Sara Kathleen Patten

I hired Sara Patten of Goldman & Associates to represent me in my divorce. During the representation, I received seven invoices totaling $17,268.91, which I paid in full. Sara communicated with me regularly, and I provided extensive information concerning property, retirement benefits, discovery, ...income, financial records, and settlement issues. My concern was the lack of detailed legal analysis on several major issues. I often felt I was providing the facts and proposed strategy without receiving enough guidance regarding the strengths, weaknesses, risks, and likely treatment of those positions. I also had concerns about billing. The invoices contain numerous 0.3-hour entries at $395 per hour for tasks involving emails, document review, saving records, and similar work. I specifically questioned charges connected with a Green Dot/Apple Pay subpoena after the original subpoena was rejected and additional work was billed for re-service. I did not locate a substantive written explanation addressing my billing concern. Before mediation, I specifically asked for focused legal analysis while trying to control costs. I appreciated that Sara did not perform a full page-by-page review of my large supporting package. My concern remained whether I received enough substantive guidance on the major property, pension, income, and financial issues before mediation. The day after mediation, after I raised concerns about the mediation process, Goldman & Associates notified me that the firm intended to withdraw from my case. I am not claiming the timing proves retaliation. The timing and the effect of losing counsel while the case was still active were major concerns for me. This review reflects my personal experience. Sara did communicate with me and performed work on the case. My dissatisfaction centers on the cost, the level of substantive legal guidance I felt I received for those fees, and the way the representation ended.