Francine Gardikas

I hired Francine to handle my divorce case. Francine represented me through a pre-trail conference and half-way through a deposition of my wife. The relationship had been strained because, in my opinion, Francine did not take the time to listen and lacked empathy. It became more difficult when, durin...g my wife's deposition (Francine questioned her about certain events for the record), Francine spent time texting individuals who were not part of the deposition DURING her questioning. She seemed unfocused and seemed to lose track of her line of questioning. She was interrupted several times by calls and messages on her Apple watch and iPhone that went off during the questioning, causing even more disruption of the proceeding. At one point she left the room to leave her watch in the hallway because she could not operate it to become silent. We could still hear the watch through the door as questioning continued. She seemed embarrassed. Then, she chose to leave the deposition despite the insistence of the other party that they wanted to finish. It seemed Francine had other matters that were more pressing than the deposition. The deposition had been on the calendar for many weeks. When I discussed this with her the next day, my perception was that she became irate. When I asked about the rescheduling of the remainder of the deposition, she did not have a plan and it seemed that it would be at least several weeks before it would be rescheduled, causing it to be pushed right up against the next important court date. I expressed my concern and she became more irate, making characterizations of me in front of her associate who was also in the room. Finally, she indicated that she thought that the relationship had broken down and announced that she was going to withdraw as my attorney. For me, this was not a reasonable outcome and I was confused. Questions I would ask Francine before engaging her: "How many times has your relationship with a client broken down?" "Do you consider it important to listen to your clients?" "Is your concern for how the judge perceives you as important as the representation you provide for your client?" "Does the personal relationship with your client matter to you as much as your practice of the law?" "Is your communication with your team effective and does your relationship with them impact your clients?" "Do you consider it important to keep clients informed about important milestones in the case?" "Do you always give clients ample time to prepare for events or do you give them short notice because your schedule prevents it?" "Do you hold meetings with clients to prepare for depositions and pre-trial hearings or do you "wing it?" These would probably be good questions to ask any attorney and I hope they help guide you to make a decision about working with Francine. The potential costs make investigating your choice very important.