Joan-Marie Kettell Dean

My husband and I were recommended to Joan-Marie by another attorney . He did so because we needed an attorney that has experience with Appeals and he said she was the best. We have been in an adoption case for two years. Long story short, we were handed a 7 week old baby whose birth parents were more... concerned with drugs than him. Both parents have been incarcerated and thru our legal system the birth father was given an appointed attorney to represent him after the adoption was finalized. The birth father wanted to appeal the adoption. We have been thru so much with our case and all we wanted to do is protect our baby. Joan Marie accepted our case and immediately after our initial meeting I felt a huge burden lifted from me. She explained everything to us and what to expect. I left her office knowing our son would be protected because Joan-Marie was fighting for him. She went to court for us once and almost immediately she won that round. We never had to see a court room again. The Alabama Appellate court dismissed the appeal the birth father filed due to her diligence. We have our son who can now have a happy safe life and the adoption is final. We owe much of this to Joan-Marie and the role she played as our attorney.

Affiliation I am a current client of Ms. Joan-Marie Sullivan (Dean). I am also a "repeat customer" of Ms. Sullivan having had a successful outcome in a prior legal action (divorce amend). Client Assessment of Ms. Joan-Marie Sullivan (Dean) My rationale for retaining Ms. Sullivan's services ...was driven by a number of considerations, outlined below… a) Expert and Efficient Guidance: I have experienced very efficient and at times even firm guidance on issues that tend to be easily confusing due to intense emotional involvement… it is clear when working with Ms. Sullivan she is sensitive to issues like these with clients and can readily make course corrections and with clear explanation when needed. She knows clearly what goals can be achieved and how and what matters are of lesser importance. b) Efficient Communication: Ms. Sullivan has been efficient in communicating only as required to properly handle matters. This reduces the number of charges required to the client. Typically as an important milestone or deadline for a matter in a case approaches, Ms. Sullivan will respond professionally and capitalize on each communication and/or schedule consultation as needed. c) Exceptional Current Knowledge of the Law: Ms. Sullivan is the editor of the Alabama Law Weekly. This voluntary position requires Ms. Sullivan to review all current Alabama case matters, outcomes and resultant precedents on a weekly basis. This by nature keeps Ms. Sullivan's knowledge of Alabama law continuously updated. d) A Leader in Alabama State Law: Ms. Sullivan has actively engaged in challenging and updating Alabama law. Recent changes regarding forced payment of college for children in divorce settlements is one example of unjust law Ms. Sullivan has successfully challenged. It is clear she has a modern understanding of society and law and strives to bring Alabama code up to date with such. This greater understanding of society and law is a tremendous and highly unique asset she offers to her clients. e) Full Understanding and Expert Application of the Law: Ms. Sullivan not only has knowledge of the current law, she is an expert in its application (a function of not just hard work but in my opinion of exceptional ability). I have witnessed first-hand working with Ms. Sullivan her ability to in minutes capture a vast amount of information, process it with the client through careful questioning and real-time produce a legal product of high quality properly addressing and capturing all concerns of the client. This ability goes far beyond just hard work and knowledge but is an indicator of Ms. Sullivan's exceptional natural abilities and intellect. f) Experience and Motivation: Ms. Sullivan now has roughly 25 years of experience in the practice of law. What is surprising is her intensity, energy level and genuine enthusiasm for not just practicing but improving the law itself in the state of Alabama is very high and evident in her every word and action. This energy coupled with years of experience is one of the most impressive qualities of Ms. Sullivan and offers to her clients a very rare combination of knowledge, skills and abilities indeed! Conclusion I have and continue to be a client of Ms. Joan-Marie Sullivan (Dean). I have and will again recommend Ms. Joan-Marie Sullivan (Dean) to friends and colleagues who have expressed interest in finding expert legal representation. I believe Ms. Sullivan represents each of her clients in an efficient and highly intelligent fashion, making the fullest use of exceptional ability, knowledge, experience and motivation.

I hired Mrs. Joan Marie Dean to represent me in my divorce case, was impressed with her at our initial meeting and felt confident in her ability. Problems occurred during the first week when she was suppose to be in court representing me before the judge; Mrs. Dean stated she had a conflict and coul...dn't appear so she had another lawyer attend for her. The stand in attorney did a really good job and all Mrs. Dean had to do was to appear in front of the judge two days later (court date was on a Friday, she was to see the Judge on the following Monday). She didn't bother to show up and represent me, and I was out of my home for an additional 80 days. I tried repeatedly to get in touch with her by calling and sending emails to her of which she didn't bother replying to. I was finally forced to hire another attorney to represent me. When I emailed Mrs. Dean the information that I had obtained other legal counsel, she immediately called me while attending court in another county, wanting to know why I had acquired other counsel and was obviously upset. Mrs. Dean then actually had the audacity to show up at the court hearing my new counsel had scheduled in less than two days from being hired. Knowing she could no longer conjure up charges for services not provided, she billed me for every penny of the large retainer I had paid upfront and then added an additional 1/3 in fraudulent charges. Be forewarned that Mrs. Dean does not reply or respond to emails or phone messages and bills $30.00 (10% of a $300 an hour fee) to her clients for her assistant to receive any type of these communications. Bottom line is - do yourself a favor and look around before securing legal services in Huntsville, I am now having to go through the headache of trying to recoup some of my money from a lawyer that adamantly refused to represent me in a time of dire need.