Russell Cheryll

I feel I should write this review because I think mostly the unhappy people are the ones who write the reviews and that doesn't give a fair picture. After seeing all the negative reviews online about Cheryll Russell especially a few that says she is biased against women, I was quite worried before going into the mediation. But I didn't get the feeling of her bias at the mediation. Cheryll was smart and quick. She knew what's sensible and what's not. She also understood people. She immediately grasped what kind of personality my ex has that might be root to the problem which I didn't realize before. She also paid attention to my concerns and didn't just dismiss them. Yes she has strong opinions and she will pressure you, but that's what all mediators do. No body feels they get all they want from a mediation, otherwise it's not called a mediation. My ex and I had starting positions that were very far from each other, but Cheryll got the deal done. I certainly had to compromise. My ex refused to use her again so we had to work with a different mediator. more

Ms. Russell was hired to mediate and then arbitrate a matter with my ex-spouse. The issue at hand was the custody of our dog. The dog had been in my possession for ~ two years since we'd separated and during that time I had been responsible for almost all of the animal's expenses. My ex would have the dog on occasion but acknowledged that he had told me I could have the dog. I came prepared with two years worth of receipts thinking this would be a pretty simple case. The ex wished to share the dog, switching custody every two weeks. Not surprisingly, I wanted to proceed on my own without the regular contact. She ultimately awarded the dog to my ex-husband because she thought he would be willing to let me in the dog's life, whereas I would not. She was right. Immediately after being given the dog my ex-husband asked me to watch the dog for him while he was on holiday. In this case, she was selected by my ex's lawyer. She based her opinion not on fact but on her pity for my ex-husband. She made it clear in her opinion that I had family and a personal network and hobbies and he had nothing and therefore should have the dog. I wouldn't recommend her to anyone. More importantly, she also repeatedly allowed my ex and his lawyer to miss deadlines but would still include their late submissions of materials. Why bother with deadlines in the first place? more

Rude. Argumentative and, according to my lawyer, can’t even interpret law. She was confused about the difference between private high school & a college 529. Wouldn’t reimburse for money ex put on card after court order. My lawyer says he will never use her again. Forced to give a star, she doesn’t deserve even 1 more

I have waited 3 years to fill this out. As a result, I'm no longer emotional about the encounter. But I this page came up in a web search about guardianship agencies, and thought I would comment... She is manipulative, rude, condescending, and unnecessarily argumentative. I was left with the distinct impression that she cared little about a fair and equitable distribution of assets, but cared strongly about yet another opportunity to force her will upon others. It seems that she actively worked to make a very difficult situation even more difficult. She is a prime example of the reason we need watchdog agencies to monitor bad behavior. more

Sitting in her office now watching her tell my female friend to agree to not take any assets from her marriage. Russell is not encouraging appraisals of property or a business owned by the husband. Women watch out. Cheryll Russell will screw you over. more

Cheryl Russell is a biased arbitrator with an evident disdain for women. She favors the father at the expense of justice, ignores evidence, and dismisses relevant case law. She is cold and ruthless and only cares about generating fees for herself with lengthy proceedings that line her bank account. more

She was both mediator and arbitrator in my child custody case. I agree with the description of biased, cold, and uncaring. I'd like to add rude and condescending to the list. I am strongly suspicious that she has a prejudice (or personal vendetta) against mothers, especially if in a low income bracket. It is the only reason I can come up with that she would make some of the decisions she did. She was very snide in her rejection of my request that my (then 5 year old) child not be permitted to drive a motorcycle until he is old enough to have a license. I also pointed out that his father is missing flesh from his leg from a motorcycle accident and he was supervising his older son when he was in a separate accident resulting in broken bones. In case you are wondering 3 years later I picked up my son to find him limping and with a horrible raw wound covering half his leg and burn marks on his face and neck. This was caused by a motorcycle accident 2 days before hand which his father let him ride. I had not been informed he had been injured and he had not been seen by a doctor. I took him in and he was given antibiotics for the wound due to the size, depth, and nature. Yes this is his father's fault. But it is also Cheryl Russell's as she is in full support of little children driving motorcycles by themselves. And no, this is not the only problem steming from decisions she made about the parenting plan. I thought it might have been just me until a friend had an even worse experience with her. If you can avoid having her as a mediator do. If you cannot, consider walking out right after arriving to save your $ for court or another mediator. more

Good: Absolutely nothinh. Bad: I think she was biased . She wrote up her decision. I swear that she was drinking the whole time She had all the information all screwed up. She wouldn't go for a protection when he had been abusing me for years. I had been married a long time and never got any retirement benefits or any of his 401k. He makes 3 times the money then I do. She was biased towards me because I was emotional. It was supposed to be a short question and answer period of each lawyer. Not so.. Improvements: She needs to get out of the business. I should have went with my gut and gotten someone else.. more

Has been know to dump clients! Save yourself the trouble and hire someone else because you don't want to be dumped after you spend $40k on a divorce more

I don't even know where to start. After having to work with this attorney as a mediator/arbitrator for 2years, it was clear that she did not care about or have a connection to her client(s). She appeared to have a distinct bias in her rulings from the beginning. She decided with whom she would side early and there was ditnct evidence that she had a personal relationship with opposing attorney. In her rulings, it appeared she completely ignored documents and sworn declarations if it did not support her pre-developed position on the case. By the end, I absolutely had no confidence in a fair and just outcome and am utterly dissolutioned and disappointed in the process. I would not recommend or consider this attorney. more

I think that she was trying to impose a settlement that she thought was fair. The problem is that she was trying to impose her will. I saw her as more of a bully than a fair mediator. more

I wish I had contacted her long time back. We went thru a windy road for many months. My Ex wanted too much control specified in the parenting plan. We went to Cheryll with our individual lawyers and she went between the two rooms. My lawyer or I didnt have to explain her much - she was fair, extremely knowledgeable, and she worked with the other side painstakingly to close many issues and got agreement. I was relieved to know that she will be our mediator and arbitrator for any future issues. more

She did great work for me. Did SueH forget to pay? more

My experience is Ms. Russell is interested in nothing more than HER bottom line, and is truly uncaring about her clients. more