Laura Kennedy Bonander

I made the poor choice to utilize Watson Bonander, LLC in a recent Guardianship/Conservatorship Petition. The results of my Petition narrowly avoided a complete disaster! By the thinnest of margin’s I was ultimately granted Guardianship of my poor Mother who suffers from Moderate to Severe Alzheim...er’s. It is true that our case was atypical, it involved a disgruntled sibling (who just happened to be a convicted felon and was serving jail-time during the proceedings) but who was able through a series of atypical and outrageous actions thwart practically every motion and action that Watson Bonander attempted in court. This could have simply been a result of their lack of experience in dealing with such a demanding and unusual guardianship hearing or more likely an insight into their core competency’s and strategic approach to solving tough challenges. I found my interaction with both partners to be dissatisfying, extremely condescending, and more often than not, completely unprofessional and unproductive. Numerous times during the process they threatened to “end the engagement” if I did not stop raising my strong concerns or rejecting their proposals. Yes, I was a “problem client.” However, due to the unscrupulous, unlawful, and intimidating interference of our felon sibling as well as repeated setbacks from a clearly biased court whose actions typically only made conditions worse I felt strongly at the time that I was well within my right to challenge their strategy’s and insist that they clearly convince me that they were prudent and that they would ultimately help us attain the stated goals of our Petition. And, when I pay attorneys a very large six-figure fee to handle a guardianship/conservatorship Petition I reserve the right to ask tough questions and express my displeasure when things go awry. In the end we were granted the needed guardian ship and the disgruntled sibling was admonished by the court and give very strict and limited visitation access to our Mother. That’s the happy news. However, the court and the court appointed attorneys repeatedly impugned our integrity, our honesty, and our actions to force our sibling to court and ultimately remove him from the guardianship. Did I mention that this case involved the disgruntled sibling literally removing our sick Mother from her home of 25 years, while she was under 24x7 nursing care put into place by the fiduciary responsible in the family’s written and lawfully documented Estate Plan to care for her and then removing her from the State and hiding her for five months until which point we were able to DEMAND that the State’s courts intervene and force her return to her home? This is just a sliver of the complexities related to our proceedings. The point to make however, is that Watson Bonander, LLC was ultimately a very poor choice to handle such an unusual and demanding proceeding. I would not recommend them for any matter in the courts. Do your research, perform your due diligence, and you can find much better representation.