Steely Law Office

Lawyers
Melody Lu Steely
Estate Planning, Family Law, Elder Law, Personal Injury,
151 W Franklin St
Circleville, OH 43113
Reviews

Melody came highly recommended for my child custody case/mediation and when I met her, she was so friendly and caring I knew I wanted to hire her. In the end, I got absolutely nothing but a waste of my time and money (over $2500). My ex-husband wasn't compromising on anything and in fact, the second time he came back he was more strict on his demands. I kept feeling like she was trying to get me to give in to him, rather than fight for me. I decided I wanted to go to court and Melody kept trying to talk me out of it, even after I paid her the money for it. Instead, she subtracted what she felt I owed her and sent me the remainder when I told her I was going to think it over. One of the charges was for a phone call, I didn't make to her, because I didn't want to be charged, but she called me and charged me for it anyway. $80 for only a few minutes of me letting her know, I didn't call her on purpose, because I wanted time to think over the holidays (she charges $350/hr). Another small issue I had, was the horrendous grammatical errors of her secretary, at one point calling my son a "she". I wanted to rewrite all her correspondence, but everyone told me that would be rude. I believe she is close to retirement and doesn't have the drive younger attorneys do. I have since found someone else that doesn't think obtaining a passport and getting phone calls with my son are unreasonable demands. I am very glad I trusted my gut and didn't listen to Melody. Again, I do think she is a really nice person, but she is doing a disservice by continuing to practice when she doesn't want to do everything she can for her clients.
She must not be working like she used to. First available paid consultation was a month and a half away and after finding out that she is married to Steven Gussler after the way he has acted a few times in the past, I decided to pass on her. And also became very apparent on the conversation that I had with the girl working in the office that they charge the same rate for the work that paralegals do as they do for an attorney. Every lawyer's office I have dealt with in the past had a much much lower rate for the work that paralegals do you and the biggest part of the work outside of the courtroom is actually done by paralegals not lawyers. But it was the Steven gustler thing that was the straw that broke the camel's back!
Paid $30K plus for a difficult divorce... took Rose Vargo 2 years to complete. She promised this and promised that... during the case she was going to do depositions... which she never did!! I feel she completely took advantage of my dad and I because we were so distraught and upset... I believe that she knew my dad was helping pay and just kept ticking her timer away all the way to the bank!! I also filed a grievance against her with the Disciplinary Board for advising me not to report a felony that my husband had committed against me. My family and I will never forgive her for the way she handled my divorce and took advantage of us.
She is a great person, and truly cares about your case. She fights and works very hard for you and your family. I would recommend her 100%
It is so nice to take kids to! They have activities for them to do through the summer not including all the stuff in the water to play on ????. It is fun for all ages.