Reviews
Avvo
Anonymous
03 Jun, 2024
I hired Mr. Veazey for a high conflict divorce with a history of abuse toward myself and child in September 2023. Lee seemed personable, too personable as he removed his wedding band laid it on the conference desk and proceeded to tell me that he was not married; that he only wore the ring to deter women. He then shared how he remembered me from our children's daycare, down to the car I drove though I had no recollection of who he was. Later I learned from another former client he did the same thing to her as well as winking and etc.
During scheduled teleconference’s Mr. Veazey would sit in silence, when asked if he was still there he would reply “I’m just thinking” with not much insight given and seemingly uninterested.
4 months after the initial filing I still had not had a court date or temporary child support ordered. Living in a hostile environment with my now ex ended with a protective order against him. We did get a court date at the end of January (at the request of opposing council). At this emergency hearing Mr. Veazey was ill prepared. In the hallway he mentioned to me incorrect information pertaining to the case that I corrected him on. During the hearing itself he then almost introduced that same information as evidence to which I had to write on our notepad that it was incorrect. He did not show that he had any familiarity with the evidence provided, or as to what opposing council would be presenting. Opposing council ran the hearing while Mr. Veazey was reading though printouts and writing down things to ask the witness. During his cross there was a long uncomfortable pause as Mr. Veazey had nothing prepared. He leaned to me and stated that he was stalling. We had been there with my ex on the stand for 3 hours and none of our evidence had been introduced, courts were about to close for the day and we hadn’t discussed the important topics. The last 7 minutes were used to finally discuss visitation which was supposed to have been stipulated as supervised and recommended at the parenting center however his unpreparedness left no time to introduce the abuse that had occurred and visiting was ordered at my exes parents home every other weekend.
March I still had not received a court order from the January hearing. Now 6 months Into the divorce. After multiple requests for updates and an order for clarification on the visitation I finally received an email that included a letter to opposing council for my approval that had incorrect information in it. I did not approve the document to be sent but then was told that it already had been. I requested a teleconference with Mr. Veazey but after a law enforcement officer, an unrelated attorney, and a former Veazey client all told me I needed new representation (putting it nicely) based on their experiences and my concerns I canceled the conference and terminated his employment.
I requested my final invoice and learned that funds had been misapplied to my account and that previous invoices had been incorrect. Leaving me with a larger than expected (or earned imo). I also caught that his rate had increased in January although this had never been related to me other than the initial documents state that fees may increase usually at a firm level.
I did dispute that this was not adequate to be “informed”. The office did after a month of my reaching out resolve the issue and update the invoice to the agreed hourly rate.
I was hesitant to terminate as I didn’t know how I would afford a new retainer at another firm but I have zero regrets. The new attorney was prorated for mediation in less than a month and was impressively prepared. I met with her once and saw her once before mediation. We walked out of mediation with my ex voluntarily terminating his parental rights.
Get the right attorney and if yours like Mr. Veazey try’s to tell you that things are standard— find a new one.
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