Gary Alan Cornwall

Gary Cornwall is absolutely my Hero. He restored my faith in myself so I could fight the good fight. He is such a compassionate, decent Human being who truly cares about his clients and we all know that's hard to find these days. I prevailed because of Gary, because he gave me hope when I wanted to g...ive up. I was recovering from the bad Covid and nearly died. I am still getting back on my feet and didn't think I had the energy to stand up for myself. After talking to Gary, I had the energy and fight left in me. I rose like the Phoenix out of the ashes and won my case. Truly, it was Gary's words, encouragement, and kindness that gave me strength. I can never thank this man enough. God bless him. He's the real deal folks. A genuine gentleman, a great Lawyer, and just a really nice guy.

I hired Gary to handle my divorce case after attempts at mediation broke down. Much of my case revolved around a pre-nup and contesting the house which I bought pre-marriage. (My initial consult was about the validity of the pre-nup, which Gary assured me there was case law to support, though he also... said one never knew what would happen in court) He initially charged me a substantial retainer, told me he would work everything out "in a few phone calls" with opposing attorney. He had a new graduate working in his office (literally weeks out of law school): first red flag i should have picked up on. A few weeks go by, he tells me the retainer is gone but zero progress. I ask for an accounting of his time, which is never produced. We agree to a flat fee for the litigation, then begin the filings; I soon gather his young green intern is doing the legwork. The first and only hearing of our case, in which gary promised me I would see 30 minutes of serious argument, was a done deal before he opened his mouth. The judge opened the proceedings by throwing out the pre-nup, awarding the house to community property. Game over. This was all decided on a poorly written (by the intern) statement that did not include all the relevant facts. I did not know my entire case would rely on this statement. Gary seemed taken aback, but the judge didnt let him argue anything, offer any statement or evidence, literally not a word. it was over before it began. He told me we should settle now (in the halls of the courthouse, literally) because the judge clearly had gone against us and would continue to do so. So I sat in the courthouse hallway with my ex across the hall while the 2 attorneys hashed things out. It sucked. I think his lack of knowledge of the judge (Alameda County, Gary is Contra Costa) cost us this case, not to mention the cavalier handling of the critical statement relevant to this hearing. He billed his intern at $300/hr, and himself at $400. I was a fool to hire him. I was cleaned out. it was an awful experience.

In the beginning of 2021 I hired Gary to help me win full custody of my daughter. During the 6 month battle, Gary genuinely cared about my daughter and I’s well being. He took calls just to go over things with me and took the time to really make sure I was comfortable and understood every step of the... way. Every curveball thrown out Gary took care of with outstanding timing and dedication. I will forever be grateful for Gary treating us like family and helping us through this horrific time in our lives. If you want someone who truly cares! Without him I would not have full custody of my daughter!

Gary was previously my lawyer but I fired him. He represented me in a divorce case that went on for more than 2 years which was much longer than Gary originally estimated. I've now been with my new attorney for 6 months and I am extremely confident that Gary was severely over charging me for work... he claimed was completed. I am now also stuck with a temporary support order that Gary negotiated that has proven to be extremely difficult to manage and has cost me thousands of more dollars than it should have if the document was properly written. I challenged Gary on my invoices multiple times related to errors and received several reductions., In addition I feel like Gary gave me poor advice when negotiating different part of my divorce that have come back to haunt me as I've worked through the divorce process. Gary was not proactive in working to settle my case. In summary I would never hire Gary again nor would I recommend him to any clients. On the positives Gary was very accessible in terms of being reached by phone.

I hired him to finish my divorce and mainly child support and custody. Gave him a $5,000.00 retainer of which he depleted and was still in the same place 1 1/2 years later. He is not trustworthy as he told the court I was reconciling with my ex-husband and told the court that I requested him to do n...o more work. NOT TRUE, this man is a clown and not worthy of practicing law at all. I took him to arbitration and won, got almost every bit of my retainer back and enjoyed that the arbitrator repremanded him! This man is a Joke, no lie. I represented myself and did a 100% better.