I was in one of those exceptionally ugly custody disputes. I had dismissed my first attorney for very poor performance at a preliminary hearing with catastrophic results. Before I had the opportunity to hire another attorney, opposing council filed for an ex-parte hearing giving me just under 2 days notice. I was in a jam.
I had known Joanne Reisman from childhood, and knew she was an attorney, but never really knew if she was any good or not.
I contacted her and gave her a quick overview of my situation. She immediately referred me to some legal resources, which I checked out, but I wasn't able to pull together another retainer and get the new attorney up to speed in time for the hearing.
I had too much pride to ask Joanne to do that one hearing pro-bono, so I set my efforts to putting together the best pro-se response I could.
As I prepared for court the morning of the hearing, I was terrified at best.
I'm not sure which was more amazing; that Ms. Reisman decided to appear on my behalf the morning of the hearing, on her own personal integrity, or the BEYOND EXCEPTIONAL performance she gave at the hearing with very little background information or case history.
She was an angel of light for me in a very dark hour. Her skills are most certainly worth her bill rate, and probably more. If I had the funds, she would be by far my first choice to represent me through this process.
Pros: Moral integrity, experience, interpersonal strength,
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