I hired Suzan in April of 2012 and our case was finalized and over in July 2018. I was dealing with my sons father taking me to court for 50/50 custody of my son. (Keep in mind now my son was 4 yrs old at this time saw his father maybe 4 times his entire life and that was at some family events when his grandparents had him a few hrs or so.) My son had no idea who his father was. The only dad he knew was my husband who had been raising him and being a real dad to him! In Jefferson County the judges almost always order 50/50 even in cases like ours. Which is pretty disgusting! We were ordered to go to counseling for my son to get to “know” his biological father then it went slowly to supervised visits then slowly to every other weekend visits. Never did he get 50/50 due to Suzan’s determination. Now during those 3 things being ordered we were at court at least 15 times because Suzan kept fighting and fighting for the Judge to take it slow for my sons sake. Which isn’t easy with Jefferson Co. judges. But she didn’t let us down and did it where my son had time to slowly adjust to his new “normal” After that it went to the third summer his biological father got 1 week fourth summer 2 weeks and so on until 4 weeks. Well we still weren’t comfortable with the summer situation so Suzan continued going to battle for us.. While doing so my son was with his father for a 7 day summer visit when I got him back on Monday my son didn’t look well at all & could hardly even walk to me. I rushed him to urgent care they said it’s his appendix so I flew up to St. John’s Mercy where he was admitted. He had surgery and was in the hospital almost 2 weeks. The Drs didn’t even know how he survived but thank you Jesus he did!! My son told us he was in pain starting day 2 at his biological fathers and it kept getting worse and that skum did absolutely nothing besides left my child for dead! I called Suzan day 2 in the hospital she did everything she could to get us in court less than a week later, got a restraining order on my sons father so he couldn’t see him unless it was supervised! Then she kept pushing and pushing and I am so happy to say my sons biological father lost all of his rights and my husband my sons true father was able to adopt him over the summer!! Suzan is an absolute amazing Attorney and person. She is a mother and a grandmother so she knows what it’s like to fight for our kids! And she honest to god will put her all and everything into your case until she can get the very best result for you and your family. She honest to god helped save my sons life and I really don’t know if he would still be here if it wasn’t for her will & determination. We are forever greatful to her!! I highly recommend her and her staff they go above and beyond and are very upfront!

Sue Ponder-Bates and her staff could not have been more knowledgeable and caring while handling our family during a very difficult time.
Sue is a WONDERFUL family attorney

Nathan Stewart was outstanding! The most honest lawyer I have ever dealt with.

Suzan is my attorney for a modification of a divorce. I am extremely satisfied with the care and support she shows. She addresses my concerns with compassion and understanding. Also, the legal assistants for the office, whom I speak with often, are very helpful, attentive, and knowledgeable to the issues of my case.

Horrible law firm !! Nathan Stewart (former judge) loses the election gets drunk and wrecks his truck!! His passenger is injured and sent to the hospital!! Then he's given a slap on the wrist for assault and a dwi! Hire a drunk ask for nathan Stewart!!

I hired her in 2012 because my ex had filed for custody to avoid an increase in child support.
We were already divorced, it should have been a simple case. I had tons of evidence to prove he why he filed his motion. She allowed it to drag on for over a year. When she sent another $1500 invoice, after she'd already been paid $8000, I simply asked for what she was asking for on my behalf. I stated that once I received an update I would pay her. In turn she filed a motion to withdraw as my council. It was granted less than a month before the "final" hearing. I didn't have the time or means to secure another attorney and ended up having to act pro se. Even though my ex failed a drug test, he was granted more time with our children and my child support was decreased.
When I retrieved my file it was evident she had done very little work on my behalf. She had question marks by questions that I had asked, which let me know she had no idea what was going on with the case.
While waiting for a pre trial hearing I met someone else who she was representing and they had the same complaints as I did.
She's not concerned about your case, she's concerned about her money. Don't waste your time.

Awful communication and a lot of attitude from the staff. Also, do not believe any quote you receive from this firm. We were charged double our quote.

Suzan and her staff are great. They’re very patient and extremely helpful...A+

Suzan did an amazing job and was such a caring lawyer. She got me child aupport and maintance while going through my divorce and at the end was a great outcome. She knows her stuff.

Awful people in this law firm. I never needed a lawyer until my divorce. I trusted these money grubbing pigs who convinced me the normal way of doing things was to get my power of attorney. BIG mistake....they ran my bill up to $32,000 in 2 months having lunch on my dime w/my husbands lawyer, and filing frivolous memorandums back and forth, then demanded payment in full before they would go to bat for me in court, which after payment they NEVER did! They shuffled me through 3 lawyers in their firm with out even consulting me, I never knew who was going to show up in court. They did nothing for me in my divorce, no representation, just urged me to settle for virtually NOTHING! More than a decade later I am still paying a heavy toll on what should have been an easy win case. I got $125.00 in child support and No Maintenance after a 17 yr marriage to a physically and emotionally abusive, drug dealing, very rich man. All of his abuse over the 17 yr relationship and shady business practices were document w/Jeffco PD years prior to my divorcing this man. Should have been a slam dunk for me and my children.
PIGS!!!! If I could give these POS' negative stars I would.
Keep looking, this is not the law firm for you.

WARNING! If you are going through a divorce this law firm is absolutely not representative of your best interests and will cost you thousands of dollars! NEVER under ANY circumstances should you hire this law firm!

Sue is the Best! Thank God I went to her. Divorce isn't always a bad thing! Highly recommended this law firm.