Hougen Family Law

In the very first email I got from her after an impromptu consultation. I was given two links and asked for a review. Even though nothing specific was really gotten into. She interrupted my every comment, and seemed to talk down to me. Then made some outlandish plans on how to take over my case. Offering to do things that I would never want done to my ex and my son. I ended up in her office while looking for my old parenting coordinator. Shes in his office now. A very quiet and very slow office. No phones ringing, no other employees. I walk in off the street by accident; tell her a little about my story; then all of the sudden was willing to give me a free consultation. Seemed weird, but, hey, I needed some technical questions answered, so I thought what the heck. She seemed interested in the beginning, but once I said I didnt want to go for the jugular, and was wanting to pay child support, the air left the room; and she had other clients to see, and I was shuffled out the door. It all seemed very strange. But after Ive read a few of these reviews below; I now makes perfect sense. My first impression was one of desperation, and a need for business. Yeah, I wont be back.

I was not represented by Donna, however my husband was. He is in the military and our divorce was not typical. She took that poor military man for such a financial ride... to the tune of close to $13000, to settle a divorce that was amicable and agreed upon from the get go. The only reason I ended up finding my own representation was because she began threatening me and black mailing me with my children. The above review mentioned her lack of ability to keep 'facts' straight... my case was exactly the same. She filed documents against me riddled with lies that I can prove through email correspondence with her that she knew were lies, just to further complicate the case and force us to go to trial so she could further line her wallet. It was truly disgraceful. She wears a cross and I'm assuming calls her self a Christian. But she is a liar and a thief. On the flip side, she's pretty entertaining to watch at work. Reminded me a lot of an episode of the Three Stooges. At the end of the day, we had gone full circle, with every detail of the separation my husband and I agreed on from the beginning as our divorce decree. It's just a damn shame she robbed that poor man overseas of so much money. My attorney cost me $1300. Donna cost him $13000. Disgusting. She also was in the process of dropping him as a client so she could steal every last penny from it because he was not accepting her unprofessionalism any longer. My family and I are in the process of healing and learning how to become the best coparents to our girls, despite her best efforts to destroy any remnant of friendship we had with each other. Please save yourself the money and heart ache of working with this woman. Shes a horrible attorney and a disgusting human being.Cindy B.28 friends 1 review

This kind lady (Donna Hougen)spoke to me and treated me with a respect at that moment, meant the world. I cannot say enough about our first conversation, straight forward, and honest. Thank you for your wisdom. I will refer you to ANY and ALL who should need you. Thank you

Donna Hougen is an excellent attorney who prevailed in my two trials obtaining me a substantial award of spousal maintenance (8 years) and child support (5 years). The judge even awarded my attorneys fees to be paid by my ex-husband. Her knowledge of the law and trial experience was the only reason I could start my life over with the awards the judge gave me. Donna can be tough yet compassionate and I appreciated that combination because it helped me stay focused on my case and as a witness in my own trial. I would highly recommend Donna.

Gene and his assistant are amazing! I cannot say enough good things about them. They showed they truly cared about me and my process and worked very hard for me. You cannot go wrong with them.

I have worked for Ms. Hougen for a while now and have nothing but the nicest things to say about her. First off, she offers a free initial consultation, which is something many family law firms do not do. Donna will spend at least half an hour (in most cases, over an hour) going over your matter with you in detail. She has been practicing for approximately 20 years and is quite knowledgeable. She is very personable and doesn't have the 'holier than thou' air about her like many attorneys do. She offers very competitive rates, and is willing to work with clients on their bill. Many times she discounts or doesn't charge for services, which is also very rare. With her, you get sound advice, very aggressive representation, all without the 'fluff' of hiring a big wig attorney that inflates their bills and charges for services they didn't provide.I have worked for several firms over the years and have found that Donna is, by far, the most down to earth, reasonable, caring person who genuinely cares about her clients.

Only spoke about the amount it would cost for her to do it for me. With no real answers. Was going to send me to a link that I had to research to tell her which code was right for what I needed and then hsd no clear answer what would happen next. It was all about money without a solution.

I just spoke with this office, I am located in Indiana but my case is in Arizona. The Attorney I spoke with (a woman) I apologise I don't remember the name. Anyway I recommend this office over any other when it comes to child support cases. She was very very helpful and gave me so much knowledge! If ever I need anything else this will be the ONLY office I call. Thank you so much, if I could give you 10 stars I would!

