Ruth Slamon Borland

Ruth Borland was referred to me by a trustworthy source. She is gracious, well-educated, and seems concerned about one's situation. She has been in business a long time and her firm has a good rep. Most of my contact was by phone; she was available for our appointments. She worked with me on our fina...ncial arrangement due to the length of my case. Her admin assistant is very helpful and on the ball. That being said, when it comes to managing a client's expectations and getting things done in a timely, assertive manner, my review takes a turn. I hired Ms. Borland in Spring 2010 to help me with a challenging estate issue: a family Irrevocable Trust was being mismanaged by the two Trustees (a bank and a family member who was also a beneficiary of said trust). As the only other surviving beneficiary, I was being prevented from accessing funds in my trust account via some questionable practices. Ruth told me I had a very strong case that we could take to trial. When I asked how long this would all take, she could not give me a general timeframe. I hired her on faith, assuming that a few years (2) would be plenty to get this process underway, to court and resolved in my favor. After 2+ years passed I started relaying to Atty. Borland my frustration and angst about getting this case to trial and resolved while it had "steam". She always left it up to me whether to continue on or not. In spite of an emotionally charged situation involving the other family member/trustee/beneificary, I pressed on. Fast forward 5+ years: After filing the lawsuit in late 2011, court dates, continuances of court dates for one reason or another, periods of time when nothing seemed to be happening, several unproductive attempts at settlement conducted by Atty. Borland and opposing counsel, I said "enough" and settled Dec 2015 for a unimpressive sum by signing away my rights as beneficiary of the Trust. Not a very favorable outcome, given how the trust was written and intended. When I told Ruth how disappointed I was that it had come to this, she defended herself by saying I did not let her take it to trial. After all that had transpired, time and resources spent, I had lost faith that the case would ever get to court. "Under promise and over deliver, not the other way around."