Reviews

Dave Nielson was professional, knowledgeable, and generous with his time. I've used many businesses attorneys from small startups to large firms. Dave and the Durham Jones & Pinegar team are among the best. Highly recommend.

I have never had any legal help through these people, but everyone I have ever met at Dentons DJP is super nice and a great person. They are all experts, and I would recommend them to anyone.

Doug Thayer and Dave Nielson are the two finest attorneys I could have hired. My family’s life was strung out in the courts for seven years. We had already been through three previous attorneys before I was referred to Doug Thayer. He can be intimidating, especially if you’re wired sensitively from past abuse. I almost let Doug’s abrupt, confrontational style scare me off when I first met him. But I knew I was shopping for a fighter, not a friend; and hiring Doug was one of the best decisions of my life. His initially intimidating style made him an incredible attorney able to wage a winning battle in court. I had an extremely complicated, sordid case, with mountains of evidence, that previous attorneys never bothered to investigate. Dave Nielson combed through EVERY piece of evidence for my case, leaving no stone unturned. Doug and Dave fought relentlessly for me, to protect my children. Though there is nothing worse than having your life in the hands of the courts, Doug and Dave are proof that even in an unjust system, there are still lawyers with integrity who will fight for the truth. It would take pages to describe all the ways my attorneys fought fearlessly, but a few examples... They uncovered the truth that a psychological evaluation report held as evidence in the court for 16 months, had been doctored and falsified. They challenged and turned upside down the unfounded, inaccurate reports of an unscrupulous reunification therapist. They stationed a process server outside the home of a witness the very day she was to return from an extended period out of state, having won their motion to re-subpoena her after she refused to answer questions. They sought out the best expert witnesses and had a continual stream of brilliant ideas for my case. They were upfront and honest about money, and worked as fast as they could to keep their bill within the confines of the budget I had. Doug and Dave did everything in their power to win my case and saved my children from a life of abuse and trauma. I will be forever grateful to them—they were worth every penny. They fought for a downtrodden, small-time, single mother with the aggressiveness and passion they would use to fight for a powerful, high-profile, wealthy client. I would return to them for any legal need, and I would refer anyone with an honest case to DDJP. Though I initially chose this legal team only for their fight, I now consider them my friends. Nobody fights that hard for you if they don’t care, and these attorneys truly care.

I consulted with Brent Bateman on a matter related to the Property Ombudsman's office. Brent brings a unique mix of experience and knowledge based on his past role as the state's property ombudsman. I would highly recommend him.

We have used a lot of other attorneys including our own in-house general counsel and had very little results. Once we switched to Durham Jones & Pinegar we have loved what they have done for our business. Working with Andrew Wright and Evan Schmutz has been a great experience. They know what they are doing and very good at getting the "water to the end of the Row". We were hung up on a couple lawsuits and they have helped it progress in a short few weeks of working with them! They might not want me to say this but they have even worked with us on a few bills with them...really like them a lot and appreciate what they do for us. I would HIGHLY suggest using Durham Jones & Pinegar!

They are very helpful, great at explaining things as they progress, and proactive. Highly recommend.

In the Rules of Professional Conduct, it says: As advocate, a lawyer zealously asserts the client's position under the rules of the adversary system. This is hard to do when you don’t listen to your client’s position. Doug Thayer at Durham Jones & Pinegar barely listens to your position.The rules also state: The lawyer should also consult with the client and seek a mutually acceptable resolution of the disagreement. Doug does very little consulting. He bosses. He has little recognition that clients are experts in their circumstances and goals. As I would try to get him to consider something, he would quickly dismiss it with something like, “end of story.” He is constantly reminding you how he is the expert, yet he was losing about half my hearings even though I have a good case. He would regularly threaten withdrawing by saying things like, “If you don’t agree, I’ll withdraw." His ego also blinds him to creative solutions, which was greatly needed in our complex case. Doug and firm were slow at responding to questions and moving the case forward, which is also against a rule of conduct. We would send them emails with questions and they would regularly take days to respond or not at all. His firm would wait weeks to file motions, delaying an already slow court process. He originally told us we could be done in August, and now in January we aren’t even close. The judge at my last hearing expressed concern that my petition to modify had been moving along too slowly. He wanted us to move faster to trial. As Doug and his firm were contributing towards the slowness, we asked him if he could focus on the main trial and let us take care of the superfluous motions my ex-wife was filing. This would keep the cost down, but he rigidly refused, saying this court process is just expensive. Yet, he could have chosen to work with us rather than run his lucrative machine. They would file unnecessarily long motions to add to the cost. Once, the judge would not enforce sanctions for my attorney fees because of the excess cost of writing the long motion. Even when the judge told him he didn’t need to write so much, and when we asked him to keep them more concise, he said he has to respond to every detail of my ex-wife’s ramblings. As one of his colleagues said in a review, he has a reputation for running his clients’ bills up. Then, to top it off, as he dismissed himself from the case to the judge, he stabbed me in the back by telling the judge I swore at him and threatened him (with bad reviews). This is the judge who will hear my request for custody modification. This behavior goes against another rule of professional conduct: A lawyer should keep in confidence information relating to representation of a client so far as disclosure is required. Doug Thayer has a big ego, he’s rigid, unprofessional, he will run up your bill, and he’s not that good at winning.

Durham Jones & Pinegar have been fantastic to work with. Dave Nielsen has been extremely helpful and patient with every need I've had. I refer all my friends, family, and clients to him whenever a legal need arises!