Julia M Hagan Atty

To begin I will simply say that Julia Hagan is a skilled, experienced attorney who understands family law very well. That is not in question. Do I think there are other skilled, experienced attorneys who are better communicators, more sensitive to amicable resolution of emotional family issues and more efficient and considerate with how they spend their time? Yes.
The short version of this review:
At the end of the day Julia did help produce all of the legal documents and filings that were necessary to assure my and my co-parent’s legal rights and obligations. From that perspective she did a satisfactory job; however, I cannot, in good faith, recommend Julia to anyone who desires a quick, matter of fact, and amicable resolution to their family law matter.
The long version of this review:
Julia’s firm was recommended to me by a friend who had used an attorney there. My friend’s attorney was not available and I was referred to Julia Hagan. I needed to make a quick decision as my daughter had been born with colic and I didn’t have much time for research. I hired Julia Hagan in September of 2009 as a lawyer to help make sure that the i’s were dotted and t’s were crossed on any legal filings necessary for my daughter’s father and I to co-​parent. My relationship with my child’s father when I hired Julia was amicable and cooperative.
Julia’s approach with me, my co-​parent and later opposing counsel was often combative. By the time the case settled a year later (!!) relations between both co-​parents were incredibly tense and we arrived at a settlement at the 11^th hour in a Multnomah County courthouse. I could hardly believe things transpired this way and often felt Julia was not communicating effectively on my behalf; however, I was too tired and frazzled from running a business and raising a very fussy baby to look for another attorney.
Julia was expensive. In the interest of full disclosure, she gave me a discounted rate and many «courtesy discounts»; however, she was wasteful and inefficient. Here are several examples of why I would not hire Julia or the firm of Gevurtz Menashe again:
April, 2009 — Julia’s firm sent my bill (addressed to my child’s co-​parent) to the co-parent’s home. He opened and read the bill.
Julia often asked me to resend documents that I had already sent to her such as: universal support affidavits, child care expenses, owner’s draws from my business, and unreimbursed medical expenses. Julia billed me for time spent reviewing the documents, but in the conferences that followed, she would ask me to resend them. She seemed to have little recollection of the original documents –prompting me to wonder how valuable and extensive her earlier reviews had been. When we spoke about documents, particularly those involving money or dates, I would sit there as she calculated and recalculated –making rudimentary arithmetic errors and eventually coming to the same conclusion that could have been made by reviewing the original documents I sent.
August, 2010 — We scheduled a FOUR-​way settlement conference with my co-​parent and his attorney. Julia asked that I call her prior to the conference. She suggested that I sit in her office while she handled the conversation with my co-parent’s attorney. I said I didn’t see why that was necessary and she said she «Didn’t want this to turn into an informal deposition.» Our conversations in her office were confusing and unproductive. I never understood what she was trying to accomplish. My understanding, based on emails I received afterward as well as verbal accounts from the other co-​parent is that Julia was not accurately or appropriately conveying my position. Not only that but my co-​parent described her tone as «taunting» and oppositional, which I had no intention or desire to be. After sitting in her office alone with no input into the situation and no progress being made, I had to leave to pick up my child from daycare with nothing to show for the half day of time we’d spent. Preparation for this conference, the resulting trial that would have followed and the damage it did to my relationship with my co-​parent was extremely wasteful from both a material and emotional perspective.
September, 2010 — It was clear to me that Julia was a poor fit, but trial was less than two weeks away. We settled on ⁹⁄₁. I attempted to dismiss Julia on 9/​10, ⁹⁄₂₂ and ¹⁰⁄₂₆. She said that I needed a judge to release her from my case and that I could not fire her. In the meantime she continued to bill wastefully. On ¹⁰⁄₂₆ and ¹⁰⁄₂₇ she billed me a total of $ 1,352 to resolve an issue over a $ 400 payment made to me by my co-​parent. This was an issue I specifically asked that she not attempt to resolve.
These are just a few of many issues I found and are probably quite typical when working with an attorney in a family law firm; however, this is the kind of lawyering that gives attorneys a bad name.