Laurie D Ummel

Laurie was great at helping me separate the emotional turmoil of divorce from the business of divorce. This allowed me to prioritize and make good decisions. She was always an advocate for me and made it clear she was working to get me the best results. She was comfortable conferring with other lawyers who specialized in specific fields outside her own. She explained processes and timelines so I knew what to expect and when. She and her legal secretary kept me informed of developments with my case and were responsive to my questions and concerns. Without Laurie's help, I would not have fared as well as I did.

Laurie helped me through one of the most painful experiences I've had to go through. She was understanding and guided me through my divorce as gently and fairly as I could have hoped for. The outcome was positive and I feel like I was well taken care of.

Laurie represented me during my divorce. This was an extremely stressful time for me and I appreciated Laurie's approach. She spent time getting to know my situation and helped me consider viable options. Laurie was firm and to the point when needed and the times I contacted her for guidance, she was quick to respond. It can be easy to get caught up in the many small battles that accompany a divorce, but she helped me stay focused on the end result and resolution. In the end her strategy paid off and we were able to come to an agreement without a mediator.

I retained Laurie in my divorce proceedings. She is very nice, very cordial and its super easy the end up in long phone conversations with her ($$$$$). She would be a fantastic pal! However, she did not seem like she was actually ready to put up a fight for me regarding child custody, support, or asset division. What she had told me she would 'try' to ask for in the divorce was less than 20% of what my new attorney got for me financially speaking, and regarding the custody (even though there was documented proof of child neglect by my ex) she still seemed to want to compromise with his attorney and allow him residential time.

I hired Laurie, Completed my paperwork within 24 hours. Paid $5,000 in full. Then I waited. I thought to myself... She is a professional, I need to be patient. I waited months and heard NOTHING. While in other courts I was defending attacks from the the person I was divorcing. Finally I called her and she asked if I would be willing to work with another attorney Ian Johnson. Assuring me he was capable of getting a judge to see this case. Well Ian constantly promised (assumed because he said he would do these things) ! He did nothing and $20,000 I've gotten nowhere. My case is LGBT and it's obvious they don't know anything in this area! I highly recommend anyone and everyone RUN away from the 2 attorneys that I have experience with.

Think twice before hiring Ms. Ummel. She had no problem billing me several thousand dollars then produced ZERO results in my case for my children. She does not have all that much experience and doesn't present well in the court room. I also see another lawyer here on AVVO I've used in the past, James Shipman, endorses Ms. Ummel...he also FAILED to produce ANY results when I hired him and he also had no problem billing me thousands of dollars for a stack of worthless documents. My advice, steer clear of both lawyers. Not one family law attorney I've hired has earned any of the pay they have received. I want to hire an attorney that actually produces RESULTS...not lip service and worthless documents. What a travesty to society.

This attorney did nothing for me or my children. I received nothing that I was initially promised. All the while my bank account shrank.

Laurie was a bumbler in court and seemed to have no courtroom experience. I ended up spending $22K with her to get out of my marriage and get custody of my kids (teenagers). There were times when I wondered whose side she was working for. She neglected to add a witness to the witness list and when they showed up to testify, was unable. Did not notice that the assessment for our home was two years old and allowed the ex's attorney to use that figure. I ended up paying $50K more than the house was worth. Did not take in to account that when splitting the assets, equity in the house was not equal to equity in a retirement plan (since you have to pay tax on withdrawals). Let the ex's lawyer slip past an end of child support date to be 1 month before child was 18. Overall I would not recommend Laurie unless you have knowledge of the legal process and an amicable divorce. I think she was trying to do too many cases at once to make partner and ended up not giving mine the attention I paid for. I would recommend Geoff Gibbs from Anderson/Hunter instead.

I was refered to retain Laurie Ummel from another attorney from the Anderson Hunter law firm in Everett, Wa. I initially put my faith and trust in her since she use to be a prosecutor and also knew one of the city attorney who was prosecuting me on a municipal court case that was related to my family court case. Well, about a few days before my trial Laurie sent me an email which stated that she is inexperienced in handling my case and referred my to another attorney while keeping my $1200.00 retainer. My municipal court case was eventually dismissed after I spent an additional $2500.00 on another attorney who was a bit more experienced. I strongly recommend not to retain this attorney due to her inexperience in the legal field.