Annelisa D Smith

I consulted with this lawyer and am glad I found someone else to represent me. She did not seem to grasp the details of my situation and seemed more interested in telling me stories of past cases than listening to mine. She did not seem interested in my case or me so I decided to go elsewhere. I g...ot the feeling that she couldn't handle the caseload she already had.

Annelisa was excellent. Patiently guided me thru a complicated dissolution process, pros/cons of prolonged proceedings, and child and spousal support implications. Made an unbearable process bearable. Great buffer between me and ex's side. Strong advocate. Logical, reasonable, and rational. Fees were... well in-line with market, and I never questioned her billings. Frankly, I was expecting to pay more. All this, plus she's just a good-hearted person in a good firm with good people. Highly recommended, but hoping to avoid needing her services again :)

Annelisa is a spectacular attorney and will fight for you and your loved ones. I have been involved with family law drama for over 11 years now and she is the BEST lawyer I have had. If you want someone who is knowledgeable, dedicated, and able to tell your story on the court room she is the one for ...you.

Annelisa represented me in my divorce. My ex and I have two kids together, which to a very large degree defined the divorce process. I am a father, being a father has defined me and I am a great Dad. Unfortunately, men do not have equal rights in our existing legal system and many great fathers ar...e left with "every other weekend" visitation. They are bullied into agreements which sacrifice their time with their kids or are forced to pay for it. As a man, it is difficult to find an advocate who can not only appreciate a fathers right to parenting time / custody / and a real presence in their children's life but also be powerful voice in the legal system on your behalf. Annelisa's knowledge of family law and her ability to articulate that knowledge was a invaluable help in me retaining joint custody of my two boys and a fair and equitable amount of time I get to spend with them. Thanks to Annelisa I still get to be a father, I get to raise my boys to be men, I get to help them with homework and be a real part of their lives. All the while, Annelisa was able to bring a very human and compassionate approach to her practice. She is able to appreciate the incredibly strong emotions that surround a life event such as divorce and still provide wise advice. I totally trust Annelisa to act perfectly in my best interest and the interest of my boys.

I was in a 26 year unregistered domestic partnership until my partner left me. Since we shared net assets of $400,000 I sought out the “best” family law firm of McKinley Irvin LLP to defend my interests. They assigned attorney Annelisa D Smith to represent me and defend my interests against the Diss...olution filed by my ex. The main assets of our partnership were a home and my ex’s PERS retirement funds. There also was a luxury RV, cars and two bulldogs. I had worked as a litigation paralegal since committing to my ex-wife, so I was the source of income while my ex went to school to become an auto mechanic. When we bought our home in 1993, I paid the downpayment and $25,000 improving the property. I instructed Annelisa that I wanted to keep the home and my ex could keep her retirement funds, which would be a 50/50 split of the net assets, with the other personal items split down the middle. This seemed simple enough. Over the course of one year, I paid over $30,000 for Ms Smith services. Despite written and oral instructions to her, Ms. Smith did not compel all discovery from my ex (who was transferring and hiding assets from me), and did not have the Settlement Agreement signed before my ex came to my home to collect her personal items--despite my begging Smith to do because I knew my ex would claim some of her belongings were “missing”--which she did and then refused to sign the Settlement. Also, as part of the Settlement, Attorney Smith recommended I “give up” a $55,000 equalizing asset payment from my ex because “it would be too hard to get,” and BOTH bulldogs. Ms. Smith’s rationale for this was by my being so reasonable, my ex would expediently settle the asset partition. Instead I came away without a signed Settlement Agreement. Ms Smith then advised we file a Judgment based on the reneged Settlement Agreement. As a litigation paralegal for over 20 years, I drafted many judgments. Instead of drafting an unequivocal money judgment in my favor, Attorney Smith “copy and pasted” the exact form of the equitable Settlement Agreement into the Judgment without revising it to specifically cause my ex to pay me any monies. Further, this Judgment didn't contain any language to protect my financial interests if my ex filed Bankruptcy to avoid her financial obligations. Ms Smith told me she had never had to draft a judgment in a dissolution before. When I asked her for assistance in collecting on the Judgment, she advised she didn’t know how. A week after Attorney Smith filed the Judgment, my ex retained bankruptcy counsel and filed for protection. My ex had not removed my name off the RV title (as the Judgment instructed) and surrendered it, creating an “unpaid installment balance” on my credit report. I spent all my savings and credit cards on Annelisa Smith and had no assets left to hire bankruptcy counsel. My ex’s bankruptcy was granted and she did not pay any of our mutual debt. What did I get from Annelisa Smith for over $30,000 in legal fees? Nothing. I only wanted to keep my home (eight years left on a 30 year mortgage). Instead, I had to sell my home, my car and most personal belongings to pay the entire partnership debt since my “Judgment” was discharged in the bankruptcy court. Thanks to Annelisa Smith at age 54 I am homeless with a negative mark on my credit. And the ex-wife got both bulldogs, me never to see them again. When I emailed Annelisa Smith about these issues, I received a “nasty-gram” email from the office partner, Colin McKean, advising me Ms. Smith had done nothing wrong and suggesting I find another law firm to represent me—how supportive, AFTER I had already paid Ms Smith $30,000+ from June 2013 thru July 2014. Ms Smith is a nice lady--yet an incompetent defender of my interests in a simple dissolution. It would have been nice if Annelisa took responsibility for the life-changing errors she made on my behalf and offered to refund some of the immense legal fees charged. All I wanted was my home.