Susan M. Schauf

I implore you, look elsewhere! Susan Schauf is one of the rudest, most condescending woman I have EVER met. The fact that she hasn't lost her license yet is simply amazing to me. She doesn't answer her phone or return emails. The rare times that she did, she was so rude she actually brought me to ...tears a few times. She spoke to me like I was an idiot every time I asked her a question. During settlement negotiations, I would frequently email her a concern I had and she would just hit forward on her email and send it to my ex-husband's attorney without typing up her own response to his attorney. This is a breach of attorney-client privilege!! It happened so much I actually had to tell her to stop sending them that way, as I did NOT want my ex's lawyer to be privy to my concerns or where I stood on matters. After 2 different email chains between the lawyers, when I said I wasn't going to accept my ex-husband's offer, she got so angry with me that she said she was just going to charge me $2500 to bring him to court and not bother on trying to settle out of court and if I wasn't ok with that, she would just withdraw herself from the case. I swear to you, this was a simple case that could have been settled months before it was if she had put in ANY effort into it. During one of the rare times she agreed to see me in person, she had me wait in her living room. (She practices from her home). Her house has an open floor plan, and I had to listen to her and her assistant discuss, loudly and clearly, another person's confidential matters. I also heard her (not her assistant) speak so derogatory and condescending about her client who wasn't there that I actually felt embarassed and sorry for him. It was so very unprofessional, and I left wondering what she'd said about me with others around. If I hadn't spent thousands already and had the means to hire someone else, I would have. But I knew I was stuck, like it or not. During our settlement conference, she was late (she was for every meeting I had with her) and had NO idea who I was, even after meeting with me a few times before. She hadn't even looked at my file ahead of time and was quizing me before going into the room to talk with my ex and his attorney. She was CLUELESS. After a horrible experience with her, we did finally get the divorce decree signed. She had the NERVE to hug me when it was over. Are you kidding me?!?! She told me to call her anytime if I had questions or concerns. When I called her after months of not getting final documents, I got several rude emails back saying she was busy and she'd get them to me when she had time. When I finally got the documents, they were sent TO MY EX'S HOUSE! Not only that, they were addressed to the wrong name. The cover letter in the inside of the envelope actually had 2 different names written in it. One was almost my correct name (she addressed me by my married name, not maiden name I had it changed to), but she spelled my first name wrong. The other was my correct first name, but a completely made up last name. How hard is it to send your client their documents that they should have gotten months ago, and actually send them to the correct address and to the correct name? Just another example of the shoddy job she does. So I beg you all, PLEASE PLEASE consider someone else. Divorce is an incredibly stressful and scary situation. You don't need your lawyer making it 100x worse for you. I wish to God I had read the reviews more carefully and chosen someone else. Ultimately I went with her because I felt she had been practicing for a long time and must know a great deal, and to be honest, she was cheaper. But years of work doesn't equal experience, and it most certainly doesn't equate to being good with clients. The years have made her nothing if not coarse and uncaring. Spend a little more money, research a little more than I did. You'll be so thankful you did!