Ellen Gay Niermann

We employed the services of Ms. Niermann a few months ago in a case involving a contentious divorce where an abusive husband with a history of domestic abuse was purposefully alienating the children from their mother and I. After taking more than three months to complete her report (and charging us m...ore fees in the process for an "extended investigation"), Gay clearly did not manage to make a concerted look into the domestic violence history of the husband—a serious matter, considering Colorado's Best Interests of Child statutes which have very specific concerns regarding any present or past history of abuse in a parent. She said she'd be in contact with the marriage counselor who could verify the abusiveness of the husband, but never managed to make this contact. Detailed letters and accounts of other family members were submitted, but it did not seem she paid much attention to them. As a result, the husband was able to achieve some custody over the children and continues, to this day, to create a hostile environment for us. I rated Gay two stars on trustworthiness because she did uphold fairly unbiased conduct in the investigation (or so I believe). Our case was unique in that it concerned elements of BDSM and the accusation by the father that we were exposing the children to our lifestyle (which was an outright and knowing lie by him). She *did* see through the "inaccuracies" of the husband on that count and told me specifically that our sex life was none of her concern during our talks. Kudos to Gay for that. She looses points on trust, however, considering that she overcharged us and did not competently look into the domestic violence aspects of the husband, as she promised. That was a monumentally tragic mistake. I rated Gay one star on responsiveness because this investigation took far too long, and she didn't return calls or emails on a timely basis. Some messages and attempted calls were outright ignored. A folder that we put painstakingly together detailing all facts, including a copy of a DSS report supporting our position, seemed to have been shelved early on. She had to be reminded she even had the report to begin with. I rated Gay four stars on knowledgeable because I do think she knows the system very well. How well that knowledge of the system benefits her clients, however, seems a little up for grabs. She did manage to parse the lies of the alienating parent, so that was a plus. Her inability to compel the marriage counselor to corroborate the abusive history of the husband was a big ball drop on her part, so either her effort or knowledgability takes a hit there. I, personally, wonder why she did not order the counselor be subpoenaed by the court. I rated Gay two stars on keeping us informed. Between the long pockets of time in which we heard nothing, the waiting for calls back or recognition of our emails, and then suddenly charging us extra for extending the investigation (the reasons for which we are still unclear) this entire process felt very "black box." I understand that for reasons of preventing bias, some degree of distance in the investigator is necessary, but I didn't feel she communicated very well with us, or heard out our accurate and honest accounts. Bottom line? Gay kept our sex life out of court. That was good, and she should be applauded for that. But she failed in protecting the children from a manipulative and abusive father by not subpoenaing the marriage counselor or taking the words of others about him into more serious account. The result, now, is that the alienation of the children continues and the ex feels emboldened to continue on with his subversive agendas.