Decker Vonau, LLC

Chris handles all of our company/cooperate books, Real Estate Law, and all of my estate planning! Great company with great values! Highly recommend.

We used the law firm for our families estate planning needs. Our family was very comfortable working with Chris and are very satisfied with his professionalism and friendliness when discussing difficult choices. My wife and I would recommend Decker Vonau LLC and our attorney Chris to anyone looking to protect heir families future.

My wife and I were building what we thought would be our dream "Forever" home when the day after Thanksgiving 2013, our residential home builder informed us that he and his partner were bankrupt, that they had completely messed up the building of our home, that they had severe cost overruns that they neglected to tell us about and that they had not paid a number of the subcontractors a very very very large sum of money. To add insult to injury, after they told us this shocking news, the builder's parting shot as he walked out the door of our unfinished home was "Go ahead and sue me, I have $34 dollars in the bank". nnThe builder then had the nerve, to notify their subcontractors that we had not paid them and that all of the subcontractors should come after us to get paid. Which they did and my wife and I in turn received 12 lien notices and law suits throughout the 2013 holiday season. For those of you who have not had to go through this type of situation, it gets worse, when residential liens start to hit a property and the home is being built using funding from a construction loan, the bank IMMEDIATELY freezes all funds until the liens are resolved. nnSo there my wife and I were with an incomplete house, huge amounts of liens, frozen construction loan assets and a dozen unpaid contractors banging on our door. nnStunned, we turned to our family attorney who helped us craft the first couple responses to the builder. Upon seeing the extent of this situation and how bad it actually was, our family lawyer informed us that this was outside of his area expertise and that we would need some very specialized lien experience to deal with this situation. He referred us a number of lien attorneys which we spoke to on the phone. nnAfter talking with a number of the attorneys, we decided to meet with Mr. Decker because he had the best command of the facts, he had impeccable integrity and he listen completely to what my wife and I had to say. After hearing our situation he firmly said "I'm telling you now not to worry about the liens. There is no doubt in my mind I can get these liens resolved with no other expense other than my legal fees. You have enough other stuff to worry about with finishing your house. I got this". What I didn't know then, but gladly know now, is that Mark helped write the Ohio Lien Laws. When he told us exactly what the laws were, what the case law was and what the process was going to be to move forward, that insight came from a position of not only practicing the law, but conceiving and crafting it. nnEqually important to Mark's understanding of the law is his ability to give guidance on how to proceed with the completion of your project as it relates to defending yourself from the liens. Here's some examples of the guidance he gave us: nntu2022 Immediately put up No Trespassing signs and a rope across your drive way. Take pictures of it.ntu2022 Keep Track of all construction costs for the purposes of proving we've paid the "Contract Price" of the homentu2022 Document the current state of the project. ntu2022 Document everything you have to do. Contractors, Supplies and your Time.ntu2022 Make sure you get lien releases for all work and materials going forward ntu2022 Mark even help us find alternative architects and craftsman from his extensive clientele and industry connections. Very helpful when you're not a builder and you're trying to finish your home. nnI hope you never find yourself in the same position as my wife and I because it has been and awful 3 years, incredibly hard and unbelievably stressful. Mark made all of the liens disappear and he was absolutely right, the only thing I paid for was his time. nnBelieve me, if you are dealing with liens, you're dealing with something that is seriously messing with your life. So if you do find yourself in this position, I strongly recommend getting in touch with Mark Decker. He knows what he's talking about, he has impeccable integrity, he listens and he has the extensive lien law experience to WIN.

Jim Vonau was recommended to us to probate my sister's estate after her passing in 2015. Jim educated us on the process and estimated time it would take to complete probate process. The case was complicated but Jim and his son Chris did an excellent job in taking care of all the details. They made sure we knew the status of all items as we went and counseled us on the choices we could make when they came up. Jim and Chris very professional and caring for their clients.

Our firm engaged Mark Decker to mediate and eventually arbitrate a dispute with a General Contractor. Mark was totally involved, educated on the issue, and fully prepared to represent our interest. He provided valuable counsel throughout the process. The results were VERY favorable to our argument and we were extremely happy with the outcome. I have know Mark Decker for over 20 years through the construction industry but never before as a client. Working closely on this case, we developed mutual respect and friendship. I would highly recommend Decker Vonau, LLC for any construction related issues.