Allison Jane Boyle

Working with Allison was very painful. Allison was ignorant about not only her own responsibilites, but also about the process by which she is supposed to support people. She changed the timeline (and rules) of what was happening every chance she could. She consistently failed to meet important, time...-sensitive deadlines that she herself set, and gave innaccurate information about crucial policies. I did not receive a single thing on time from her, and I also did not receive strong legal guidance about the situation and its implications. She left me completely in the dark about my own situation once I entrusted her with it. She has bad judgment and is unprofessional, cancelling appointments at the last minute, submitting poorly-written documents, conducting disorganized interviews and asking upsetting, confidential questions via email with no warning. Most of all, she lets her clients believe the wrong thing, without realistically laying the stakes out for them, and the results are devastating. She subjected me to a traumatic trial for no reason; any other legal professional, given the same information and context, would have counseled against taking this to trial. I have worked with several legal professionals since and all of them had a better grip on relevant issues than Allison did. I would recommend all clients considering Allison to look elsewhere, or your mental health and career with pay the price. Also, she threatened to call the police on me for simply expressing my disappointment with her, which proves what a ridiculous lawyer she is. Don't be afraid of her, she is a big joke. The only reason I'm not including my name is because I don't want to be linked to this stupid legal issue any longer.

I consulted with Allison because she was the only person there to consult with regarding the issue I had. At first, I was moved by how patient she was. She seemed like she really wanted to help; she answered all my questions and helped me get accommodations with my schoolwork. She was very personable.... I know she felt bad for me, especially as the situation progressed. But feeling bad is not enough. Who would have thought, all the answers she gave me to my questions turned out to be dead wrong and I was the one who had to excercise an inhuman degree of patience. Here are the main issues: 1) Allison did not do a single thing when she said she would. For an entire summer, she sent me an email every 2 weeks telling me that I was about to receive something, and I never did. She cancelled meetings at the last minute. Everything I received was at least 1 week (if not an entire summer) later than when she told me, in writing, that I would have it. Why keep saying the wrong thing? 2) She was not upfront about what I had to do, and what I was getting myself into. I asked her several questions regarding the process before I started it. She failed to tell me that the decision would come down to a panel of people that didn't involve her at all; that these people would have access to everything I wrote and said; and that so would the other party. I still have nightmares about this stuid panel. She also asked me to give her my written account of what happened, based on journals I wrote at the time. This written document would become a key piece of evidence; I had NO IDEA. If I had known the whole issue was riding on these journals, I would have incorporated as much detail as I possibly could. At no point did she tell me to make sure my written account was as thorough as I remembered. So what I gave her was the vague, haphazard journal entries I had written for my personal emotional therapy, rather than something thoughtful and serious that recalled the situation as best I could. She then proceeded to yank me out of class for the next 9 months to ask me disturbing questions THAT I ALREADY ANSWERED. I had no idea this issue had to go to that extreme. She also sent me a few questions over email, which was insecure communication and, given the nature of the questions, totally innappropriate. 3) Which brings me to the next point: she does not ask questions well. I did not even realize this until I had worked with another lawyer. Allison's questions were vague and failed to capture details and get to the bottom of what really happened. She compromised my credibility by asking poorly worded questions that did not keep everything organized. As a result, the findings she came up with were unscientific and arbitrary. After she interviewed the other party, I asked her what he had said about a particular date, and she told me that she forgot to ask him. Really? She also failed to interview him until several weeks later, saying, "We just couldn't find a time in our schedules to meet." Again, really? This is a very pressing issue and it's her job. Would it kill you to stay past 5 on one day? 4) She does not write well. When I finally got to see the document that she had promised me all summer, my jaw dropped. It was simply not well-done. It was random, spotty, inconsistent and left out key information. It did not harness evidence to support the point she was trying to make. She failed to make the point. As a result of her inability to put together a report, my credibility was compromised. 5) The icing on the cake; she has bad judgement. She gave the wrong weight to the wrong things and didn't look closely enough into other things. So when the panel looked at the work it took her 10 months to produce, they dismissed her reasoning right away. Who was the person to suffer as a result of all this? Me! If you can't tell, I couldn't have had a worse experience working with her. This experience was inexplicably stressful and traumatizing.