Jim was recommended to me by a friend who worked in the federal court system. At that time I needed a divorce attorney and this friend told me that if he needed a lawyer, he would choose Jim because he worked harder for his clients than any other lawyer he could name. He was familiar with Jim primarily from criminal cases, but said that if Jim also practiced divorce law, he’d be his pick without question.

Jim took the time early on to get to know me and to understand what I was looking to come away with both in terms of custody of my three year old daughter and financially. It took little time for me to develop a strong trust in Jim and for him to figure out how to keep me focused on my future and to look beyond the difficulties that the divorce brought on. (As Jim got to know me better, there were many times he was the only person who kept me from losing my mind or giving up hope.)

It quickly turned out that I was glad that I had hired an attorney with criminal experience. On our first day in court, my ex-wife accused me of abusing my daughter. Jim was immediately able to fight the allegation (and keep me out of jail) and I left court that day with visitation. Over the next few months, my visitation increased in a number of steps to what it is today — which is even more time than the visitation schedule the psychological custody evaluation called for. Over the next two plus years my ex-wife tried a number of similar tactics to separate my daughter and me, and each time Jim was able to quickly outmaneuver her and turn her attacks into victories for me. In the end, every accusation that my ex-wife made was thrown out as not credible.

Jim also did many other little things that, in my mind, set him apart. He always called me back the same day; he made himself available on off hours and on weekends when the need was there; and he always got the information he needed out of me and pushed me to work as hard as he was working for me.

As I look back on where I am today compared to where my life was on the first court date (almost five years ago) I recognize that through his skill and hard work, Jim won me as close to a complete victory as I possibly could have hoped for. More importantly, he won my daughter a life with her dad and family that could have been ruined from the start.