Reviews

My wife and I have been utilizing the services of Kathryn for more than a decade. She is smart well-educated and very versed in the law. She and her staff pay attention to the details. Besides that she's a pleasure to work with. What more could you want !

I wish i could put zero star for her. She failed to complete the job we paid her for. Karen never answered phone calls and didn't return messages in a timely matter . Do to her lack of knowledge, our divorce cost us so much more. She is just there for money. I absolutely not recommend her to anybody.

Attorney Karen Schoenau at Guymon Law has done a great job in my family case. Her knowledge, relationships, and abilities were all on display in my hotly contested matter. She has been responsive to email, phone and when needed, in-person meetings. I especially enjoy her hearing and trial abilities. Most attorneys are good at writing pleadings and negotiating issues but it takes a special lawyer who can win at hearings. Her support staff is helpful and friendly. I highly recommend her and her firm.

The women create more work for herself then to try to finish the job. Stay as far as you can from her. Lawyer like her gives bad names to other lawyers.

I cannot express enough how utterly disappointed and furious I am with Karen A. Schoenau's handling of my custody case and spousal support matter. From the very beginning, it was clear that she was the epitome of incompetence and lack of professionalism. First and foremost, communication with Karen was virtually non-existent throughout the entire process. It felt like pulling teeth just to get a response from her, and when she did finally decide to acknowledge my existence, it was only on the day of the court hearing. I received no legal advice whatsoever leading up to the court date, leaving me completely unprepared and blindsided by the proceedings. Karen's work ethic is nothing short of appalling. She proved to be a sloppy and inconsistent lawyer, incapable of producing accurate and error-free documents. Whether it was paperwork sent to the opposing counsel or documents submitted to the court, they were riddled with typos and incorrect contact information, including crucial dates and times for parenting arrangements. As a result, important correspondence was always sent to the wrong addresses and emails, leaving me completely in the dark about vital information. The most egregious error was Karen's complete lack of knowledge about Arizona's statute of limitations on spousal support. It's utterly mind-boggling that a supposed "professional" lawyer would be so ignorant of such a basic and critical aspect of family law. Her incompetence cost me dearly, and I can never forgive her for her negligent handling of this matter. To make matters worse, Karen seemed more interested in rambling on about her personal life than focusing on my case. She wasted valuable time that I was paying for by talking about irrelevant matters, all the while racking up her bill. It was a complete disregard for my time, money, and the gravity of my situation. In conclusion, I firmly believe that Karen A. Schoenau should retire immediately and refrain from offering her services to anyone else. Her lack of competence, professionalism, and basic knowledge of the law make her a danger to anyone seeking legal representation. Save yourself the agony and avoid her services at all costs. I wish I had never hired her, and I sincerely hope that no one else has to endure the nightmare she put me through

Some years back Karen assisted me with my High conflict child custody case. Since then I have continuously referred clients to Karen due to her professionalism and in depth knowledge of child custody cases. Not only was she a true professional in every sense of the word she had a great deal of empathy Towards by very difficult situation. It was a pleasure to work with her and I considered her to be a friend to this day. She constantly reassured me of what exactly was going to happen and she never failed to gain the results that she promised. I am truly thankful that she finally put an end to that custody battle of 7 years. I put my total trust in Karen and she never let me down. She demonstrated her great reputation that she maintained with all of the legal professionals involved. I cannot recommend her enough! She is worth every penny! Karen got results where numerous other attorneys had failed so I have of no reservations in giving my full recommendation!

Hired to help end child support payments, she’s exactly what was needed. Karen is close to the “right” people, not afraid to make remarks that are less than pleasing, or true, so it can sound worse than it is, but they sure do grab the attention of the judge. Small tasks like mailing services too late to the opposing party so they are short of time to respond, filing incorrect dob on their end to make records request impossible for them. This kind of lawyer is the right one if you need fast, used-car-sales tactics….For lack of a better phrase, it’s all about being real and playing dirty in the court room. Aside from filing our court papers with a completely diff case “by accident”, and trying to expose the other sides mental health records just to push extra buttons, on top of dragging it out even longer to extend that $bill, Karen is just the right lawyer to win your case so you do not have to ever actually pay for your kids but still sound like a hero.

