Joseph Wallace Howington

I am so blessed to have had Joseph Howington represent me in my child support arrears case. During the entirety of this case, I have felt that Mr. Howington truly has had my best interest in mind. Throughout this case, Mr. Howington has been very accessible, clearly and honestly communicating his i...deas and plans as well as considering my input. Though this case is still on-going, Mr. Howington used his expertise to tackle this unusual case via every possible angle, resulting in the recovery of a large sum of arrears. In addition to this, I have felt that the entire staff I have communicated with at his office has been not only professional, but also friendly, helpful and on-board with me. Thank you, Mr. Howington for all your help. You are highly recommended! Thank you also, to all at Howington & Associates. Together you make a great team.

Mr. Howington and associates are the team you need to get the best results possible. Their high level of integrity, attention to detail, and transparent honesty is unmatched! They took on my very unique and difficult case and I can honestly say they have been a God send to me. If you are looking for ...a family law/divorce attorney look no further.

Joe Howington – Absolute Best Attorney Nutshell of my case: I was divorced over 14 years ago with 2 small kids. Remarried in 2008. In 2009 when the economy tanked I had to close my business. My ex wife wouldn’t work with me and we had to file a motion to revisit the support as I had 50/50... custody. My ex wife’s parent are multi millionaires who paid all of her fees with no regard to the amount. My ex wife had no less than 5 attorneys over the past 6 years…… she spent mid 6 figures on attorney fees going after me and my wife. You name it, they tried it: Sued my current wife and her business, Sued my best friend, Sent subpoenas to my customers, sent private investigators to watch us and look into everything connected to me, Sent Forensic CPAS to examine books, Ridiculous amounts of Discovery, Several Depositions, etc….my ex even tried to have my wife and I arrested for fraud. After several years we finally made it to trial. We had a 31 day trial. The results of the trial were very good. Due to my ex wife’s tactics and gamesmanship I ended up with 100% legal custody and my ex was ordered to pay my attorney fees and the attorney fees my new wife incurred. She even owed me for OVERPAYMENT of child support of $46,000.00. My ex wife appealed the decision and in Nov 2014 the appeal came back 100% in our favor. This case was so extreme that the Court of Appeal published the case. Why is Mr. Howington so good? He is very well respected in his field. I was in Court approx a 100 times and I saw him first hand deal with other Attorneys, Court Secretaries, Court Reporters and several Judges. I knew he was the correct attorney for me when he stepped in and was a Judge Pro-Tem for Judges that were out. The Judges trusted his knowledge and skills so much that they had him sit in their place on the bench. The best part about Mr. Howington was his knowledge of how Family Law works. He would tell me “no” on some items I wanted to do. I didn’t like to hear “no”, who does? He would then explain why this will not work because of the laws or the timing was wrong. Mr. Howington told me “no” because it would end up hurting my case……I appreciate him for sticking to what he knows was best for me. I could go on and on about the knowledge and skills of Mr. Howington. Bottom line is: Divorce and Custody and Support cases are difficult at best. Everyone is emotionally driven. I needed someone who could navigate the intricate maze of family law, and Mr. Howington is a expert in this area. 100% give Mr. Howington a 5 star rating.

I have only the best things to say! I hired Mr. Howington in March 2015, the best decision I ever made. His office staff is incredible. Everyone in the office always does what they say they are going to do. They are amazingly efficient in every way possible. I have never had a better experience. ... I was not paid for this response at all. I often hear people say that divorce lawyers want to take your money, and don't want to help you. That has been the opposite of my experience. Mr. Howington and his team have done everything they could to reduce my expenses. Mr. Howinfton and his team have done everything they could, to reduce my bill. Every single decision, has been explained to me , by Mr. Howington or his staff, if it was going to cost more money, and didn't make sense, that was always brought to my attention as well. My process is not over with the office, still several items to do. One of the things that has cost me additional dollars, is chasing after my husband's attorney and their office for a response. Several documents have been sent, most are not responded to, even a courtesy answer would have been enough! That has been a very unfortunate outcome, and has left a sour spot for opposing counsel. Mr. Howington and his staff have made several attempts on various occasions to make sure they communicated with the other side , 95% of the time the other side did not respond. I would never thought that this would happen in 2015, however it did. For anyone considering using this office, Mr. Howington and his staff, I would highly recommend them, and if you hire them, I am confident that you Will have no regrets!

Joe was retained over four years ago on a case involving enforcement of an old settlement, poorly written. He was chosen after the recommendation of individuals closely involved with the court and interviews with 4 other attorneys. He is a decent, honest, caring person, and a competent attorney. But ...competence did not translate into success for this case. Here are some things to keep in mind when retaining an attorney for a family law matter in San Bernardino, as they relate to our experience with Joe. The case will most likely take years to resolve, if multiple court dates are needed. Joe did his best to expedite the case, but a case that was originally thought to be resolvable in one to two years took over 4 years. This was not Joe's fault, but it has become a reality in San Bernardino that the courts are clogged, judges overworked and cases take many years longer than they should. This meant that the expense of the case grew by over 3 times the original retainer. Had we projected the case would take at least twice as long and cost over 3 times the original estimate, we would have never proceeded. It would have been clear that the risk and cost of losing would outweighed the benefits of winning. Ask any attorney you are considering to give you details on cases they have recently won, and how the cases were resolved, i.e. settlement, court decision, appeal. You need to gauge where the attorney's practice is headed, because you will likely be waiting years to see a final resolution. And those years of working on the case and waiting will impact the attorney. There may be health problems, staff turnover, and evolution of the attorney's relationship with judges, and evolution of the courts. All these factors work against those with the lessor resources. In our case, Joe overcame many obstacles to proceeding with our case , but there was a lot of staff turnover, which at times made it tough on us. The relationship of the attorney with the judges is the most important factor in the resolution of your case. Joe's relationship with the judges was said to be outstanding when he was retained. But this was years ago, and it appears that these relationships deteriorated over time. To have our case won, with a clear judgment in favor, and then to have the same judge reverse that ruling, and after years of delays, not based on law, but on equity, seemed strange. To learn of similar reversals in several other cases all around the same time speaks to some hidden issue with the judges, likely not Joe's fault, but still devastating to the outcome of our case, and presumably the other cases too. Be prepared to put in significant time yourself on your case, many, many hours. Or be prepared to spend a lot of money on staff time. The average attorney bills $500 per hour. This works out to $1,000,000 per year. Joe was fair in his rates and billing practices, but also tough. When interviewing Joe or any other attorney, ask yourself these questions. Can you afford 3 or 4 times the original retainer?Does the opposing party have greater resources than you? Where will you be in 4 or 5 years? Where do you think the attorney will be in 4 or 5 years? Lastly attorneys and judges will always push for settlements. But settlements need enforcement mechanisms and these are hard to obtain. We received a settlement offer of 20% of the value of the case. Joe's opinion was to accept. We deemed it in bad faith and had to make the difficult decision to reject it. This is not a reflection on Joe's competence as an attorney, but of a changing reality in which cases are dependent less on the law than on relationships between judges and attorneys, and very much on the cooperation of the opposing party, making receiving a fair outcome difficult if resources between parties are unequal. Joe, and all attorneys, need to be clear from the outset about the costs and time of cases, and the difficulty in getting a fair outcome absent large resources.