Melinda M Brown

I hired Melinda to help me battle a custody case. I confronted her about all her negative reviews before hiring her, because I felt they could be misleading. She explained all the negative tags against her were either old, written by opposing parties, or people who hired her firm wanting her and get...ting another attorney... Her excuses made sense to me.. so I hired her.. unfortunately.. Every single negative review about Melinda was accurate. She wasn't helpful, she wasn't responsive, she cost me a lot of time and money and literally didn't file a single thing on my behalf. I had to hire another attorney to fight my case. Only after repeated attempts to get my money back and threatening to file a claim against her to the Bar was I issued a refund, but I have still yet to receive... This woman is not professional. If you are looking for a good attorney to fight for you in a custody case DO NOT HIRE MELINDA. This woman should not have a license to practice.

There are some things that this attorney did that we were happy with, but overall I was getting to the point of suggesting we get new attorney because of how we felt things were being handled. Upon her reading a review (not written by me, but clearly evident by someone that knew me and possibly was t...o our house recently) she informed me that she was no longer our attorney (in an honestly impolite manner). So, I happily and fully take the blame for the review! I feel that if she would give her clients the opportunity to talk to them one-on-one, verses message tag things would of had a better outcome for us. We spent weeks on end fretting about a Revocation Of Power Of Attorney due to certain circumstances. Were always being told she was sent messages about it (have no reason to believe she wasn't sent those as the secretary/assistant we usually talked to was WONDERFUL). We inquired as to cost for preparation of said document, we were told she said that she could take the amount out of other retainers already paid, more time went by with more phone calls by us periodically, and were eventually told that she had to call another attorney about it, then more waiting and many phone calls by us. Finally after months of fretting, upon being discharged as a client, I was FINALLY told that something contained inside a Will she prepared months ago was the item we were waiting for all along. We were told by the office upon discharge that the Revocation did not need to be filed (believe they were primarily speaking about with the courts), that is only partially true. Upon speaking to the bank and a couple other companies, a copy needs to be provided to any company or place where the prior one was used. Whether it be at the bank, or elsewhere. There was an issue with a message being passed onto her incorrectly. Which resulted in undue frustration, adding stress to an already stressful situation, and her both wasting her time and someone elses money. Should she be able to provide her clients with more one-on-one conversations and more thorough explanations, I feel that there would be better outcomes and reviews. There would be no miscommunications, misunderstandings, and clients would be able to talk to her directly about issues they are having (rather than voicing their frustrations on an assistant and those frustrations not making it through to the attorney). Furthermore, upon reading any negative reviews, I fully feel that if she felt they were made by us, she should of contacted us DIRECTLY to get to the root of the issue and attempt to fix any misunderstandings and issues (as this is kind of what we have strived for with constantly calling about the document!). Wish her the best, but can't offer a higher review.

Melinda Brown and her staff are by far the most professional, competent, hard working individuals my husband and I have ran across. We had a tough case regarding immediate danger of a child and custody battle. Melinda and her team were with us every step of the way, guiding us through our rights, t...he laws and regulations tied toward this topic along with providing us emotional support. We could not have imagined working with a better attorney. Not only were the outcomings great but Melinda's team also provided us with helpful tips on how to support the child in this confusing time. They taught my husband and I how to handle the situation in appropriate ways and listened to all the issues we had. Melinda and her team were able to get down to the facts and present them to the judge in a professional manner. Melinda's quick communication back to us when we had questions or concerns was extremely reassuring to her abilities to fight in our corner. We have already recommended two other couples faciing similar challenges to Melinda. We plan to continue services with Medlina Brown both for this matter and any other matter our family may encouter.

Melinda represented us in a move / custody case and did a HORRIBLE job. We won total custody of our children but we were unable to move. The inefficiency of the other attorney got us custody, not anything that Melinda did. My wife and I were extremely disappointed in her overall ability to represe...nt us. Specifically, at 6pm of the evening prior to our trial she still did not have a witness list put together and she did not even know what my job was. The whole reason we needed to move was because of my job. With her not knowing what my job was, I was very fearful that she would misrepresent us and she did just that. She does not like to stir the pot in the court room and would rather take the nice guy approach. That does not work. You need a shark in the court room to get what you need, not a frail kitten. We had spent months prior trying to contact her and she just simply does not return calls or emails in anything close to a timely manner. She is ill prepared and emotionally detached from her clients. She is spread too thin with clients all over the state of Oregon, which makes her unable to fully focus on the specifics of her clients. She did nothing we asked her to do. After the case, she spoke to us a little bit, but basically gave up on us whole sale. She lied to us continuously and never, NEVER, returned phone calls or emails. We ran into significant problems with my wife's ex afterwards and desperately needed her legal assistance. There were court appearances we did not even know about and she didnt even go. She had someone else in her law firm that knew nothing about our case, begin to represent us. Totally unsatisfactory. My wife's ex refused to pay the new child support payment, we informed her and she did nothing. She told us she submitted paperwork to have his pay garnished to get us the money we were owed and it never happened. Our children are neglected and unloved by their "father." We asked her for help and got nothing. We began calling her desperately in April and did not hear from her until July. We left messages and emails and never heard from her. When we needed her most, she was nowhere to be found. She does not display the core values of an attorney and you get what you pay for, NOTHING. After we heard from her in July, she said she never got any messages and refused to help us. Then in August we received a letter out of the blue, saying she is no longer representing us. Our children are suffering and she left us high and dry. You would be better off representing yourself in court then wasting your time with this well below average attorney. I am shocked that this person is allowed to practice law with such a horrible work ethic. She left my wife in tears on more than one occasion and could have cared less. You would probably save time going to law school for three years and taking matters into your own hands. Don't ever expect to hear from her and she will wait until the last possible minute to get anything done. We are disgusted and disappointed in her. Do not use this attorney.