Leigh Ann Bauer

I appreciate Ms. Bauer's personal phone call back to me regarding my first-time DUI (and pristine driving record of nearly 5 decades). After 30 years in clinical research regarding the accumulation of chemicals in the human body (toxicology), I know a few things--or many things--about this subject. I... do not believe the result of the datamaster in question yet Ms. Bauer didn't listen and just "pulled rank" regarding her expertise with the breathylizers and their ability to distinguish between various solvents. Turns out this particular datamaster had numerous filter wheel errors in the timeframe of my arrest yet no maintenance was done (I was able to get its records). I'm certainly fine being told that a particular angle of my case would be very hard to defend, costly due to the need for expert witnesses, and there might be a better strategy. To invalidate my expertise is uncalled for. I found it rude rather than collaborative.

Leigh Ann is easily the worst person and definitely the worst lawyer I have ever met. My father hired her for my second DUI in February of 2020 and it has been a nightmare to work with her since then. She acts as if doing anything her job requires is a huge hassle and makes sure you know "how much ef...fort she is putting in", without ever actually showing proof of any of it. I will say, I was not the easiest client to work for, because I did not want to go to Seattle for "treatment" because I knew I didn't need it. Liz, her paralegal/secretary then instructed me to just go to a different program and not tell Leigh Ann about it. I did that and graduated. Received no recognitiion from Leigh Ann or the court, nor did they ever ask for any proof of it. So it was pointless. I was also on house arrest for almost all of 2020, with Leigh Ann not trying to get me off of it once, no matter how many times I asked, and ended up not receiving credit for any of it because she refused to argue my case. I ended up getting in trouble again in February of this year unfortunately, due to my mental health issues, which Leigh Ann and the entire court were more than aware of, and all I got in return was Leigh Ann compeltely quitting as my lawyer and taking all of my money with her, not ever showing me any proof of what she had actually done as my lawyer in the LAST YEAR. She did not quit due to me having issues; she quit because I asked for evidence that she had argued my case. I have several voice recordings of her screaming at me and calling me names, as well as many emails including her lack of professionalism and downright rudeness. This is not how you treat people, much less clients who are paying you. I have already started my complaint to the bar. All of this being said, based on her reviews, you can definitely tell she picks favorite clients who she actually wants to help and those that she doesn't. Which is why she receives either 5 or 1 star. So hey, if you want to waste $10,000 in hopes that you will be one she'll actually like and do her job for, go for it. But I wouldn't risk it. I now have a public defender who is doing 10 times more than she ever did and actually keeping me updated on what is going on with my case. Who would have thought that someone provided from the state would be more helpful than an attorney? It's because they actually have something to prove; she doesn't. Leigh Ann and her office don't care about you as a person or a client. Look somewhere else.

I was unhappy with the service I received from Leigh Ann Bauer’s office and eventually switched to a different attorney who did a much better job. I retained Leigh Ann Bauer to represent me regarding a DUI charge in 2018. The initial phone interview with Leigh Ann went well, and the online reviews... of her office looked good. I paid the $3,600 flat-rate fee for DUI representation. The first sign of trouble was a slowness in responding to emails. I had a few questions about the citations that I received during the traffic stop. Several times I found myself sending additional emails to the office after waiting 3 or 4 days and not hearing anything back. The next issue I ran into was Leigh Ann’s office refusing to handle my citations. I received citations along with my DUI charge. Speeding and a couple others. Leigh Ann’s office informed me that they could not help me with those because they don’t deal with citations, only criminal charges. They suggested that I contact the city prosecutor to request that the citations be consolidated with my criminal case. I called the Fairbanks District Attorney’s office. The person I talked with there said that they could not speak with me on the matter because I had a lawyer. She also said that normally the defendant's attorney would submit the request to get a citation consolidated in with the criminal case. In the long run, during the hearing for the citations, the judge at the Nenana courthouse assigned the citations to be addressed with the criminal case, saying, “dealing with the citations separately from the criminal case would be pretty unusual”. At some point the paralegal left the company. She had been my main point of contact and the one who was familiar with me. I think it was a few weeks before a new one came in. Earlier this spring I had a phone appointment scheduled with Leigh Ann to talk about my case. She called me 4 or 5 days prior to the appointment instead. During our impromptu phone call Leigh Ann mentioned something about the prosecuting attorney bugging her regarding my case. She said the attorney has offered a deal and we need to "pull the trigger" on it soon. Leigh Ann was speaking quickly and not very thoroughly - as if I knew a lot about the case and a lot about the court system’s processes. I had to ask quite a few simple questions in order to understand what was going on. Eventually Leigh Ann suggested that I plead guilty to the DUI charge. She said the prosecuting attorney would then waive the breath test refusal. At this point I reached out to a different attorney. He explained things clearly and concisely and brought up a few options that Leigh Ann had not mentioned. Rather quickly he was able to get my charge reduced to reckless driving and his fee was quite a bit less than the $3,600 I paid to Leigh Ann’s office. Given my experience, I would not recommend using the services of Leigh Ann Bauer’s office.