Charles P. Shane

Charlie and Nicolette were excellent at every step of my divorce process. They have a direct, yet compassionate approach, and most importantly, they listened to me and really internalized what I saw as a successful outcome. They patiently informed me about the risks and benefits and were supportive..., even when where our perspectives diverged. The outcome of my divorce was equitable for all involved thanks to the steady support and guidance from Charlie and Nicolette and I would work with them again in a heartbeat.

I’m glad this ordeal is over. When we reached out to you in August 2020, it was a very stressful and emotional time for all of us. We had been hit by an avalanche of disturbing news, but you were able to give us hope in that time by giving us a clear path of what needed to be done. Which included d...ismissing the 3rd party custody case, asking for temporary orders, and finalizing the orders through the dissolution of the marriage. And that's exactly how it went. The 3rd party custody case was dismissed within a week of hiring you. We got our son through temporary orders within 1.5 months of your hire. And full custody was granted to us this week. It has been a long and difficult road, due to the complication of the case and the multiple countries involved, as well as Covid travel restrictions, that definitely was made easier by you and your team. So from the bottom of my heart, I’d like to thank you and Nicolette for guiding us through this process and getting us a judgement that would’ve seemed impossible for us last year at this time. Full custody of the child and a restraining order against the mom until the child is 18 years old!

We hired Charlie to represent our daughter in a very contentious divorce case. Charlie came recommended to us by an attorney friend who previously had interactions with him as opposing counsel. Throughout this entire ordeal, our daughter's Ex has been very spiteful & vindictive, unwilling to agree or... compromise on terms and conditions, and if he did agree, he would then later change his mind. At mediation, an initial agreement had been reached, however, at the last moment, the opposing party pushed for additional conditions that were not acceptable or, in the best interest of the young children. The case was drawn out and eventually forced to trial, due to lack of reason, truthfulness and cooperation by Ex. Bottom line, Charlie hit a home run. Our daughter was awarded what was initially agreed upon at mediation plus more. In addition, the Ex was required to pay a substantial portion of her attorney fees. Throughout this entire process, Charlie was a calm voice of reason and remained focused on what was best for the kids. Charlie and Nicolette Michaels (paralegal) were always available to answer questions and lend their perspective during this difficult time. Not only is Charlie a very good attorney, he's a very good person.

Charlie Shane represented me in a motion for review of a Superior Court Commissioner's decision on a family court hearing - which involved myself VS my ex - regarding a domestic violence dispute. She was arrested for domestic violence. Then after her arraignment, I arranged for our daughter to have r...egular visitation with her mother. She then turned around and filed a retaliatory order against me, and withheld my daughter from being able to see me. I had initially defended myself as a pro se litigant, which ultimately resulted in me misrepresenting my own case. I am a man who is the victim of an abusive woman (a woman who was arrested and charged not only with assault, but also with interfering the reporting of domestic violence). I was a stay at home Dad and she was the main source of income. She could afford a lawyer - I couldn't. So she won her case. Thus, through the manipulation of the WA State family court system and its superiority to the criminal district court proceedings, I was no longer the victim, but the defendant, and I can only see my daughter for a court mandated, supervised visitation for 2 hours a week. And I have no idea who is watching my daughter while she goes to work everyday. This is my situation. This initial hearing just so happened to be held the week before Christmas, and this is where Charlie Shane and his paralegal Nicholette Michaels truly went above and beyond the status quo of all other legal representatives I consulted with. The morning after my hearing was a Saturday, and I began to search for someone to represent me, in hopes of turning around the case I had already lost myself. I began to call lawyer after lawyer, starting with those most local to my area. Many of them were unreachable due to the holidays. Those that I did speak with were hesitant to take on a case that intended to overturn a commissioner's decision, considering they were not involved with the original hearing. Most of them did not even want to hear my explanation, and I began to grow hopeless. I broadened the area of my search to lawyers outside of my city. Charles Shane's practice was one of many I reached out to. The first sliver of hope I had was in the answering machine recording of Charle's office - it said if this is an emergency, feel free to text the number provided. I immediately hung up and texted the number. About an hour later I received a call - this is on a Saturday at 4:00PM the week before Christmas. It was Nicholette, Charlie's paralegal, and she said that Charlie felt sympathetic to my case. She said that their office was closed all week for the holidays, but Charlie was willing to come in just to consult with me that Friday. Not only was Charlie the only lawyer - out of the 50 or so I contacted - willing to listen fully to why I wanted to review my case - but he was also the only lawyer willing to forego his holiday break in order to help me when I needed it the most. Beyond this personal note, Charlie devoted his full scope of knowledge and time to understanding then ins and outs of my case. Charlie and Nicholette ensured I was involved and kept up to date with everything going on in my case, both internally and externally. Ultimately, my case was not overturned. But I can say with every bit if certainty, that given all the complexities involving my case, that Charlie Shane did everything in his power to understand and argue my side if the case. And he did so in the most pragmatic, professional, and poignant way one could hope for. Charlie is a prime example of how law should be done; perhaps if our system was filled with more people like him - people who value truth before appearance and reason before principle - I would not be in the unfortunate circumstances which brought about the situation I am still in today.