Ann Michaela Carey

Ms Carey is the consummate professional. I hugely regret not switching attorneys when another (medical) professional suggested I do so after I had retained an attorney and was in the throes of the challenges of securing legally entitled services for my child. I consulted with her, and she was kind, c...ompassionate, and responsive. A great listener. She cared about my child more than my money. I ultimately decided not to switch which was a mistake, and I may still end up retaining her. She seems to be the best: smart, focused on what is best for child (not her wallet or ego), and wise in the ways of SPS. Do not repeat my mistake if SPS is making it hard to get what your child is legally entitled to.

Ann Carey helped make very complex legal issues clear. She had to read through enormous amounts of angry writing from my former husband that was laced with illogical language. She helped me keep calm and carry on. She knew when to wait and when to use the legal system. I trust her completely and ...am grateful for her help.

I have known Ann Carey for almost 20 years. We first met when she offered services in the Juvenile Detention System and I was a Chaplain there. She was available and always responsive and she has not changed over the years. I have referred her, most recently to a young man in our parish. I don'...t have details but his case was satisfactorily resolved. I had occasion to contact her myself, in the last month, regarding a criminal case for a family member. She responded quickly and with the information and advice I needed. Hers is the only Attorney phone number in my personal directory and she is the first person I recommend if someone asks me about legal services. If you want someone straightforward, knowledgeable, ethical, and caring, Ann Carey is definitely your lawyer.

I had to pay around $19,000 for a due process request related to special education that I dropped even before the first hearing. God didn't showed any mercy on me. I ended up spending my whole budget even before the 1st due process hearing. I retained her based on 16 AVVO reviews which are a...ll 5 star listed below in chronological order of dates as below- July 23, 2013 - 5 star July 23, 2013 - 5 star July 24, 2013 - 5 star Aug 20, 2013 - 5 star Nov 6, 2013 - 5 star Nov 6, 2013 - 5 star Nov 6, 2013 - 5 star Nov 8, 2013 - 5 star Nov 9, 2013 - 5 star Nov 12, 2013 - 5 star Dec 22, 2013 - 5 star Mar 10, 2014 - 5 star Mar 12, 2014 - 5 star Mar 17, 2014 - 5 star May 16, 2014 - 5 star I wanted to resolve all the special education related concerns that we were having with the school for my daughter but my decision going with her was a big mistake on my part as I retained her even though I knew that I could have retained some other attorney at may be lesser billing rates but at that time I was just thinking that it will be better for my case. I ended up paying around $19,000 for roughly below tasks- * Attending one IEP meeting * Going over the documents, * Communication with us over the phone/email/in-person * Communication with school for getting student school records, * Communication with school for sending the prepared documents * Opening a due process request for our concern. * May be few others if any. Just to mention, * There were no hearings involved. * There was mediation meeting which I asked them not to attend. * School district denied providing all the records for some reason therefore not all the records/documents were even present for review. I had to drop the case as the charges seemed to me exponentially high for a due process request for which no hearing ever happened. I didn't find the attorney knowledgeable to provide a concrete guidance about my case but by the time I realized all that, I already had a big invoice in front of me. I didn't experienced any good value added to my case for the money I spent during this time. Many of the clues were brought up by me only that I thought will give us a positive edge against the school district. I had to pay $19,000 for a case related to education for which no administrative hearing ever happened. Thankfully, I was given heavy discount otherwise this could have been over 30,000. No doubt, I was provided a invoice on monthly basis that justified the charges. Overall, the cost was $600 (2 hours) for initial consultation, ~$10,000 for the 1st month, soon after getting that invoice, I tried to trim down their services but ended up getting an invoice of ~8000 for the 2nd month at which point I asked them to drop my case and then terminate our contract. FYI, I retained the attorney on hourly basis. This is my 1st review on AVVO but hoping it will show up on the site.