No Photo

David Scott Heier

4.2
Rating: 7.4

Licensed for 46 years

Divorce and separation Lawyer Practice Areas: Divorce & Separation
This attorney is currently not accepting new clients.
Reason: Not Practicing

About David

Biography

Practice Areas

1

Practice Area

Divorce and Separation 100%

A divorce lawyer helps you if you no longer want to be married. Whether you want a legal separation or the marriage ended, divorce lawyers assist you to arrange financial and family matters, typically in a negotiation with your spouse's lawyer. Alimony, child custody, child support, and a fair division of community assets (like who keeps the house or how your checking and savings accounts are divided) are matters that a divorce lawyer is trained to help determine.

40 years | 2,000 cases

100%

Fees and Rates

Cost

Retainer

Always


Payment Methods

  • Cash
  • Check
  • Credit Card

Looking for an attorney? Avvo can help.

search module image

Search our directory

Quickly connect with top attorneys through our legal directory to get help with your legal issue.

chat module image

Avvo's live chat agents can help coordinate a consultation with a local attorney.

Chat with a live agent who can match you with the right attorney for your legal needs.

Chat with

Licenses

Licensed in New York for 11 years

State: New York

Acquired: 2014

Currently Registered

No misconduct found

Licensed in Ohio for 46 years

State: Ohio

Acquired: 1979

Inactive

No misconduct found

Location

No contact information is available for this lawyer

Ad

Transform legal challenges into solutions.

Connect now to review your situation.

The Avvo Rating explained

display-bg

The Avvo Rating explained

David Scott Heier's Reviews

Avvo Review Score

4.2 /5.0

20 Client Reviews

Filter Avvo Reviews (20) Refine reviews to match your needs. Use the filters to quickly surface reviews that align with your case or priorities.

Showing 1 - 5 of 5 reviews | Character & Conduct

Posted by anonymous | March 13, 2024 | Hired Attorney | Divorce & Separation

You will regret hiring him as your lawyer

I hired him for a divorce/custody case and spent over $20,000 to be bullied, gaslit and lied to, to save him time from actually doing his job and giving me proper due diligence. He violated the rules of Professional Conduct throughout the whole process and now have another lawyer (and spending more ...money) to clean up his sloppy job. He will drag his feet and not even have the correct information until you run out time where he will skew information to get you to settle, while also giving misogynist emails like " you are such a good mother" when pointing out incorrect information with your case. I am now going through other options to fix what happened to me and hopefully right the wrong, but I hope to save you time, energy and money by not hiring him.

David Heier

Replied last August 21, 2024

I admit that I stated to my client in an email that "you are such a good mother," when replying to parenting plan conflicts she was having with the father. I'm astounded with how this could be interpreted as misogynist. I've never lied to a client and have no clue where this is coming from. I don't know what gaslit means or what that refers to here either. I don't bully clients. I give clients advice based upon my experience, knowledge of the courts and Judges, opposing attorney, the law, and the facts of the case. A client has a right to reject my advice regarding specific terms of settlement. In the rare case where the client's position is not reasonably attainable and they are making a decision that is not in their best interest and is contrary to my advice, I have the client sign a statement explaining my advice and the reasons why. It also includes the client's position and states that the client wishes to proceed contrary to my legal advice. After the client rejected the opposing party's offer and my advice to accept it, a court hearing was required for a decision by the Referee. Not surprisingly the result was less than the offer by the opposing side in the negotiations. I tried to convince my client to make the right decision to accept a settlement offer rather than risk receiving less in a trial. I was correct in my advice, but it was ignored. Then Immediately upon the parties signing their parenting plan, conflicts arose between the parties. It is unusual for parents to negotiate terms of a parenting plan, sign it, and then immediately want to litigate it. After the divorce, either party can file in the Family Court if the parenting plan isn't working. They can't litigate it in the divorce once it's signed and filed. No divorce lawyer is going to completely satisfy every client they serve. I must accept that.

