Matthew D Taylor

This review is difficult for me to share, but I feel I have to do it so at least others might be able to benefit from it. Matt simply was not a zealous advocate for me in my divorce.  I gave him the benefit of the doubt for a while because he had started out well. After a month or so, though, Matt b...ecame passive and barely did any work. For a while he wasn't really billing, so initially the expenses weren't very high, but by the end I was paying thousands and seeing little movement on my case. My divorce was straightforward; no kids, just division of a handful of assets.  It dragged on for well over a year though.  Opposing counsel, on behalf of my ex, would deliberately obfuscate and stall, and when faced with this, Matt simply accepted it. He did not push for transparency, did not find ways to push opposing counsel toward an end, and also did very little work himself. Weeks would go by with no communication from Matt, and when I'd reach out to check in, he would often times not respond.  One time he disappeared for almost a month.  I reached out to him three times to check in and ask if there was anything I could do to help move things forward, and he only responded after I told him I'd have to find other representation since my case was obviously not a priority for him.  Despite his assurances, his behavior did not change. A few times, Matt told me he was going to start work on something, then never did it.  For example, opposing counsel sent us a settlement proposal and Matt told me he would get working on a counter-proposal right away.  After 3 months and several attempts on my part to push or ask if I could help, there was still no counter-proposal from Matt. Finally, I requested mediation (an extra cost) in an effort to force an end myself. The mediation was a full day.  Matt's representation was fair, and we were able to negotiate the high points, although I now wonder if another attorney would have done better for me on those. At the end there were some details still open, and I tried to ask about them. Matt was in a hurry to leave and was dismissive of my questions, packing up while I was talking to him.  I was uncomfortable signing the agreement, but I decided to trust that Matt wouldn't leave anything important hanging. It turns out I misunderstood an essential piece that I would not have agreed to if Matt had explained it to me properly.  He also left a loophole that my ex exploited, which left me in financial limbo for what turned out to be months after the settlement.  When weeks turned into months after the settlement and there was no end in sight, I had to let Matt go. I retained someone else to finish the divorce (several thousand additional dollars that I really couldn't spare), and my new attorney was able to wrap it up within a few weeks of coming on board, despite encountering the same difficulties with opposing counsel that Matt had. She was just more proactive and wouldn't accept their tactics. To add insult to injury, Matt's firm charged me interest on my outstanding bill, which took a few months for me to be able to pay due to the loophole Matt had left in my agreement. Unfortunately, my experience was so frustrating that I can't recommend Matt or McKinley Irvin. Divorce is already one of the worst times in people's lives, and my ordeal with them just compounded it.  I hope they're able to offer a better experience to future clients.