Matthew Joseph Gonsalves

Watch out if you decide to use Matthew Gonsalves as an arbitrator. We had a hearing regarding a dispute over attorneys fees, and on that day, my attorney was stunned to find out that Mr. Gonsalves knew the opposing attorney from previous trials! My attorney should have been informed before the date... of the hearing, and obviously this was a conflict of interest. We had the option to choose someone else, but we were flustered, the process had taken over a year, and we believed we could trust Mr. Gonsalves--a serious error of judgement on our part. It was clear from the get-go that he was not at all interested in the evidence of double billing; he did nothing but waste everyone's time. I just received the arbitration findings, and (surprise, surprise!) he awarded me $775 of the $4000 we were asking for. I am filled with regret that I didn't go with my gut instinct to choose another arbitrator, but the real question begs: why didn't he refuse to arbitrate? Because Mr. Gonsalves is unethical, dishonest, incompetent, and has absolutely no integrity.