Victoria Bender

Victoria, Tammy and Val kept me informed during my whole case. During my Ex's shenanigans she was able to get my custody set at a restraining order hearing and I was able to see my children on a regular basis immediately. She handled everything my ex wife threw at us and helped me get through it and ...was able to get things done in a timely manner which is a challenge with the court system. A few of my friends also used her for child support issues and were very satisfied.

My ex husband was delinquent on alimony payments for approximately one and a half years. I hired Victoria to assist in retrieving this past due alimony. The case required that Victoria and her staff review two years of financial documents and then organize them into a case file for court. The task... was monumental and time consuming and it was crucial to find frivolous spending amongst dozens of accounts and documents. Victoria brought four notebooks to court that were each 5 inches thick that were so organized that the judge, defense attorney and I could easily maneuver and discuss the expenses. In court, it was clear that Victoria had studied the information I had verbally discussed with her as she brought forward facts at just the right time which proved to the judge that alimony funds had been spent frivolously. Because of Victoria and her staff's excellent preparation, the case was heard in half a day and the judge awarded me with a court order for alimony payments as well as interest to be paid on the past due alimony. And the judge honored the separation agreement to have my ex husband pay my attorney fees. Victoria takes a calm, laid back and factual approach. She is not flashy. Her court demeanor is slow, concise and thoughtful as she pieces together her next move. Victoria was incredibly prepared with applicable cases that she had researched specifically for my case and she knew my file thoroughly, obviously well studied and prepared. I would recommend Victoria, her paralegal and administrative assistant for any type of legal matter that Victoria was willing to take on.

I had very little time to research / find an attorney. Bender seemed to be qualified, but again, never having the need for a divorce attorney, what did I know? Bender understood the dynamics of my case and the fact that it would become more involved moving forward. She actually did a decent job ...defending me in a domestic violence hearing, but I did the hard parts - providing proof that I was not guilty of this accusation. Moving ahead to the actual divorce. Bender became distracted, took on too many clients. Her paralegal(s) were over worked and managed most of the interactions. Too much time was spent wandering off topic, responding to wild accusations, trying to memorialize is way too many letters (which I was billed for) things that did not pertain to the actual divorce. Bender missed changes in an order of custody and visitation - the modification of which prevented me from having unfettered access to my children. She indicated that she was responsible and that ultimately the buck stops with her (um, who else was involved anyway?). Finally after a year of this headache, she could not deal with her increased case load (but she gladly accepted my payments) and tried to "pawn" me off to a junior attorney who only recently started working with her. She overcharged me for visits to court, spent much too much time going back and forth with ex's attorney, When questioned about the bills, she did not respond. I left. 18 months after this, she hired a new office manager who started sending me dunning letters - after 18 months!!! When I responded, that I had not received satisfactory responses to my requests for detailed billing information, they sent my file to a collection agency (I believe the correct/appropriate way to actually handle billing disputes should be to enter into arbitration... but that would have taken too much time... something I wasn't given when I was a client... or perhaps that was why Bender could not spend the time needed with me?)