Trust me, I'm probably the most skeptical client a law firm can get. I'm an average joe who doesn't…read morehave a lot and who is already miffed that I'm being made to seek legal help in the first place. But with the current laws, regulations, restrictions, and ungodly amounts of red tape, do-it-yourself representation is getting to be a thing of the past, especially if you really need for it to be done right. That being said, I have now used Gross McGinley for both family law and real estate law, and had they not handled my two cases the way that they did, I wouldn't bother submitting a review.
The first time I went in, I had the same general preconceptions as anyone else: 1) This is going to drain my bank account, 2) They'll charge me for every email, phone call, breath I take, etc., 3) They're not going to listen to what my end goal is, 4) They're never going to return my calls, 5) This is going to drag on forever.
Kellie Rahl-Heffner handled my divorce and child custody nightmare. I knew in the first five minutes of meeting her that she was not only genuinely focused on what I was saying to her, but that she had a good soul and was going to do everything she could to make a terrible experience bearable. And that's exactly what she did. She showed up on time, she always got back to me, she knew my case, was always clear about my options and the costs (so I never had to secretly go insane with worry that a random bill would turn up and ruin my life,) and most importantly, explained everything to me about what to expect so that I could mentally prepare for whole process.
Later on, I had to deal with what I thought would be a simple real estate issue, and after a bout of trying to do it myself, realized there was no way it would be accepted. Seriously, this County has the most stringent documentation and formatting requirements that by the time you get through rolling your eyes at all the margin/font-size baloney, you realize that you've never heard of half the nouns they're demanding you address. It was around that time I found myself wondering if Kellie could give me a name to start with. I hadn't talked to her in a while and this was a completely different type of problem, but within a couple of hours of reaching out to her, I was working with Sarah Murray, who is also with Gross McGinley.
Again, surreal experience - a stark contrast to what you'd expect. Sarah listened, knew my case, was incredibly thorough, didn't mind dumb questions (I had puh-lenty,) and I never had to prod her or bug her. She was knowledgeable, wasted no time, and did what she said she was going to do. It was always clear what was expected of me and when it was expected. I wasn't intimidated at any point, and I walked away feeling like I'd done the smart thing - the right thing - by going with both of them.
If these two attorneys are an accurate representation of what Gross McGinley's about, I feel great relief knowing that no matter what gets thrown my way, I have a place to go where someone will have my back.
