Hannah F Silverman

I recently purchased a consultation from Ms. Silverman concerning my trying to figure out whether or not a counselor disclosing information in an pre-commitment investigation before a trial was lawful. She told me that she did not know the answer, but would do research on the matter on the condition ...that I agree to pay for her research. I agreed. Later, she told me that Oregon law permits information to be disclosed to the petitioners, but not to others. I asked for citation and all she was able to cite was a body of law that stated that the counselor can share to the petitioners why a case is or is not moving forward with a court. This, however, was not applicable in my case and the question naturally arises: Is this the only body of law on this subject and if not, are we to assume that because what the counselor did was not explicitly prohibited according this body of law, does that mean that it is allowed? She said she did not know. I then asked her if she could provide citation for the other part of her claim: She stated that if a counselor shares the information with other people who are not petitioners, then it would be unlawful. Ms. Silverman stated that it would be a violation of HIPAA; I told her that the organization that the counselor works at stated in writing that it was not a violation of HIPAA (without any legal citation) and naturally, I asked her about that claim and she said she did not know. What bothered me the most during the consultation is that she seemed vexed and annoyed by my questions, stating "as I've told you three times now..". Ms. Silverman changed her answers during the consultation from definitive statements to her saying "I don't know" when she had previously claimed to know, so asking questions for clarity was only natural and of course, the same issue was going to be addressed because she changed her stance on the same subject. I had contacted a couple other attorneys on this matter and they declined because they stated that they did not know the answer and could not do justice in providing the answer. Ms. Silverman should have done the same as she simply did not have the knowledge or understanding to properly answer the question. I found her otherwise to be kind and personable, but her willingness to give answers that she later confessed she was not certain of troubled me. I can't say that I would recommend this attorney to anyone.