I WENT INTO HER OFFICE FOR SOME CLARIFICATION ON MY SPOUSAL MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT. SHE GAVE ME SUCH WRONG INFO THAT IT COST ME 40K. SHE DID NOT KNOW THAT AZ HAS A STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS ON SPOUSAL SUPPORT. WHAT A HACK

I know we're directed by Avvo not to be too specific with our cases. I will respect this requirement, but I have to be somewhat specific in order for you to understand the full impact of what Karen Schoenau has done for me and my family. I'm a disabled father who has to use pain medication just to get around from day to day. Once a year I have spinal blocks/injections to keep the pain at bay. Karen told me that I have to release all of my medical records to the courts. I knew the court would scrutinize them and the stigma that comes with pain control. It looked bleak to me, but I did what Karen instructed me to do and she upheld my rights as a father. I ended up getting joint custody/primary residence with final decision making and a whole lot of stuff in between. That was huge! I was so grateful! Karen was everything she was cracked up to be! But, this is where the story gets nasty! If I didn't have Mrs. Schoenau I don't know what I would've done! About a year later I ended up in the hospital due to physical complications with my kidneys. This happened on the day of a hearing where my ex was asking for restoration of some of her parental rights. Mrs. Schoenau explained my situation to the judge and why I was absent. My ex wife contradicted Karen and informed the judge that I was being guarded by police at the hospital. She continued to explain that they were nursing me back to health so they could put me in jail for being a drug courier. The hearing, mind you was about restoring some of her rights that she lost because of her issues. Well, instead of verifying any of this information my ex was giving, the judge took ALL CUSTODY away from me and gave my ex wife sole custody of the children. I practically lost all of my parental rights. All the while I was unconscious in a hospital bed! Mrs. Schoenau assured me that she was strenuously objecting to the judge’s decision. She attempted to calm me down while I was in the hospital, reassuring me that there was nothing that we couldn’t fix. She said to me, “Don’t worry about it, I’ve got it!” Ha, ha, ha! I pretended like I believed her and I promised I’d rest up. All I could think was, “How could this happen!” My youngest son says to me that night on the phone (7 years old), “Daddy, when can we come home?” That was the most painful thing I had ever experienced in my life. Now, here is why I view Karen as not only an outstanding lawyer but a phenomenal human being! I went into a depression, the likes of nothing I had ever experienced before. I did not know what depression felt like and I had no idea how debilitating it could be. I could barely move because my body was wracked with physical and emotional pain! Was that an overreaction? I don’t know, but that’s what happened. Immediately Karen responded by filing a plea or motion claiming a violation of my constitutional rights. She cited cases, codes, laws, and just the plain immorality of the whole situation. It was a masterpiece. It brought tears to my eyes because I saw hope. To our surprise her pleas in my behalf fell on deaf ears. Two judges ignored her. It just so happened due to a misstep by mother, another judge had to hear our case and make some adjustments to the parenting time. It was at this time that Karen was able to present the facts in my defense and I ended up with joint custody again! That was a relief. To make a long story short, we had to go back before the court again and I NOW I HAVE BEEN AWARDED SOLE LEGAL/PRIMARY CUSTODY. The lies that were told were eventually disproved. My random urine/hair testing came always came up negative for drugs. I remember a few years ago having a big disagreement with Karen about volunteering to undergo random drug testing twice a month. It was a great idea because it cleared my name. Karen Schoenau's approach: NO MATTER HOW BAD IT IS, TELL HER EVERYTHING SO SHE CAN PUT THE PIECES BACK TOGETHER. Thank you Karen just doesn't seem to cut it, but thank you Karen!

Karen seemed like a good lawyer initially, but what a mistake it was to hire her. She did not an advocate for me like she said she would. Karen agreed with me that the other lawyer lied and insulted me many many times, however she did not stick up for me. Karen told me she could be aggressive if she had to, but she just rolled over and barely fought for me at all. In addition, Karen talks and talks and rambles about her personal life, things completely unrelated to my case, which wastes time and increases her bill. I wish I could have fired her and hired another attorney, but I had no money to start over. Of course, now I see that I lost so much more money by staying with Karen.

Karen was extremely helpful setting up my petition for conciliation. She is by far the most knowledgeable attorney regarding the necessary paperwork, how to file the petition and where it has to be submitted. She listened intently when I was describing my situation and intentions. She was very responsive to my questions and request. She is trustworthy and diligent . I would recommend her to anyone having marital issues.