Patrick G. Gagniuk

Patrick was my court appointed attorney offered by Oakland county. Patrick reached out to me appoximately a week after being released from custody in which I had already hired another attorney to represent me in my criminal case. However at the same time I was being sued for custody of my then 2 year... old daugther by her father. So since I did not have an attorney for the custody case, I asked Patrick if he had experience and could represent me in that case and if so I would hire him. He said yes and I immediately came to his office with his retainer of 1500.00 which was more than reasonable since I had received other retainer fee amount from other attorneys within that week prior to him contacting me. I came to his office distraught and confused about everything ready to through in the towel. My case was one of a break up that turned into the other parent running off with our child refusing to return her home, no custody order and thus no police assistance in her return. I then took matters in my own hands to facilitate her return and threatened him with a weapon and was charged with a criminal offense. I had no priors or history of violent behavior or offenses up until this moment. Patrick initally started out communicating with me and encouraging me to stay and fight it out in court (custody) and I decided to do so. Patrick attended the first hearing and since I hired him late he had no time to prepare for the hearing. The judge granted my ex sole legal and custodial custody temporarily (while my criminal case was ongoing) and threatened not to wait on that case to make a decision on the custody issue. I had not parental time with her physically and could only facetime my 2 year old daughter for ten minutes a day. I had no issues prior to this, such as cps cases or anything like that however this was my judgement and prior to this I was the custodial parent and the parent with a home he lived with his parents. The judge granted an extension of time to allow me respond to the claim. Patrick took my statement for the response and submitted it to the court. Yet for 7 months it seemed we were on standby. My exes attorney was consistently filing motions throughout the case for child support and other things. Patrick recommended that we (the parents) try to settle the matter however the father had all the cards in his hands except proof of his claim. Once my criminal case was settle a couple a months later, I told Patrick to pull out the guns and go on attack; I needed to spend time with my daughter and I knew months of no physical contact with her was hurting me in court and my bond with her. Patrick refused. There were opportunities where the father wanted to negotiate earlier in the case however, Patrick missed the opportunity by not responding timely to emails. We later found out through the Plaintiffs attorney that my statement did not get recorded on record even though it was submitted months earlier thus the cause for the delay. I would call or email Patrick and he would not call me back for days. No proposals to the court for increased parenting time was made even though I asked him to do so. At some point Patrick became frustrated with me and began to curse at me in which I had to remind him he was hired and that was unprofessional. Patrick did not like me to inquire into my case, nor make suggestions, and when it came time paying another retainer fee for the next segment of the case after no results for 6 months, he broke his agreement to me and walked off my case with no warning not even a phone call/email prior. He even attempted to sabbotage me in doing that by the reasoning he gave the judge “I can’t realistically discuss her case with her”. Although he neglected his commitment to me throughout the case, by the graces of God I found another attorney that stepped in and finished the job excellently within two months filing all the paperwork he did not. I do not and would not recommend him.

Easy and simple...received Patricks number from a friend and I soon found the need for court representation. His price was well under other quotes I received, and my situation was cleared up in a quick manner. I have since used Patrick for all my legal needs, from contracts down to moving violation...s. Its hard to find someone in a law profession that is both affordable and willing to go the extra mile, I guess I got lucky to find the one lawyer that happens to be both.