We had, what I feel and what Mr. Hammond confidently said was simple, an easy case. My husband has had sole custody of his son from Alabama for years. Simply put, his mother is unfit. She has a history of living in an unstable, volatile, and non-traditional household, a history of manipulation that h...as led to unjust arrest, a history of child abuse, abandonment, neglect ,and drug use, she hasn't paid child support for years, and hasn't made contact with the child for a year. My husband even went so far as to drive the child to NC to visit for a weekend and that landed him in jail after she took him, filed an unjust TPO, and filed for child support in NC. After yet another false accusation of child abuse and assault against her to his commander, my husband (while deployed) hired Mr. Hammond for termination of parental rights. Mr. Hammond had me to do all of the leg work. All previous court orders, I had to find. Paper work in regards to her maltreatment of his son and her daughter, I had to find. Contacting previous lawyers after clearly giving him their contact information, I had to do. He did nothing, but sit at his office, ask me to gather documents for him, and charge me for office visits, phone calls, emails, and faxes (which, by the way cost $35-$50 a pop). Even with doing all of the leg work for him, he's still late and/or absent for court dates, yet has the audacity to still charge. When he does show up for court, he is a dud. He didn't even fight for anything he was hired to do, as a matter of fact he seemed to agree with everything the defendant and her NC lawyer wanted. He made contact and discussed things with her and her NC lawyer, and then waited until the day of court to let my husband know what they have already decided. DO NOT HIRE HIM. We paid somewhere between $4000-$6000 for custody in Ga (which we already had in Alabama and the child had been living with us in Ga for 24 months) and termination of parental rights (again, she is definitely a text book candidate of a parent who should lose those rights), which was too simple. We ended up with joint custody****.......???? The last and final court date was this past April, we have yet to receive a court order. We refuse to call, email, or go to the office because it'll be another $50 to remind him to do his job. ****I originally posted a review earlier this week, but decided to take have it removed because I thought it did more harm to my husband's case. Literally two days after posting the review, Mr. Hammond sent a copy of the joint custody court order to my husband via email. It's basically Plan B I believe, but point is we could have gotten that ourselves and saved a lot of money. I'm re-posting this because even though we've spent thousands and thousands of dollars on him, you shouldn't have to.

Shawn Hammond is basically a Divorce Attorney (mostly Military). He displays the Bronze Star not for Valor but Merit. In my opinion, he is not a well experienced criminal defense attorney. As a 100% disabled Military man, I originally choose him to help me with a false charge. He charged me $37...50 for 3 hours of work. He loudly argued with me in his office because he said he didn't believe me concerning the allegations against me. He being a former military officer, he psychological put me in the position of enlisted speaking to an officer... a mind game. In another situation, my family hired him for a false charge. He never investigated the charges; never interviewed my witnesses; never interviewed the police; never visited me while locked up for over 10 days and never got my local military medical records that would have shown I was not capable of the actions charged against me. I was seeing a military psychiatry and taking medication for several illnesses including Major Depression and Dementia. When my family posted bond, I asked them why did they go to this attorney given our previous bad experience with him. Mr. Hammond made my son sign an agreement for services for another $3750. After release on Bail, Mr. Hammond made me sign another form saying I would pay $3750 ($370 per hour for 10 hours of work). Mr. Hammond did not appraise the court of my medical condition after being informed of it and he never divulged to the Court that the arresting officer was seeing the same military psychiatrist I was seeing. The police entered my home and beat me without cause. I would not open my front door and told them I didn't want to talk to them unless I had an attorney present. My wife had secretly taken out a loan for over $18,000 and we argued. One officer actually was able to get his foot inside my home and would not allow me to close the door. When I had safely closed my home door, the officer in charge commanded my wife (who was outside) to "Open That Door." I was on the phone with my daughter and she heard the entire exchange. When my wife opened the door, two officers stormed into my home (remember I'm a 100% disabled vet) and they knocked me into my grandfather clock and on into my living room... a distance of about 10 feet. One officer threw a handcuff on my right arm as they knocked me over my sofa. As I went over the sofa on my back almost upside down, my foot apparently hit one of the officers in the face. I was then pepper sprayed. The officers found themselves in a situation where they had no legal purpose for entering my home. I had did no violence and at one point during this situation, I left my home and went to a neighbor's home because I was afraid. If I had done anything wrong, they could have arrested me then... but I had broken no law. So they made up a phoney charge after they illegally entered my home and peppered sprayed me. They dragged me outside and hog-tied me with handcuffs. I told them I was disabled and had heart surgery and that my right arm had limited "range of motion." They yanked my arms behind my back and in so doing, spained the right arm. The cuffs were on me so tight that they let cut marks in my flesh. Anyone looking at my "mugshot" could see that I had been severely beaten... and I use a wheelchair and I'm disabled. After release, I went to the VA Hospital where my wounds were still visible and my condition documented. Mr. Hammond refused my request to go to trial and said I would be found guilty. I signed a bunch of papers and Mr. Hammond told me to say "yes" to everything the judge said or I would go to jail and my wife would lose our home. It is all a blur. Later, Mr. Hammonds refused to give me copies of my case file and refused to initiate an appeal. He said it was too late and besides, he said, you can't appeal a guilty plea.

Mr. Hammond took a very difficult case and made it very easy. My wife and her lawyer were out to destroy my military career. They filed multiple false complaints against me with my commanders, with JAG and with the IG. Even though I wanted a divorce because she cheated on me when I was deployed, I... was told that if I did not give them what they wanted they would ruin me. When I first met Mr. Hammond he told me exactly how the case would progress and how the case would end up. I didn't believe him at first because my wife and her lawyer were so hateful and vindictive that I couldn't see how it would be possible. At the first court hearing I had to bring my company commander. Then, at the hearing, WOW, within 15 minutes Mr. Hammond had a restraining order not just against my wife but against her lawyer as well. All of their lies and hatefulness were destroyed in a matter of minutes. It was such a relief when the truth finally came out and I was vindicated. We then went to mediation a month later and the final agreement was EXACTLY like Mr. Hammond said. Mr. Hammond knew far more about the military than the JAG lawyers and was able to help me save my career. Mr. Hammond is simply the best lawyer and the best officer I have ever met.

Not impressed. He overcharged by charging for things that he did not do. More specifically, I asked him if he was going to do something and his response was "You're not paying me for that." BUT I was billed for that something. He made mistakes that could've been foreseen if only he'd taken the ti...me to actually look over the case like he should've. I do think he is fairly knowledgeable but its useless when someone is so lazy and just money hungry. I did pay him a lot of money and I had to do most of the work for him. In fact, he asked me to do a lot of prep work for the case, then complained about how I did the work, and had me redo it. He may have also used a few choice words directed at me when he got upset. I would never use him again. Do yourself a favor and find a lawyer that will actually work your case for you. Thousands of dollars should be worth more than what Mr. Hammond will give you.

Our agency was referred to this excellent law firm by a sister agency. One of our clients was in a situation that to say was time-sensitive and dangerous would be the understatement of the century. Attorneys Hammond and Schluter and their outstanding staff laid all other business aside and develope...d a strategic "battle" plan of defense that reunited a mother a child. This team of professionals impressed us with their skill and knowledge of domestic and miliatry laws. They continue to work tirelessly on behalf of their client to seek a favorable resolution to her case. We would strongly recommend these stellar professionals to those who find themselves in need of legal counsel.