Michael James Pratum

I really never had a reason to hire a lawyer until my divorce which began in the middle of 2005. After searching I thought I had found a good attorney through multiple recommendations. I hired him and after paying him through the course of my divorce more than $30,000 and I still have a balance owi...ng. What a mistake. I have been in business for 32 years and deal with customers every day and have always tried to treat them as I would like to be treated. Well, after awhile it was obvious he had too many cases going on and huge overhead. Since mine had turned into something more than a simple divorce he really never put out the effort to put together a real case for me. I feel this contributed to my divorce turning into a real mess. After having him working on my divorce for 3 years, this attorney on the phone actually said: “have you ever thought of reconciling with her?” Ouch! At that point I tried to hire another attorney but after giving a little history of my case, they all bowed out. I really felt stuck. I ended up getting divorced February 2009 and signed a bad settlement agreement that I thought I could handle to make it happen, and my lawyer encouraged me to sign. I was wrong. The attorney wasn’t in my corner, and he did not explain to me what would happen if I signed the papers. He just caved in to the other attorney. I was stuck with a lot of debt and maintenance to pay my ex wife. My attorney bailed on me after the divorce was final. I had to represent myself at a couple of hearings after that, and that was really stressful. My ex wife kept taking me back to court and piling on attorney fees that I had to pay to her or her attorney. I felt like I was all alone and that I had no one to help me. Michael came into my situation with the encouragement of a mutual friend. I was getting dragged back into court for contempt for third time since the divorce, and I really needed help. Representing myself was not working for me. After he heard some history of what I had been dealing with and knowing he was getting into a mess, he still agreed to represent me. Right after the first meeting with him, I had a good feeling that he was the person that was going to get me out of this mess. We started working together, and I found him to be very energetic at putting together the best case possible for our hearings (there were several). He is very thorough, researching and finding case law, and talking to colleagues. I felt he did everything to present the best case in court. At one court appearance, the Court Commissioner used the financial documents Michael presented, and recalculated and modified what she had previously ordered, so it was even more in my favor. There were so many hurdles to overcome with the mess I was in, and Michael was there for me. He always returned my calls promptly and I could also communicate with him by email or in person, and sometimes by text message. If somebody is in need of legal help I recommend him whole heartedly. In fact, now my brother now needs some help and I want the best for him: Michael Pratum.