Shelly Kay Perkins

Shelly was hired to represent my daughter and I in a hostile child visitation case. My first visit with Shelly was timely and prevented a possible child abduction by the non-custodial parent. Her knowledge and compassion eased our stress and we felt safe knowing that we finally had an attorney who ...cared and one who was willing to fight for us. She is a tough attorney who isn't intimidated. She gave us sound advice that has helped us maintain civil communication between all parties in our case. When we went to court, Shelly was well prepared and negotiated so well that we all came to an agreement without having to take the stand. Shelly never made us feel like we were bothering her with our questions and I have learned a lot because of her patience. I continue to hold a retainer with her and refer her to my friends and colleges, all of which are extremely happy with her services.

After 23 years of marriage this was my first and only divorce and need for an attorney. From my first consultation Shelly gave me very good advice about my rights to marital assests and posessions. There were times the unknown would drive me to the brink of insanity, and Shelly would calm me down and... tell me what to expect. At times just when I thought I couldnt take anymore harrassment and slander from the other attorney she would jump in with an email to stop them and I would feel instant relief. She is sooo good. I googled what to look for in a good divorce attorney and what to expect from one and she fit the bill from beginning to end. Shelly worked towards mediation and and out of court settlement when that was not recieved by the other side, she prepared her witnesses and I feel presented present such a strong well put together case. She was so much more professional than the first attorney and just better prepared and represented me way better than the second attorney hired by th other side. After the judges award, Shelly counciled me in making a deal to change some of the judges rulings to better serve me in the long run. I have reccomended her to several friends and family member.

In our most desperate time, fighting for the safety of our children the Perkins law firm, specifically Shelly Perkins and Jesse Morris, took my case. Jesse showed up in court and when they called our case Jesse didn’t even stand up so I essentially represented myself while paying a lawyer to be pres...ent. Then after the hearing Jesse Morris approached the opposing party and made an agreement without consulting me first, then told me she was really just stalling and had agreed to something without me. When new motions were filed for enforcement and contempt ( caused by her agreement I was not even able to meet) Jesse and the Perkins law firm withdrew on the basis that Jesse was not experienced enough to handle the case going forward. The Perkins law firm has cost me their fees plus that of another attorney attempting to repair the damage of poor lawyering. I would never recommend the firm, Shelly Perkins or Jesse Morris to anyone.

WHERE TO BEGIN... Choose someone else as this will be one of the most difficult times you will go through in your life. Shelly really did not even manage my case she just passed me off to two different associates with the explanation it was more cost effective to me. In the end not even close to ...true considering what I lost and paid. Shelly was not present except for a short time in my arbitration twice it was managed by her associate. Even though the arbitration was scheduled on what was supposed to be my court date and was told it was blocked off in her calendar. My ex-husband’s attorney also expressed his disappointment that she was not going to be present. At the first arbitration she did not come in until the very end where she insulted the judge who was obviously very unhappy with her comments about the fact Shelly felt the judge talked too much. NOT HELPFUL TO HER CLIENT or in their best interests. I was passed off to two associates as the first one quit halfway through my case. The first associate made several errors on my divorcé doc that I had to point out along with opposing counsel. This made opposing council think my attorney was not professional or competent in managing my divorce which I am sure gave them an advantage. She also did not return emails for two weeks. She always seemed overwhelmed with other cases. The second associate assigned to my case was even worse. Had NO idea about anything involving my case. They misplaced an important document, which her assistant had no knowledge of. When they found the document, I came into the office to sign it and was told to sign it in the wrong area. My ex-husband’s attorney sent me the documents directly to be corrected. She did not complete as promised in writing important tasks at the end of my divorce. involving the deed to my property and requiring the other party to follow signed divorce agreement after being accepted by the judge. Perkins law never sent my Exes banking information that was sent to them to provide auto payments as required in divorce. Ignored my email when asking for it. Had to get it from Exe’s attorney directly. This caused me to be late on the first payment. Shelly was not knowledgeable about social security benefits, which is an important part of all Divorces. The SS benefits from MY company that I founded and was awarded were wrongly added to my Exes SS benefits. She stated she was not qualified or knowledgeable to help me resolve this issue. I lost 15 years of SS at 55 years old that I earned, and my ex will collect. This is from a business I started by myself and worked tirelessly to build. This was a hard blow. They just signed off my case. They left me no guidelines or requirements needed from me. I did not even know they had signed off until I received notification in the mail. This was very unprofessional. In the end when asking if I could make payments on final bill as I had no savings left after divorce instead of simply replying no sorry, we cannot do that. I was sent a threating email stating she would put a lean on my property if not paid in full. I felt a simple NO SOORY would have been more compassionate and less threating. Especially after the hell I had been through. Also considering that my property was the only thing with which I was left. It feels to me that Perkins law just runs on quantity not quality of representation. To say I am disappointed in the outcome is an understatement. My divorce favored my ex finically clearly and was NOT a fair and equitable split. When seeing the attentiveness, professionalism, and follow-through on my ex-husband’s attorney's part I realized that I was not equally represented. Shelly misrepresents the time and attention she will personally pay to your case until you have signed on the dotted line and then after that you are just passed off to less knowledge staff members that I do not believe are even actual attorneys.