Posted by JOSHUA | July 24, 2023 | Hired Attorney | Divorce & Separation

All I wanted was a divorce

I hired David in 2021 to handle my divorce I paid him over 2000 dollars . At first he seemed focused and eager to help but after a few months he stopped responding to me he stopped working on my divorce I just left the county clerk's office and they told me that he hasn't submitted anything I'm at m...y witt's end he was good up until it actually came to doing any work he won't respond to my emails he won't return my calls and won't do the job he was hired to do I would not recommend anyone hire him

David Heier

Replied last August 21, 2024

This is someone who I consider a good client. The opposing side represented themselves and at first was uncooperative. We started out not even having her address. When there is a house, retirement, custody and visitation and child support to work out, and a preliminary legal problem, it takes some time. We had to go to court to secure an agreement. It did take some extra time for the separation agreement to be drafted and signed. After an agreement is signed and filed, there is a 60-day deadline in which the remaining final documents are filed with the court. I was remiss in not communicating that with my client. The documents were completed within the deadline. It was my pleasure to represent this client.

Posted by Liz | January 14, 2018 | Hired Attorney | Child Custody

Amazing Attorney

If I could give him more than 5 stars I would. Mr. Heier became my attorney for a custody dispute when my previous one decided last minute he could no longer work for me due to a new job offer in another city. I was scared and had just a couple of days to find another attorney before my first court ...date, and I am so thankful that I found Mr. Heier. David has worked so hard to help me gain residency of my children when we knew it would be an uphill battle. Mr. Heier has been our calm in what has been a stormy year and a half of litigation, and has gone above and beyond what any attorney will or would do. He is compassionate about his clients and their cases. We never had an issue being able to get ahold of him when we had an issue or question as he promptly returned all of our phone calls, emails, and texts messages. He worked tirelessly to make sure that our new Custody Order was drafted quickly and signed within a matter of days. I would highly recommend him.

Posted by anonymous | February 01, 2017 | Hired Attorney | Divorce & Separation

I would love to give 0 stars

I hired David to be my attorney in May 2016 for the amount of $5,000.00 paid to him. At this time he was to represent me in my divorce and help with custody and the money my husband owed to me. In the beginning David seemed distracted and not completely up for the job, but I had paid him and decided... to give him a chance. At one court date back in October he seemed very confident and told me that the case was going to trial and I needed to give him another $6,000 to finish up through trial. His optimism that I would be getting more than what I even asked for and that there shouldn't be a problem getting residential custody of my girls I paid him. Later on he proved to be completely incompetent and revoked his previous assumption that I would be getting custody or even the money that was supposed to be proven to be mine. The last straw(s) were him not telling me that the court date had been changed and it ended up being the day of my Gramma's funeral. He said he would take care of it and not to worry and go to the funeral. Later after court he called to tell me that I will NOT be getting residential custody of my kids and that I should just let it go and focus on the money part of it. He said that I "needed to be realistic and that I have emotional issues" after I started crying that he wasn't doing his job. Then, two days later I found out from my ex that David didn't even show up to court that day and they had to phone him to conference him in! He never told me he wasn't going to go and that the decision made that day was probably because I didn't have anyone there to fight my side. So I fired him assuming I would get most if not all of the $6,000 I had given him a month ago and could hire a new attorney. He refuses to give me any money back and says I owed him for past expenses. I NEVER ever received a bill for anything. It says in the contract that he will provide me with an itemized statement of charges not less than every 60 days. I never got one. Plus he had told me the $6,000 was to prepare for and go to trial set in February. David never advised me that the children would have their own attorney, and that I would need to speak to her, so meeting her for the first time during a court date was a surprise for me. An even bigger surprise was that she had been speaking with my ex-husband right along and never contacted me because she didn't get permission from David to do so. The entire time she was in the picture and I was unaware she was only hearing the lies my ex was spewing about me and never followed up to hear my side. Finally, after trying to contact her myself she called me 3 days before the NEXT court date and spoke with me for 10 minutes. I was able to disprove a few allegations my husband was making, but that didn't seem good enough for judgement were made before ever even seeing me. I finally demanded an itemized statement of charges because he said he wasn't going to give me my money back and when I picked it up from his office saw that he was charging me for every phone call, every email and $250 ONE way to court, so $500 a trip to court plus court time. The phone calls, I would call him to ask what time court was and he would tell me he didn't know and would call the court to find out and call me back. Then charge me for 3 phone calls at 10 min each. And his retainer I signed said in increments of min 6 minutes. It does not say amount of money per mile or amount of time spent reading emails. He took $11,000 of my money, didn't follow through with anything, didn't let me know about important changes in court appearances, added law guardians, didn't show up to a court date, never sent me a bill, overcharged for just about everything, told me the last $6,000 was for trial, and was not adequately representing me in any way. He is thoughtless and unprofessional and took advantage of an emotional mother going though the hardest point in her life fighting for her children.

