Smith Schafer Davis Gaertig LLC

Very bad experience. If you see something wrong from the start get OUT. Don’t let your attorney bully you into staying. Don’t let them, or any family member tell you that “ someone else has resources “ or “ it will cost you more” or…..here’s the real klinker “ I’ve had so much respect and a friendship with your parents “. Don’t let guilt or someone telling you that you’re “ paranoid “ override your senses. Move on, get out. Get someone that actually represents you instead of their own pocket.

Integrity...honest and I respect them for that. I hope they had a happy Christmas and a Merry New Year

Apr 23 2020 This is the only legal firm I trust with my personal and business matters. Moving from a much larger city I was concerned that I would need to travel to Lincoln or Omaha to find a firm capable of handling my business. I have never been disappointed with Duane and the rest of the partners here locally. Their compassion and morals are beyond my expectations.

An attorney from this firm really tried to do a number on our family. He handled our family trust. He rewrote things 3 times through the years but the final one was the clinker. He suggested to my dad, while Dad was recovering from a stroke, that he needed to change his trustee to a local trust company, (the one he likes typically works through). Dad, not thinking clearly in the hospital, said sure ok. In the process of doing this, He took it upon himself to also remove a portion regarding purchasing annuities for beneficiaries at time of death, and at time of death all household affects went to bank and attorney to sell instead of immediately becoming property of beneficiaries without discussing it at all with Dad. Dad suggested a couple changes and the attorney would not make them stating it would "mess up the page numbers" and he didn't want to have to retype the whole thing again and "trusts aren't written up that way." He did end up making a change but they were opposite of what Dad had requested, extending number of years for payout of assets to beneficiaries instead of shortening them. He had them sign a doctored up trust like this without them knowing what they were signing while they were still in rehab recovering from strokes. He then handed out differently stated trusts to the beneficiaries and the grantors. It was discovered 6 months later that there were two different trusts signed a week apart and what they actually said. They were livid! This attorney had pressured the grantors while they were in nursing home to sign the new trust without going over it with them citing a shortage of time. It became necessary to hire another attorney to restate things correctly. Anyone who would take advantage of the elderly like that with that level of corruption should not be practicing law.

Seem knowledgeable but it's difficult to actually speak with a lawyer. More than twice I've been left to just hours before an appearance, once even less than an hour before. And I was handed off to an associate that time.