Melinda M Brown

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.