Alan Edward Gooding

Initially I was very pleased with Mr. Gooding's work. He took my case which was a matter of urgency, and was good about handling matters in a timely manner. My case regards a matter of elder law, and I do not think this is an area of specialty for him. We had knocked around the idea of bringing in... an elder law specialist as a consultant, as I had some questions that I didn't feel were being addressed to my satisfaction. This was not a criticism, as you cannot be a specialist in all areas, just a concern. We were supposed to be going to court for a final hearing for guardianship and conservatorship. I went out of town for two weeks. My attorney, the judge, and all involved were well aware of these plans. On my return I promptly sought to make contact with my attorney through phone and emails, to be aprised of my case and hopefully find out a hearing date. He failed to return any of my phone calls or email messages. I have been in shock over his behaviour. I was so sure he would get back to me and that he probably had everything in hand. He was to have gotten a copy of a physician's report, made arrangement for a social workers investigation, and filed for a date for the final hearing. My letters of temporary guardianship & conservatorship expired this past monday. I was forced to contact another attorney, this time an elder law specialist in a larger, more established firm. He never filed for a hearing date! My new attorney is on the case and hopefully will be able to resolve everything, but it will end up costing me more money, and the process will end up taking 1-2 months longer than anticipated. According to my new attorney, he has also failed to return calls to the opposing counsel. I find this incredibly unprofessional, and wonder about the ethics of it.