Dave Hawkins

If I could give this guy zero stars, that would be my rating. Seriously, this lawyer badly screwed up my divorce and my own future. Going in, we had no debt and no children. This did not need to be a long, drawn-​out punishment. Hawkins did not return my phone calls, or make calls to me which he told the judge he would make. Frequently, he seemed more worried about his cats than his clients.
On the last, most important day of all — the actual trial — the judge was as nasty and cruel as can be to me, but as for my lawyer, instead of showing up in person, Hawkins telephoned in to the court. He claimed that he was involved that day with another trial in a different court and different town. From other blogs of other clients, they said they had suffered the same problems. This excuse simply did not add up, I really needed Hawkins to defend me on the day of my trial.
On other days when we had to come to court, Hawkins arrived quite sleepy, poorly dressed and sloppily groomed. On an earlier court session when I was on the witness stand, Hawkins threw papers at me and demanded that I immediately sign them. At other times when I tried to contact or communicate with him, Hawkins was unresponsive and rude, even raising his hand and telling me to shut up.
It has now been a year. For four years, I’ll be paying on a loan I needed to take out to pay off the divorce settlement. I thought that in this state, divorces are supposed to be a ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ property split. Instead, my ex made a big profit — good for my ex, but not good for me. I naïvely hired Hawkins. He is nice to you until he has your money. Then Hawkins really doesn’t care. I think I was cheated out of fair legal representation, no matter what the price was.
Lesson learned: check the blogs wherever there’s one to be checked. Ask questions. Check any lawyer out as if it was a heart surgeon. Make sure you check in the right places for lawyers. Don’t rely on bar ratings, they aren’t there to protect you as an individual. Remember, this is your life! Finally, be very wary of a divorce lawyer who promises a flat fee. Talk is cheap, but walking the talk is a big job and requires a decent lawyer.

After my first attorney quit right in the middle of final negotiations, declaring she had exceeded her hours in her flat fee agreement, I had to find another attorney who was willing to step in. I interviewed Dave and hired him on the spot because he clearly has a deep knowledge of family law. He won a continuance which, in my case, was extremely hard to get, so I was thrilled. It’s been several months of working with Dave (we had to start over). So far so good. I’m an educated professional business woman.

I feel like one star is too many. Because of the reviews on this site, and Mr Hawkins’ willingness to take a case as complicated and ugly as mine, I trusted he could handle it. He was kind in the beginning. He assured me everything would be fine and that I would be entitled to much more of my ex spouse’s finances. Mr Hawkins charged a flat fee, and being in the dire financial situation I am, I thanked my stars for him. However it was no bargain, and I will be paying the price for years to come. Dave often dumped his work on me the day before expecting a document to be completed, knowing that I didn’t have the resources to respond in such a short period. He made appointments and failed to show up, though he did always make the court dates. He didn’t give me a clear outline of what lie ahead, kept records from me, neglected to submit evidence, berated and belittled me, and ultimately did not do all that he could for me. I got custody of my child, but no kind of compensation for the hell I endured, and nowhere near enough money to support my child or start fresh from the wreckage of an abusive ex. I think Dave played on my vulnerability and exploited it. He made me feel really bad about myself… Sometimes during recess at court. I often felt like he was on my ex’s side. It was the most awful pain I have ever endured.

Dave worked under extreme deadlines and was more than qualified to handle my high conflict Dissolution. He was empathetic to the Domestic Violence components of my case and was able to secure a positive judgement at trial, including a permanent DVPO against the Respondent. I highly recommend Dave Hawkins to anyone who is being pulled through the Family Courts by an abusive spouse.