Susan M. Schauf

I'm in the military and I knew this woman would be a problem when I wasn't able to to get off work in order to meet with her. She really wanted me to bring more money. That bothered me the way I was being treated so I told her you work for me and asked for my money back. She yelled saying this is twi...ce you've had to reschedule and for that reason you can't have your deposit back. I informed her that our career fields are totally different, and I can't just leave my job or make my own schedule. We got through all that (Because I had already started paying her and couldn't get my money back.) only for her to show up on the day of my divorce mediation and not even remember my name. I'VE PAID YOU THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS AND YOU GET HERE AND DON'T EVEN KNOW MY NAME??? Then she got an attitude when I try to jog her memory. My divorce didn't go as planned at all. My children only receive $160 a month from their mother who is a full time nurse. Thanks to Susan and AZ courts, my ex has shared joint legal custody and daddy has had to continue picking up the slack. I paid over 6k in daycare alone last year.

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!

She handled my case very professionally. I like the fact that she practices out of her home. It was easy to find and there were no parking fees. I was able to meet with Susan at my convenience. She met with me after hours and on Saturdays so that I could schedule our meetings around my working ho...urs. Most of my telephone calls were returned on the same day that I made them. I also wrote several emails that were answered promptly. Although Susan tried very hard to negotiate a solution to my case, we were unable to do so. We ended up in court and got a very favorable judgment. I do not think that I would have ever been able to have regained custody of my two children had it not been for Susan's help. This was not a cheap proceeding but worth every dime. I highly recommend Susan if you want good, competent representation with better than expected results!

She knows what to do and does it in a no-nonsense way. She knows the law and is fair to all involved. She does not waste anyone’s time and watches what the courts are doing to ensure nothing is missed. The opposing side in my divorce did nothing and the courts were about to dismiss without timely ...notice to the parties. She caught it. Opposing counsel and I were unaware it could happen. Without her I would have had to start from scratch. Very pleased.

I first heard about Susan from a coworker who had used her services and was pleased, at a time when my attorney was difficult to contact or always seemed to be working on someone else's case. After hearing about my coworkers positive review of Susan, I went and talked to her. She took the time to tal...k to me about what to expect and what the law states regarding divorce. Shortly after moving my file over to her office, Susan picked up all the short-comings my previous attorney had either missed or just not completed. I went from feeling like a mushroom, to being in the loop of information and my former spouse's attorney then became the one dragging his feet and not getting paperwork done. My divorce has dragged on, but not by any doing of Susan. She has pushed and pulled as much as she could, and I am very pleased with the outcome of my settlement. I highly recommend her if you need her. Divorce is an ugly thing and I felt very comfortable having her handle my case.