Susan E Christiansen

We didn't keep Susan as she wouldn't help us with our case. The court didn't have time to help us without move away case with Susan representing us due to the fact that she was too unorganized! She thought that because she had the "father" of the move away case, she wasn't going to win in court. G...uess who won the in-home inspection? Guess who won trial? ME, THE FATHER! The courts granted me everything I asked for! And I owe it all to another attorney who actually cared. If Susan would make a little effort to stand up for her clients like she is trying to stand up for herself on here, she would be a decent attorney. It's no wonder Susan's office has a high turn-over rate with employees. Susan was my first experience with an attorney, and it was a horrible one!!

Susan Christiansen's law office was very diligent in collecting $4700 as a retainer prior to representing me in a child custody case. The diligence essentially ended soon there after. The one and only time she came to court she was unprepared, necessary information about my case was not in her "binde...r" she did not listen to me nor to my wishes. About a month into this process I got the feeling that she had little motivation in resolving the matter efficiently. She seemed distracted in prolonging and dragging things out. Soon after the first court appearance I changed my mind with regards to the direction I wanted to take WITH MY CASE. I made multiple phone calls to her office and left a myriad of messages making it clear that the other parent and I had reached a resolution and that I did not need outside mediation etc NO CALLS WERE RETURNED. Two days before I was to leave the country I got a live person to answer the phone who was unsuccessful in talking me into “their” plan. At the 11th hour they were scrambling to prepare a motion I had requested in the first week of May, that I wanted filed. The day before I was to leave on vacation (June 1) her staff insisted that I had to come into the office for a signature. I did as they requested at the time previously arranged, and there was no one there. Office was closed! I waited for a half an hour before leaving extremely upset. I called and left Ms. Christiansen a voice message regarding the incident and I emailed her, but did NOT GET A REPSONSE! My case could have been done and over with in May (prior to leaving on vacation), but due to their incompetence the matter was dragged out. Ms. Christiansen was ultimately unable to show up to court (June 13) and substituted Ms. Tiffany Andrews (Attorney) to represent me in her absence. Ms. Andrews was fabulous, and the complete opposite of Ms. Christiansen. She was professional, efficient, a good listener, excellant communicator, a problem solver etc etc all the basic attributes you would expect from a seasoned veteran attorney. To add insult to injury Ms. Christiansen (her law office) charged me for multiple case staffings with Ms. Andrews to “bring her up to speed” which she would not have had to do had she shown up to do what I paid her to do. It should be noted that NO ONE would have had to appear in court on the 13th of June had her office processed my request timely in May. Overall the same agreement was reached in court on June 13th which was proposed and emailed to Ms. Christiansen in May. Instead I was charged for staffings, court appearance, and a laundry list of this or that in the month of June, July, and August. OUTRAGEOUS!!!! Finally on September 13, 2012, after 3 emails and multiple phone calls I was refunded $800 some odd dollars WOW? $$3,900 for her to not return my phone calls, summons me to the office then not be there, ignoring my repeated request, cause me undue stress in prolonging a matter that could have been resolved in May and prior to my vacation. Obviously, though I tried to relax during my trip I was unable to as I didn't know what would happen upon my return in addition to having to be present in court literally the day after I got back into town. Not what I signed up for when I surrendered over $4,000. As a single mom THAT IS AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF MONEY TO ME. As far as I’m concerned Ms. Christiansen took money she did not earn. Thank you Scott (accountant) as you were the only one in that office that returned my calls and answered any emails I sent to you. You were also the only professional person in that office and I appreciated your efforts.

I was recommended this office by a military member . I called and talked to Gerald mainly, and every time I called, everyone was very friendly and helpful. They made me feel so calm and better about my case and helped me with my paperwork. I live on the east coast and they provided me with great ad...vice and help in a very cost friendly manner. They even recommended I get a local lawyer (Monterey) to finish my case as they explained simply so that I would not have to pay thousands for them to attend the hearing, and that it will end up being a simple case that I was originally very worried about. Thanks Gerald, Susan, and Carol.