I used to live in Arizona but haven't lived there for over 2 years now, I called because my daughters father is in prison there and would like for him to give up custody, so she can be adopted by her stepfather. Figuring I may need the help of an Arizona lawyer, I reached out to this law office. They took the time to explain the ENTIRE process to me for FREE. If I lived in Arizona still, I would absolutely use this law firm, they went above and beyond my expectations and I now know what I need to do. A HUGE thank you to them for taking the time to talk with me and for explaining a confusing and lengthy process! Kudos to them for actually caring!

Donna Hougen at Hougen Family Law is an excellent choice for anyone seeking a family law attorney. The staff are passionate and genuinely interested in the needs of their clients.

Do not hire! Because of how horribly Donna Hougen acted in a divorce case I was a witness in. I decided to write this review. Watching Donna do her job was embarrassing. She would ask questions that had no relevance in the case. She fumbled around wasting valuable time trying to find the right paperwork, numerous times. The case lasted about a year and she still couldn't remember the children's names or pronounce her clients last name correctly. At one point she even called me her clients name for about five consecutive questions. She would ask inappropriate questions to the judge, like if she could take her jacket off or not, because she was hot and going through menopause . Which seemed to only agitate the judge as well as being extremely inappropriate. She had to be constantly reminded by the judge to use the microphone as she fumbled around the room looking confused. At one point she set the microphone down but it rolled off the table. She then bent down to pick it up, hitting her head on the table as she stood back up. Further displaying her clumsy, unorganized demeanor. She had really no knowledge of what was really going on between the two parties and became easily flustered when she did not receive the answers she expected. Most of the questions she asked seemed like they were made up on the spot, word by word. There was no smooth tempo or rhythm to the way she questioned any witnesses and her mumbling gibberish had to be repeated numerous times as no one could follow what she was asking. She was very unprepared it seemed. She was so overly nice to the judge,opposing party and the courts clerk, so much that she came off annoying and fake. Then when she would question her own client she would be super aggressive and say things like 'hurry up ma'am I don't have all day'(When she's the one who wastes time) or 'just answer the question, it's not that hard'. This behavior, I feel worked in our favor, odds are we will get most of what we asked for. Due mostly to her and her client lying about easily proven facts. Along with her incompetence, sheer lack of professionalism, disorganization and absence of knowledge concerning her clients most basic details, truly helped the truth come out, thankfully. I believe after witnessing Hougen's case that a vast majority of the evidence presented, questions she asked and statements she made had little to no weight In the case. She seems to present anything and everything she can, in an attempt to run up her client's bill, no matter how irrelevant or fake the evidence is. It seems as if she really doesn't care about what the client gets out of the case as long as she has tons of 'evidence' to present. Thus maximizing her paycheck in my opinion. I feel anyone thinking about hiring this woman should look else where, as it is a waste of time and money using her services.

Responsive and credible.

Friendly staff, terrible service. The attorney literally could not even remember my name, let alone any important facts. Even got facts wrong in front of the judge. Very poor performance, if any help at all.

I didn't even go through with using Donna as my lawyer. I called her to ask some questions about my divorce, and all I got was a list of Arizona laws - which yes, can be helpful, but I'm not asking you to recite everything you know about the law, I'm asking you questions specific to my case - and her telling me that I 'contributed very little to my short marriage', and how I repeat myself too much and I need to learn to get to the point. Excuse me for never going through this before and wanting to be thorough or being nervous talking on the phone about a divorce. I was very disappointed with the service I received, and felt that was just another silly person asking silly questions.

Terrible experience, please dont be as gullible as I was to believe the previous reviews were from real clients. Save your hard earned dollars and precious time by seeking representation elsewhere. If you do contact her office she will tell you exactly what is going to happen so long as it is what you want to hear and immediately, once the retainer is paid her true intentions will become very clear. Afterall she already has your money what does she care? Besides to inform you of a case that required no hearing would cost more than the retainer she did no work on because her rude paralegals did it for her. She had actually stated 'whats a few thousand dollars? You dont have that?' It must be hard for her to believe that fortunately not all of us get rich by taking advantage of others.

This is a very good lawyer for a divorce/ child custody. Ms. Hougen is super-experienced- she knows her job, thats for sure. Her fees are not cheap, but considering the difficulty of my case, (and my wifes' legal fees were 80% more) Im not complaining. Ms. Hougwn really tried hard to explain every step of the way and whst to expect. I really appreciated that.

I needed assistance the other day and the people here helped me a great deal in resolving my issues. They were all very friendly and professional.

Good family law advocate.