Bonnie S. Shields

Bonnie was the second attorney I had in my year long divorce and the first attorney I had was with a large firm very expensive, I changed to Bonnie after 5 months of getting nowhere with the large firm and had spent over 10K with them. I wish I would have found Bonnie sooner, she was very kind and thoughtful in my needs and didn't over charge me for reading an email or answering a simple question. Don't waste your money with a big firm thinking you're going to get better representation, you are just a number to them and if you're not a number in the seven figures you are pretty much erasable. With Bonnie it's not that way, she cares even after decades of working in the field she isn't complacent/jaded and shows compassion and understanding, but she is going to be upfront and honest with you and your situation. I hope I don't have to use her services again, but if I do she will be my First Choice! Bonnie, words can't do justice to how I appreciate how you have helped me through my ups and downs in this roller coaster of a divorce, I truly have so much respect for what you do, I'm sure it can be so hard dealing with everyone's emotions all the time and I can imagine it to be so difficult not to take it on personally. But you show great compassion and sincerity to help. My daughter and I thank you.
Nov 16th, 2023

Much like other reviews, Bonnie is biased, cares about one side as a CFI and truly only cares about how much money she can get out of you. She is a horrible listener and person in my opinion.
Oct 8th, 2023

Unprofessional, unethical, and grossly disconnected from a child's best interest. She will do everything she can to prolong court processes to capitalize as much as possible off vulnerable families, including lying. If she is involved in your case at all, be it as your representation or not, make sure you get court transcripts every single time you go/ and whatever you do, record every single call you receive from her. Protect yourself and your family by keeping everything documented as it relates to her at all times. Just a hideous person inside out- she absolutely destroyed all trust between both parties of our case, and thrived off fueling the conflict. She is one of the worst people I've ever had to deal with. She will sacrifice all morality to "win," - as if your child 's life is a game. She is the epitome of everything wrong with our family law system. May all the harm she causes children and their families come back to her tenfold. Side note/ the poorly written (misspelled words/wrong names and dates, and incorrect grammar) of a parenting plan that she ensured was inflicted upon our family was so far from realistic, that neither side was able to follow it at any point the last several years, even within reason. It set everyone up for failure. So, after multiple years in court and thousands of dollars, the end result was a pitiful example of why family court is such an abysmal disaster to begin with and Bonnie Shields is the perfect face for that toxicity.
Dec 13th, 2022

I cannot speak to Ms. Shields as an attorney, but as a CFI I would never recommend her.After 8 years of constant litigation initiated by his ex, and 17 months of litigation that included Ms. Shields CFI investigation, my husband retained full custody and decision making authority for his children AND was awarded relocation by the court in December 2022. She is biased, unfair, and did not have an awareness of correct legal standard, which is concerning, as she is an attorney. She made a threat of filing a motion to try and force her uninformed opinion on my husband based solely on her communication with his ex; worked far outside the scope of her appointment and with no regard for the boundaries of her appointment; advised the opposing party on how to try and “win” her case; made false, erroneous, damaging and disparaging statements about me and my husband; and, baited my husband into saying negative things about his ex that she then used against him. My husband (and by extension I) have been involved in constant litigation with his ex for 8 years through the entirety of which he has retained primary custody and sole decision making for their children. Ms. Shields did not even consider that very basic fact during the investigation. But don’t take my word for it. Here are a few statements about Ms. Shields from the public court order (names of minor children, professionals and/or witnesses have been removed for privacy): • The CFI took issue with Father’s home even though no caseworker or other professional has found that his home is unsafe. • The CFI gave Mother 30 days’ notice for a home visit and Father 13 hours. • [Psychologist] felt compelled to clarify the CFI’s false reference to their conversation about stepmother’s appropriate communication that the CFI indicated was excessive. • In hindsight, the change of therapists was not only not endangering as alleged by the CFI but was clearly in the best interests of [the minor child]. • [Work Product Review Professional] noted that the CFI disregarded Father’s primary role for the last 6 years. • The CFI exceeded the scope of the order appointing her by opining about decision-making and recommending a change in the majority parent when the only motion pending was the relocation motion and a request to change Mother’s dinner visit. • The CFI did not notify Father that she intended to investigate a change in majority parent or decision-making. • The CFI also failed to maintain objectivity. • She inappropriately read the previous CFI report before completing her investigation. • A CFI report is supposed to be a “brief assessment that is nonintrusive, efficient and cost effective” (CJD 04-08) (the CFI report here fails to meet any of those criteria). • Neither the CFI nor the PRE considered the significance of Father’s primary role. • She did an interactional with Mother and the children but not with Father. • She demonstrated no awareness of the correct legal standard according to [the Work Product Review Professional]. • She gave advice to Mother on how to achieve primary parenting. • She did not make good faith efforts to reach [the Psychologist] or [the Family Therapist], one of Father’s collaterals. • She testified that Father said he hated Mother’s guts when it was she who suggested that both parties hate each other. • She spent more time reviewing Mother’s materials and with Mother than with Father.
Mar 9th, 2023

