Reviews

Hire this guy if you want to lose your case.

I was not only promised a max fee, I have it documented, & I was sent a bill for a additional $1500+. I reminded him I denied his services past the original amount, & he sent me a bill for the letter I wrote, demanding there be no more services/charges. Dishonesty is a understatement. Then I was threatened to have collections called. Bad enough to be struggling divorced father, without enough money to pay your bills, but unjust treatment in court, & to have a attorney do this, is truly a disgrace.

This firm is terrible. Do not use them. They have screwed up so many times on our case, and it’s just a simple petition to modify a custody agreement. We have lost any shared expense for travel, and are now solely responsible for all travel for reasons I could not explain, except that the firm has not represented our interests. They bill us hundreds of dollars per staff members if they have a short meeting about our case, and still nothing gets done. They have been working on this for years, and allowed language in the final agreement which they specifically called to get our consent for, and we explicitly stated the language was not to be allowed in the final document. We have no confidence that they are billing us accurately for hours they actually worked on our case, because they charged us for a phone call when we were out of the country with our phones turned off and no service. It’s been two years and we have complained several times and they still haven’t removed the charge. With all of these one-star reviews, I wonder how long before he’s disbarred for an ethics or malpractice violation, or both? DISCLAIMER: I have not personally retained the services of this attorney. The firm is serving my family (hence the use of ‘our’ and ‘we’), and the preceding comments are based on my firsthand knowledge of the case. For every issue mentioned above, resolution was sought directly with the firm before it was shared on a public platform. Since writing this review, we have been threatened with lawsuits instead of met with an attempt to resolve the ongoing issues.

I have utilized this law firm for several different services and was really pleased with the professionalism of the attorneys and the friendly staff.

I met and hired Mr. Van Gilder well over a year ago. He has since become someone that I can confide in and trust. He has went the extra mile to ensure I was and am treated fairly. He has played defense and offense in a case that would have deflated many an attorney. I have found him to be trustworthy, compassionate, honest, and chuck full of grit. I highly recommend Mr. Van Gilder and could not think of employing another lawyer.

Mr. R Van Holder and his associate's are very professional, and helpful. Thank you Derek and your associate's.

We hired Mr. VanGilder to handle custody and later an adoption for us. He and his office did an excellent job preparing the paperwork, arraigning the home study, etc. when we went to court, the process went very smoothly and satisfactorily. Since then, we have used their office for other legal matters. The staff is wonderful. I highly recommend them.

Great attorney and law office. Very personable and knowledgeable. Derek Van Gilder has helped me with multiple cases and issues over the last several years.

Went above and beyond to help us with all of our estate planning and getting guardianship of our special needs son. Very easy to work with.

My husband and I purchased a home and moved to Bastrop in 1996. Months after closing we discovered that the septic that belonged to this house was on someone elses property. We hired Derek Van Gilder to work with the sellers/realtors (one in the same), to rectify the situation. The situation was prompltly resolved and we were able to have proper construction of septic placed on our property at no cost to us. Attorney fees were recooped as well. 2nd time hiring The Law Office of Derek R. Van Gilder - 2006. My brother passed away due to mixed drug toxicity, it was deemed "accidental". Life Insurance company did not want to pay out on policy claiming a couple of scenarios of which one included suicide. We hired the Law Office to work with the insurance company to prove what had happened to my brother. We won the case and insurance had to pay. Not only did they have to pay but Derek demanded 18% interest to be paid on value of policy for delay in payout. 3rd time hiring The Law Office of Derek R. Van Gilder - 2006. Hired the Law Office to create our Wills, POA's, Medical POA's and Advanced Directives. Derek R. Van Gilder has been my our attorney for 24 years. We would never consider using anyone else. He has always been honest with us and straight forward and always had our best interest at heart. As of 2015, I have the pleasure to call him my boss. :)

Straight shooter. Might not tell you what you want to hear but what you need to hear. Works tirelessly for your cause.

worst probate attorney in bastrop county.... takes ur money and only thing he will do for you is ask for more money.....