in mediation." She came in on a limited scope to file an emergency Ex-Parte Request for Order (RFO) and explained that this was the best method and I would get my daughter back right away. When I asked about the cost of the retainer she said, "oh let me see we have to do this paperwork and that" then I heard her say quietly to her associate attorney, Pal, "What do you think? $3,500? It's going to be $3,500 up front." This seemed like a lot of money for a little bit of paperwork that I could do myself. Let me state that she did tell me that I could do the paperwork myself but I may not have the legal understanding to validate my reasoning for the order and that they could. So ignorantly I decided to hire Denise with the understanding that I was retaining her. Wrong. The only attorney I dealt with was her associate attorney, Pal. He was very nice and answered my questions the best that he could. Every document that Pal would send over for me to review, I had to make grammatical corrections. I had to tell him multiple times what to put in the document and within the RFO he constantly referred to my daughter as my son. So many errors that I had to fix and send back. What was ridiculous was that I was charged for the emails back with the corrections they made. I'm being charged for your errors that you should've fixed yourself prior? I was becoming more irritated because after a week of retaining them nothing was filed on my case. I called multiple times and asked for Denise but the receptionist always said, "I'm sorry but Ms. Dirks it out of the office." I said that I was calling to talk with her and I needed questions answered. I was referred back to Pal. Which at the time was frustrating because to my understanding, he wasn't the lead on this case. It wasn't until the day before my court date I learned that Pal was going to be by himself and Denise wasn't going to be there. The day prior to the court hearing I spoke with a different attorney who asked if my current attorney had prepped me on the case, what to say and if we talked about the weak points in my case. I answered no. When I told her the price I paid for the RFO she was fathomed at that amount and that it was not necessary. Here is where the real let down begins. On the day of my court hearing, Pal and I go in and our case starts, the judge is already irritated because nothing about my case shows an emergency and that my daughter should be brought to me immediately. My ex's attorney caught on to the judges attitude and used it to his favor agreeing stating that, "Your Honor, we shouldn't even be here. This could've waited" Her attorney wiped the floor with Pal. Pal, although a really nice guy, stumbled over his words, couldn't articulate a reason for an emergency order, and let the other attorney silence him on multiple occasions. Needless to say we lost the RFO and suffered negative repercussions. The judge ordered that I am not allowed to go pick up my daughter from her mothers and bring her to me. Pal told me afterwards that the judge made up his mind before the case and we were not going to win. A week later I got a bill from Dirk's office. Out of my $3,500, I'm getting $536 back. Thanks, Dirks and Pal. When I saw the bill break down, I was billed for every email (sorta understandable although if was to fix your mistakes) and on top of it Denise only reviewed my case once. I should've done more research on her and seen how bad they are. I am now retaining someone else. $3,500 completely wasted

She is very argumentative with her clients. She overcharges for everything and she would not apply a discount rate towards my whole case per my employer discount rate. It later turned out she gyped me out of several hundred dollars and wouldnt apologize for the mistake, however she tried telling me... to find another lawayer AFTER I already fired her by subbing out. It took several months to complete the sub; her staff are disorganized as well. Communication between the opposing counsel and Denise was going on and she didnt even notify me about it until I questioned it after seeing it on my invoice. Even though you pay for her, she will frequently put sub par associate attorneys on your case without your consent and the associate attorney got nervous in court. SHe laid an egg right in from of the judge and would not speak up in court regarding important things she said she would say in our conferences. I would not recommend. All this info is factual, please ask to see evidence.