Chris Allen Houghtaling

We hired Chris to handle a Probate case. I've had to remind his office several times to complete paperwork that needed to be submitted for the case. His paralegal lacks the ability to effectively communicate and is very short with us over the phone. She acts as though every phone call is bothersome t...o her and wasting her time. They repeatedly give us conflicting advice and don't seem to listen very well. I've asked for return phone calls from Chris and as of right now, I still haven't received the return phone call I asked for in August 2016. Three times in a row he cancelled our appointments after we took time off of work to meet with him. I'm not real sure why it is so difficult for him to tend to his paying clients, but Chris nor his Paralegal seem client focused. I am very disappointed in his lack of ability to follow through on all the things he's promised us he would do.

I hired Chris based upon this very website and a glowing peer review. However, my experience was much different than the reviews I have seen here. Yes he is a nice guy and yes if you are dealing with a relatively uncomplicated divorce, he will do fine. If you are dealing with a narcissist in any w...ay shape or form, you are probably going to need a tougher lawyer, or one who deals extensively with domestic violence. I went into my divorce of course naieve as could be, thinking my ex could handle being amicable, which he didn't handle at all, and I felt totally steamrolled through the process. Emails to Chris went unanswered for a month at one point. If I called, the receptionist seemed short with me. I feel anything over 48 hours is unacceptable for a question that takes 2 minutes to answer. It was very rare that my emails were answered in a timely manner. Even if I gained a reputation as a difficult client with too many questions, I did not feel it would be too much to write a couple sentences back at the end of a week to answer a question. Finally, during court cases, he seemed calm, but almost a little too calm, because my ex's lawyer just kept on going, and my ex kept getting granted almost everything he wanted while chris did not defend or say a word. He seemed a bit unprepared. After all was supposed to be said and done, I am still getting dragged to court over clauses that were not written very well in the divorce decree. Between Chris and the judge, there was a push towards mediation. If I was able to do anything through mediation, I wouldn't have hired a lawyer.