Corinne Rae Coston

On 7/30/2021, I contacted Ms. Coston for an initial consult. We spoke by phone. I informed her that I would like to meet with her for an in person consult as soon as possible. She stated that she does only telephone calls right now. I informed her that I had too much evidence for her to go over and... that an in person consult would be ideal. She asked if I had been vaccinated. I replied that yes, I had, due to my profession deeming it mandatory. She agreed to an in person consultation at her office on Wednesday, August 4, 2021 @ 12:00 pm. The fee as stated was $300 for the one hour consult. She told me to bring all of my evidence. On 8/4 @ 8:28 a.m., I called Ms. Coston's office to confirm and left a voicemail. I did not hear back. At 11:45, I arrived at Ms. Coston's office. No one answered the door. I attempted to knock several times to no avail. I waited until 12:00 and tried again. Still no answer. At 12:02 p.m., Ms. Coston calls me and states that she "is not in the office, obviously" (there was someone that I could see in the window typing on a computer). I informed her that we had an in person meeting at noon, which she stated that she did not remember. I recounted our previous conversation. She stated that "I could take the phone consult, or find another attorney." I had driven from Santa Rosa to Stockton for this appointment. I had no other business iN Stockton. Wasted 200 mile round trip.

I hired Corinne to help with a messy divorce involving kids. She was blunt but presented herself as the typical “bulldog” lawyer that was going to fight for me and ensure my ex didn’t screw me over financially. Instead what I got were wasted dollars and someone difficult to get ahold of, taking somet...imes days to respond. A week before the biggest court date involving different custody terms I get a message from my ex asking me why I signed a form and dropped my lawyer. I stated I never signed a form on the particular date and was still under the impression we were under contract. I come to find out she used a fork she made me sign at the beginning which she stated “in case you ever find another lawyer” but instead filled it out as if I voluntarily dropped her, which I didn’t and was a lie. She never emailed me and my calls to the office went to VM. BUT when I called from a different number I got an answer from the paralegal who was dodgy and claimed she didn’t know too much on why Corinne dropped me and how she was “surprised” Corinne didn’t call or email me. She stated I should expect a check and a letter in the mail. Weird. Don’t recommend her at all. She is misleading.

When hiring her for a motion for modification for child support because an order was changed by a court commissioner with no authority to hear my case let alone change my order, she proceeded without acknowledging what had taken place was done in error on behalf of the commissioner who never had been... authorized initially. Secondly, when providing her with photos of my son who had been beaten by another child with his face clearly bruised she responded by saying it wasn't that bad whereas his face was badly bruised and battered. While in mediation she failed to communicate with the mediator neglecting to bring the photos I had provided her with and proceeded to blame me for not communicating in a manner she felt sufficient for her standards assuming I knew what to do without proper instruction by her. Lastly, use preparing to set a trial date, she informed me that for her to proceed with my case she needed $4,000 to start for a trial. It was one of the worse encounters I had with an attorney, she was rude often yelling and being disrespectful claiming she did that to all her clients. She made me feel like she had no genuine concern for my kids, my case nor myself as her client.

I hired this attorney for a child custody matter because my order had been changed at a hearing by a court commissioner who did not have authority to hear my case nor change my order but did so illegally. Informing her of the details of my case and I provided her with photos of my child who had bruis...ing and cuts all over his face which required him to be sent to the emergency room for treatment all of which happened while my child was not in my care, but being babysat by the girlfriend of my son's father which was a clear violation of our order since I had first option child care and that action within itself was a violation of the court order. On our second initial contact she greeted me in a rude, disrespectful manner because I was five minutes late. At our hearing she met with the opposing party's attorney privately and approached me and said, " This is going to be set for trial and I'm going to need an additional $4,000. The legal malpractice in my case was the change in the court order and my case going before the commissioner with out my signing for my approval since it was not being heard by an actual judge.

In the beginning she made my husband and I feel comfortable and felt like 100 pounds were lifted off our shoulders, boy were we wrong. A week before our child custody trial she started to be extremely rude and told us it was our fault for her NOT being ready for trial. She was very unprofessional an...d even laughed at our stressed faces. I would never recommend her I would rather walk into court myself then to have her represent me. Oh and lets not forget I payed her 1600.00 to shoe up at court for 2 hours and the so called "safe" money that "is not touched" was touched after she left us out in the cold to figure stuff out on our own. She made up all kinds of balances and kept 80% of what was in there so we payed over 2000.00 to get left without a lawyer a week before trial.