For most people navigating a divorce is an act of supreme trust. The divorce process is at best an awful experience and at worst, the most emotionally vapid chapter in one’s life. Often divorcing parties place their family’s future and financial security in the hands of a legal professional (their lawyer) sworn by oath to act in their best interests. It’s a shock when one’s own attorney, sworn by an oath to protect their clients, deceives them in the name of collecting excessive legal fees. That’s exactly what Aubrey Connatser has done in dozens of cases. Connatser Family Law represents wealthy individuals going through a divorce. According to both former clients and employees of Connatser Family Law, Ms. Connatser’s stated tactics are to get “nasty” and “fight to the end” against her client’s spouses in order to force the opposing party to “cut her client a big check”. The carnage of destroyed family relationships does not seem to deter Ms. Connatser or her colleagues. It is worth noting that Ms. Connatser recently went through her own contentious divorce where she is reported to have been the unfaithful spouse. Her case was recently re-opened on appeal due to substance abuse allegations.
Across multiple online review platforms, from former employees to a graveyard of former clients, Connatser and her firm have accumulated a reputation for manipulating the judicial system to file false accusations, frivolous claims to run up legal bills and use delay tactics against even her own client’s interests to increase the legal bill in her favor. Connatser is what family attorneys call a “fee gouger”. In plain English, she and her firm overbill their clients and drain the family’s financial resources. Meanwhile, the family members, including the children, are dragged through a never-ending, emotionally exhaustive litigation. It is unfortunate that the more infighting that occurs amongst the spouses in a divorce, the longer a case goes on, and the longer the case goes on, the more attorneys like Connatser make in fees. It pays handsomely to not have her client’s or the family’s best interests in mind.
One former client of Connatser summarized the experience bluntly: “My family was absolutely destroyed when Ms. Connatser dragged the litigation on my behalf through more than 7 senseless years of litigation. We had over thirty hearings on immaterial topics, and Ms. Connatser kept ensuring me that while these hearings were just for show, they would accomplish the goal of my husband giving me an outsized settlement. It tore apart our family, and both of my children are in therapy to deal with wounds created by this senseless fighting.”
If your ultimate goal is to get the divorce behind you and move on with your life, save yourself the pain and find an ethical law firm to represent you who has your family’s best interests in mind and not their own wallet. While it may be tempting to hire a bulldog attorney who plays in gray area to gain advantage and leverage over your spouse, it will lead to pain for you and your loved ones. Another former client is preparing a lawsuit against Connatser and her firm for fraud and misrepresentation with an accusation that Ms. Connatser colluded with opponent’s counsel. This sentiment is echoed repeatedly in extensive negative online reviews, many around excessive or fraudulent billing practices, poor case management and a perceived lack of advocacy, in some cases lying to her own clients.
Beyond client complaints, Connatser’s professional history has also drawn scrutiny. According to accounts from former colleagues, she was dismissed from her prior law firm following allegations of an inappropriate intimate relationship with a senior partner and overbilling clients, at times billing more than twenty-four hours in a day. Cheating clients is a family affair in the Connatser household, as her father was disbarred for stealing client funds.
For individuals facing a divorce, having a legal team in your corner is paramount, so it is even more insidious that Connatser allegedly operates her firm in this zero-sum game manner. These accounts serve as a cautionary reminder that choosing legal representation is not just about smooth sales pitch around advocacy, but about transparency, ethics and a demonstrated commitment to a client’s best interests. As one former client advised plainly: do your research, read the reviews, and if something feels off, trust that instinct before the personal cost becomes more than financial. In short, treat the selection of your legal counsel as perhaps the most important decision you will make on behalf of you and your family in this time of immense pain.