Shelley L. Brandt

I wish I would have seen these reviews before hiring Shelley. She was a nightmare! She takes you on at your most vulnerable, and has no empathy or compassion whatsoever! I was hoping to have representation that would fight for me, and look out for my best interests, but that could not have been fa...rther from the truth. I have been screwed in every way possible. She would not answer questions that were asked of her repeatedly, her emails were rude and abrasive, and it felt like she was working for apposing counsel! As if a tumultuous divorce was not trying enough, I felt like it was an uphill battle with her constantly! From what I’m reading, it’s her MO to withdraw when she has racked up enough billable hours, or finds a new bank account to drain. She never concluded my case, and told me to either speak directly with apposing counsel, or take my ex to small claims court for the very things outlined in the divorce decree that I begged her to help me with! I would not wish her on my worst enemy, and my ex walked away unscathed.

I quickly learned that she was billing me every time she looked at an email, so I started gathering my questions together for one large email instead of many smaller ones. Once I sent several questions and then remembered one more important question. She responded to that last email separately with... a one word response, but billed me for an entire email. She would wait until the last minute to tell me of the information I needed to obtain when she should have known months earlier that we would eventually need some of my military retirement records. She would tell me that I was not required at a certain court hearing and then call me the night before and tell me my presence was required, making me miss work. She would send me a 50 page legal document prepared by the other side, instruct me to read it, and sign it if I agreed, with no input on if it was a good document to sign or not. I told her there was a reason I hired a lawyer and that included some advice on documents printed in legalese, but she just called me rude and hung up, having her assistant call me back. Her younger sister, assistant, is very kind and helpful, but if you want any legal assistance, do someplace else. I could have obtained the same results had I went in with no lawyer at all. Stay away from this woman as she is worthless as an attorney.

Shelley Brandt bled more than $20,000 from me only to withdraw three days prior to the final decree. With me being out of state this certainly proved to be detrimental to a positive outcome of my divorce. It required me to find another lawyer on very short notice and prolonged the proceedings for ma...ny more months while the new attorney sorted everything out. My divorce should have been very simple as we didn't have any bills, one house and a few investment accounts to divide up, but she managed to draw it out for nearly two years. I had a mediation meeting in March 2013---July 2013 after multiple inquires of what the hold up was in finalizing the divorce she quit. Ms Brandt does NOT like her clients to ask her questions. If you are not well versed in Family Law of Washington, you do not want to have her as your "legal counsel". She will develop and pursue her own agenda whether in your best interest or not. I spent nearly two very frustrating years and more than $20,000 on Shelly Brandt's "services" and got absolutely nothing in return. If you want a lawyer that will represent your best interest in the courtroom Shelley Brandt is not that lawyer.