I contacted Paterson & Dowding after the recommendation I saw on Doyles Guide, which listed them year after year as one of the top family law firms in Perth .....

On contacting them I made it clear I needed representation and advice for a very complex and serious domestic violence case and was there someone who had the relevant experience who could take on such a case - they advised yes.

I immediately was asked to deposit $20k into their trust account which I did.

Over the next 9 months - I paid a further $30k

- They did not act on instruction as asked

- They requested docs and info which was sent, then as they charged me $50 to read every email I sent, allowed me to continually chase up outcome for 5 months only to admit they had overlooked the docs info I had send months previously, had never mentioned this as I continually chased up outcome, had charged me thousands for these continual enquires and then refused to refund this amount.

- Over 9 months, they failed to provide any assistance with affidavit telling me I had to write it myself and send to them.

- I provided a cloud link with or organised and categorised evidence that they never looked at despite numerous requests

- When I finally complained, they advised they would no longer represent me only dats before an important court date

- I literally paid them $50,000 to read my emails and attend two court dates for approx an hour each. No affidavit, no action on the item I had sent them 5 months previously ... absolutely nothing.

I was shocked, left without any representation and when I asked them to refund even part of the money I’d paid them as they had literally done nothing, they didn’t even reply.

They has little insight onto domestic violence cases, they didn’t at all understand the trauma victims suffer, they provided no advice on how to legally stop DV occurring, never mr timed it in any communications to the court ..... it was like being in the twilight zone. How could such a prominent law firm provide such poor service and have such little expertise in something like DV that is present in many family court cases and not act when instructed when the risk to the victim has been advised to be of the most serious kind?

They acted recklessly and unprofessionally and left us at risk - all they ever asked me for was money ... that’s all they were interested in.

Lawyers I have seen since have been appalled when looking over what they had and had not done for 9 months and when I tell them how much I paid, one suggested I report them to the legal board as they could not see even in their professional opinion anything they had done that should of cost so much money.

They should be ashamed of themselves, taking advantage of victims of DV for profits.

(And if they have an issue with this review - they are welcome to challenge me as I have proof of every single thing I have said)

NB: it’s been 9 months since I posted this review and no one from the law firm has commented like they have on other comments, no one contacted me, no one has said “we are sorry you had a bad experience…. If I was a man commenting I would of got an apology it seems - a woman doing so just gets ignored - and that right there, is the crux of everything I wrote above. If you only knew how much I needed your help and how your law firms failings contributed to the catastrophic mess my children and I have been left in ….. just ignore me, I’m sure that’s easier than looking at the consequences of your actions……