Laura Anne Sutkus

Laura was recommend by a friend and by another lawyer who knew of her knowledge, experience, professionalism, and supportive demeanor. Laura and her amazing paralegal Marcie, supported me as an unbundled client through a divorce that went to trial. I represented myself as Pro Se, but used her unbu...ndled services that she offers when I needed questions answered, legal advice, paperwork reviewed, court questions, and needed to brainstorm strategies and issues that came up throughout the divorce process. I could not have done my divorce as Pro Se without her help reviewing my paperwork, explaining what to expect for mediation and trial, how to upload documents for the court file, which documents have cover pages and which don't, how to serve paperwork, how to communicate with the bailiff for my case, how to negotiate with my ex, and what the law is for parenting plans and child support. Laura and Marcie were there for me every step of the process when I needed help and the unbundled services helped me to manage my divorce costs as I weighed what I was capable of managing myself and what I needed to delegate to Laura and Marcie to move things along. This experience was very empowering for me to have represented myself, while knowing that I had an incredible Lawyer within reach when I needed help... and I needed help! Doing this on my own terms was also empowering. Even when I felt like giving up or felt overwhelmed by the paperwork or emotions involved, they encouraged me with spot on advice. They often checked in on me to see how I was doing which helped me not feel alone in this. I am so impressed by Laura's knowledge of the details of laws and Washington Code involved with parenting plans and child support. Her years of experience and knowledge of similar cases helped me to formulate my plans for a parenting plan and for child support that benefited my children based on their needs. Laura is honest and straight forward about what the laws are and how the court will usually make decisions about parenting plans. This helped me to understand how to write a parenting plan proposal that supported my children. The final parenting plan and child support plans that I proposed were accepted by the court and Laura's help was a major part of this. The financial settlement was complicated and Laura and Marcie helped me to balance the financial separation aspect. This part was the hardest part for me in this divorce because it involved accepting the Washington law of community property. Laura really helped me to navigate the division of property paperwork and calculations so I could propose a settlement that was fair yet still protected my financial future. I am happy with the settlement that I proposed and was accepted and I am so lucky that I was able to have Laura's legal advice and Marcie's support with this and everything. Communication with Laura and Marcie was excellent and straight forward always and I found their style of information sharing valuable for my case and 100 % worthwhile. This process was one of the hardest things I have ever accomplished and I am so grateful to Laura and Marcie for their help.

Laura is an excellent attorney with a strong mastery of the law and a determined advocate for your case. I had a very challenging divorce case that had to go all the way to the state court to have it resolved (in a favorable fashion to me and my daughters). Her advice was very sound, her research ski...lls were first rate, and her advocacy in court was impressive in presenting my case to the judge. Kudos to her assistant Marcie, too, who was thorough in her work and kept me in line in digging out needed documents in a congenial, supportive fashion.

I hired Laura to work collaboratively with me, my ex-husband and his (also collaboratively trained) lawyer. Both my ex and I are so pleased we did. Ours was a bit of an unusual case in that we wanted to divorce but also continue to own and operate two businesses together as well as to keep extended... family relationships active. Laura listened closely to what I wanted to achieve individually and together with my ex. She was organized, efficient, respectful, kind, dependable, responsive, open-minded and is quite obviously well versed in her knowledge of divorce law. She was patient with my ever-present questions, providing clear answers on the spot or soon afterwards. She never left me or us wondering what the next step was. She kept us all on track as well as provided excellent references for outside consultants as needed. We ended up meeting all our stated high-end goals, both faster and less expensively than we had expected. I highly recommend Laura. She provides extraordinary value.

I learned of Laura by referral from a local mediator. In 2016 I began working with Laura to initiate my divorce and reached successful settlement in September 2017. Initially I thought I could fill out the court forms independently, but soon realized there were far too many questions for me to answ...er on my own. At that time, I chose to hire Laura with unbundled services, where I took the lead on filings and meeting my own deadlines. Laura did a fantastic job asking the right questions (at the right time) to understand my case situation. From there, she provided me the correct forms to draft on my own, listed the supporting documents I needed to obtain, and helped me take the practical steps toward a temporary living situation. I was able to save a lot of money by gathering my own supporting documents and draft the court forms. She suggested helpful/necessary changes to my work, kept me organized, identified all the required steps, and provided helpful reminders. Afterward, Laura and I have kept in touch regularly over the last 6 years as she answers questions I have from time to time. In 2021 I hired Laura again, but with full representation since I was busier at that time. Laura took the lead in my case and carried a lot of the work which I am very appreciative for. We worked together easily and successfully, reaching an agreed settlement in January 2022. I am very pleased with the outcome for everyone involved. My sense is that everyone enjoyed working with Laura, not just me, but officers of the Court and opposing counsel! Like so many people, I work hard for my money and care about my family so I want to hire only those who I can trust, and Laura is certainly one of the people I trust most. Laura is even-keeled, organized, and flexible - but also has firm boundaries, decades of legal experience along with a great sense of humor. I wish Laura and her clients all the best.

What do you need in a divorce attorney? That certainly depends on your intended outcome, but in my case, I found in Laura Sutkus someone that shared and supported my human values (fair, respectful and honorable) and idea of how to end a 20-year marriage with kids. Although my divorce was nothing a...s I had hoped – a swift and cooperative ending to our marriage – instead I faced a long, cruel and dishonest divorce process that almost ended in a trial. Laura agreed to represent me, even after learning who my wife’s lawyer was (four others turned me down). Always to-the-point, practical in her approach, and efficient in her decisions, we stuck together for almost two long years, working through exaggerated and inaccurate (lies) claims, and confounded stories and representations of my kids and their health . She showed me how to be balanced and pragmatic in my decision making and reaction to the ‘crazy’. My divorce was not at all what I expected or could have imagined, but Sutkus Law kept me moving forward and ensured that, in the end, I settled/mediated in a position that was comfortable and right for me. As I reflect on my almost two-year process, I recall some traits of her that are easily overlooked during such an emotional period – attentive and able to recall every detail, understands family law inside and out, and maintains a strength and respectfulness even through the nastiness. When needed, she has excellent resources to restore or redirect an issue (i.e., QDROs and State PERS, fair sharing of child expenses). Thank you for maintaining my/our respectful approach through this difficult period.