I cannot speak to Ms. Shields as an attorney, but as a CFI I would never recommend her. After 8 years of constant litigation initiated by his ex, and 17 months of litigation that included Ms. Shields CFI investigation, my husband retained full custody and decision making authority for his children AND was awarded relocation by the court in December 2022.She is biased, unfair, and did not have an awareness of correct legal standard, which is concerning, as she is an attorney. She made a threat of filing a motion to try and force her uninformed opinion on my husband based solely on her communication with his ex; worked far outside the scope of her appointment and with no regard for the boundaries of her appointment; advised the opposing party on how to try and "win" her case; made false, erroneous, damaging and disparaging statements about me and my husband; and, baited my husband into saying negative things about his ex that she then used against him. My husband (and by extension I) have been involved in constant litigation with his ex for 8 years through the entirety of which he has retained primary custody and sole decision making for their children. Ms. Shields did not even consider that very basic fact during the investigation. But don't take my word for it. Don't trust the "Referral List" reviews because she gets to review them and decide whether they are published, which gives an inaccurate 5-star rating.Here are a few statements about Ms. Shields from the public court order (names of minor children, professionals and/or witnesses have been removed for privacy): ·       The CFI took issue with Father's home even though no caseworker or other professional has found that his home is unsafe.·       The CFI gave Mother 30 days' notice for a home visit and Father 13 hours.·       [Psychologist] felt compelled to clarify the CFI's false reference to their conversation about stepmother's appropriate communication that the CFI indicated was excessive.·       In hindsight, the change of therapists was not only not endangering as alleged by the CFI but was clearly in the best interests of [the minor child].·       [Work Product Review Professional] noted that the CFI disregarded Father's primary role for the last 6 years.·       The CFI exceeded the scope of the order appointing her by opining about decision-making and recommending a change in the majority parent when the only motion pending was the relocation motion and a request to change Mother's dinner visit.·       The CFI did not notify Father that she intended to investigate a change in majority parent or decision-making.·       The CFI also failed to maintain objectivity.·       She inappropriately read the previous CFI report before completing her investigation.·       A CFI report is supposed to be a "brief assessment that is nonintrusive, efficient and cost effective" (CJD 04-08) (the CFI report here fails to meet       any of those criteria).·       Neither the CFI nor the PRE considered the significance of Father's primary role.·       She did an interactional with Mother and the children but not with Father.·       She demonstrated no awareness of the correct legal standard according to [the Work Product Review Professional].·       She gave advice to Mother on how to achieve primary parenting.·       She did not make good faith efforts to reach [the Psychologist] or [the Family Therapist], one of Father's collaterals.·       She testified that Father said he hated Mother's guts when it was she who suggested that both parties hate each other.·       She spent more time reviewing Mother's materials and with Mother than with Father.
Mar 8th, 2023