Shelley L. Brandt

When I explained I was divorcing an abusive narcissist who had a lot of money to burn and loved playing games with the family court, dragging everything out to deplete my resources she used it as an opportunity for her instead of a chance to protect her vulnerable client. She did not follow thro...ugh to settle anything after my ex withheld spousal support, put all the debt in my name cashed out my retirement and lied on financial disclosures. Her advice and actions made me feel like she was protecting the ex and dragging it on instead! It was crazy! She did not get aggressive or push for a settlement on so many opportunities when they were available to end the nightmare for me. In the end I walked away with nothing but debt I mean nothing! but a broke down car that had to go to the crusher months later, 70k in attorney fees (45k were hers ) and 50k in community debt. The worst is my kids- Mid way through I had to move out of state for my physical safety and without my kids (because of the parenting plan) to become gainfully employed during Covid pandemic to try to make a life for them and to be able to keep paying her. When i couldn’t pay her and survive -even though our agreement was she’d be paid upon settlement which she wasn’t getting anywhere close to after 1 year- -she dumped me and put a lien on my home- so i lost that too. In the end I had no one to fight for custody after being the only parent at home for 16 years! supporting an ex who now earns 4x as much as me. Now I see only them 5 times a year. I pay all the support to him and get support to cover my kids airplane fare. ( otherwise id never see them) I went on to represent myself for another full year I hired someone to end it and they did in one month. But there was nothing left for me at that point and I couldn’t afford a trial to move my kids back to me. I often wonder if I had never met her where would i be ? In my house with my kids and even less than reasonable support until i could get them graduated after a 20 year marriage?. I still haven’t met another divorced mom whose outcome was this bad. BTW l later learned her firm was in serious financial trouble because of payroll theft by a by a former employee/ relative during my divorce proceedings so I cant help but believe the other reviews that peoples bills were run up with no results are factual we were all being used to recoup that loss Nothing will ever be nice about divorce most people so t love their divorce attorney that’s understandable but this one had catastrophic. results. Do your research well or it can really go this poorly for you!

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.

The results of working with Shelley have been disastrous over the last several years following a very difficult divorce. Her parenting plan lacked enough specifics and detail which left many areas for misinterpretation and to much time and money spent in future legal battles. In the end I felt l...ike Shelley was more of an attorney for my ex-wife than she was for me. The majority of writing and documentation was completed by family members and I which she copied and pasted into her legal documents. I do not recommend Shelley if you want to be fully represented and protected from major future litigation.

Shelley Brandt is not interested in anything other than the almighty dollar. She will go on the offensive with opposing counsel by making crazy assertions based on her selective memory and not actual facts. She will not spend the time doing her research prior to firing off nasty letters to ensure w...hat she says is correct. She will resort to all kinds of low brow tactics to destroy any chance of reasonable negotiations between parties, and once she is found out to be less (much less) than honest, she simply withdraws from the case leaving her clients high and dry. Of course, this is all her strategy to increase her billable hours. Her paralegal, Rae, is as rude as they come and gets very defensive when one points out her numerous typos and contradictions in the declarations she types up. Of course Brandt tries to charge for the corrections made by her staff. There are much better family law attorneys in Thurston County-why waste your time and money on someone that doesn't care about anything other than herself?

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.