Donald Wheaton | Saint Clair Shores Family Lawyer

Anyone looking for a lawyer expects that an attorney who passed the bar exam will have the education and skill to provide competent and ethical services. And if you’re looking for someone who will ‘name drop’ or try to impress you with lists of supposedly important clients, I’m not that attorney.

Why me, then? Why should you choose Don Wheaton, “The Lawyer Who Makes House Calls™?” It’s simple: to me, every person and every case is significant. No matter is too trivial to discuss. If it’s important to you, it’s important to me. You’re invested in your case, and I’ll be invested in it, too. Legal matters are intensely personal, and I truly care about my Clients and what’s in their best interests – both now, and in the future.

When you call, you’ll talk to me (or, if I’m not immediately available, my voice mail and I’ll personally return the call at my earliest opportunity). I’ll schedule an appointment with you wherever it is convenient: in my office, at your home, or somewhere else amenable to a private discussion.

From the start, in our complimentary and no-obligation consultation, I will take the time to get to know you and your circumstances. I’ll ask you to look ahead and tell me where you want to be after the matter is closed. I’ll ask you questions, challenge your assumptions, and get as many facts as you are able to provide.

This first meeting is really an interview: I’m checking you out and you’re checking me out. If we both agree to work together, then I’ll prepare a fee agreement specific to your case that governs our relationship and helps to define our mutual expectations.

During the course of my more than 28 years of practice I have represented corporate clients ranging from one-person startups to companies on Fortune’s Top 25 list, but the bulk of my cases have involved regular people. I don’t narrow my practice to representing only one gender; nor do I restrict myself to representing only plaintiffs (who are suing someone) or defendants (who have been sued). This has given me a uniquely balanced perspective on issues confronting both sides of the bar in a wide variety of legal matters.

So if you hire me I’ll do my best to explain in normal language the issues involved and the potential consequences. I’ll discuss with you what, based on my experience, I think will happen if you make one choice over another. But one thing I will never do is tell you what you must do, because you’re an adult and you have to make your own decisions (and live with the consequences). I’ll make recommendations, to be sure, and will exercise my professional judgment for what I believe is in your best interests, but ultimately you are the one who makes the final call or decision on case direction, settlement, and trial.

My work and ability has been assessed and ranked by external evaluators. For example, I have been rated as “Superb” (www.avvo.com) and in 2017 was named a “Superlawyer” in the area of Family Law (divorce, custody, support, and parenting time). But more important to me than some outside company are the testimonials my Clients and fellow attorneys have generously given. You’ll see endorsements like, “caring,” “easy to talk to,” “honest,” “very patient,” “hard-working,” and “thorough, focused, and detail-oriented,” among others. I strive every day to live up to and fulfill these descriptions.

Real people. Real problems. Solved. That’s why you should hire me, Don Wheaton, The Lawyer Who Makes House Calls.TM