David Heier

Replied last February 01, 2017

I will not reveal the confidences of my client, even to defend myself. High conflict divorce and custody cases are high risk for any attorney willing to accept such a case. These high conflict cases are never one sided in favor of either parent when sole custody is sought by both. That is what makes them high conflict. Many times it is necessary to advise a client to seek drug and alcohol treatment. Sometimes serious mental health issues need to be addressed. Sometimes a client must be told things they do not want to hear. Over the course of a high conflict case, emotions are high and expectations can be unrealistic. Many times compromise with the opposing party may be the best course of action for a client and for the children if the evidence turns out to be unfavorable. Proposing reasonable compromises to a client is a risk of having them blame the attorney for not getting everything they want in a case. This is one reason most attorneys do not practice family law or accept high conflict cases. The time commitment in such cases for an attorney can be substantial. Engagement letters are required and it clearly spells out what is charged. To my detriment, I will record my time on a bill but not charge the client. A client may see the item but not also see where it is listed as no charge. I don't have to accept high conflict cases, but I do. I see a person who needs help and I accept the challenge. I also accept the risk that there will be a client who will never be satisfied no matter how much time they are given, no matter how much compassion is shown, no matter that they are given the best legal advice and professional opinion.

Posted by anonymous | June 13, 2012 | Family

Excellent Representation

Mr. Heier is so impressive that when he took my daughters case I was no longer concern that justice would be served. He truly knows the law and can handle himself very, very well in the court room. My daughter could not have had a better attorney representing her, he always looked for fairness... for both parties and always consider the childs best interest. My daughter went through 3 attorney's before hiring Mr. Heier and due to their lack of experience this case has cost her a pretty penny, so 2 years later we found the RIGHT man to represent her. It has been 1 1/2 year now that he has worked for her and he has truly been God sent. Overall Mr. Heier is a class act attorney that knows the law and that is important to have that kind of representation in the court room. We as a family could not have asked for a better attorney. Thank you!

See All Client Reviews

David Scott Heier's Lawyer Endorsements

Endorse David
Holly Patricia Regoli headshot
Holly Regoli

Divorce and separation lawyer | Dec 29

Relationship: Fellow lawyer in community

"Mr. Heier is widely respected by his peers and is excellent attorney and I certainly endorse him as an attorney to meet your legal needs."

View All Endorsements
Gary Jay Gottfried headshot
Gary Gottfried

Divorce and separation lawyer

Experience

Rating:  7.4 (Very Good)

Honors

1993

Who's Who of Emerging Leaders in America, 1993-1994, 4th Edition, Marquis Who's Who

Work Experience

1986 - Present

Attorney, Heier Law Office

1983 - 1985

Assistant City Attorney, City of Upper Arlington, Ohio

1980 - 1983

JAG, U.S. Marine Corps

Associations

2016 - Present

Ontario County Bar Association

Member

2014 - Present

New York State Bar Association

Member

1983 - Present

American Bar Association

Member

Sample of Legal Cases

State of Ohio vs. Gabrielle Mansour

Sentenced to only 8 years in prison for murder

See More Legal Cases

Education

1979

University of Dayton School of Law

JD - Juris Doctor

1979

University of Dayton

MA - Masters

1975

University of Dayton

BA - Bachelor of Arts

Speaking Engagements

N/A

Family Law Seminar

Child Custody

N/A

Columbus Family Law Committee

Dividing Military Retirement in Divorce

Languages

English

Activity

Avvo Rating

Our Rating is calculated using information the lawyer has included on their profile in addition to the information we collect from state bar associations and other organizations that license legal professionals. Attorneys who claim their profiles and provide Avvo with more information tend to have a higher rating than those who do not.

What determines Avvo Rating?
  • Experience & background Years licensed, work experience, education
  • Legal community recognition Peer endorsements, associations, awards
  • Legal thought leadership Publications, speaking engagements
  • Discipline Disciplinary information may not be comprehensive, or updated. We recommend that you always check a lawyer's disciplinary status with their respective state bar association before hiring them.
Avvo Rating Levels
10.0 - 9.0 Superb8.9 - 8.0 Excellent7.9 - 7.0 Very Good6.9 - 6.0 Good5.9 - 5.0 Average4.9 - 4.0 Concern3.9 - 3.0 Caution2.9 - 2.0 Strong Caution1.9 - 1.0 Extreme Caution