Barbara Adler West

I hired Barbara West to represent me in an ugly family mess regarding my father's estate in December 2017. She seemed knowledgeable and knew the greedy unethical lawyers she was up against, for that I commend her. I was basically forced to use a lawyer in Seattle as I live in Spokane. Therefore th...ings were handled email and phone call. At first I was pleased with her stance she took and did not put up with Carol Vaughn's and other parties bullying, moving the process along. Unfortunately, during this time Barbara was also having family issues and ended up dealing mostly with her assistant and paralegal. My father had just died and I was under extreme stress. I was in unknown territory and did not handle the whole situation well. But when you get on the phone with 3 women who have not been in your situation it didn't serve me well to be yelled at. Especially when I am paying by the hour and in theory she was working for me and not the other way around. Left me with a bad taste and think it is time for her to retire and deal with her own family issues. Did I get my over $17,000 worth of legal help? No.

Barbara is a very knowledgeable, thoughtful and compassionate attorney who was able to quickly understand the complexities of our case. She knew exactly the steps to take, and worked quickly to bring 8 Years of financial exploitation of my parents to an end in 3 short weeks! Barbara has been amazing,... explaining everything thoroughly to us, and working efficiently and swiftly to bring our nightmare to an end. We are very thankful for all that Barbara has been able to accomplish and we highly recommend Barbara to anyone who is in need of any type of Elder services.

I used Barbara for estate planning for my parents. She was articulate in helping us understand some complex issues we were dealing with. She explained the options, the pros/cons and helped us make the right decision for us. She provided high-level guidance on what would get done when, and through the... process everything was completed as expected. Best yet: When I later thought I might need to hire her for some additional work, she said that it would be simple for me to file some paperwork myself. She spent a few minutes explaining just what I needed to do and she wished my on my merry way. I trust Barbara fully both in legal competence but also personal character.

I have used 3 different elder law specialists in different situations. I have used about 20 different attorneys to assist in seminars guiding future retirees about estate planning and retirement issues (I was the planner and prime presenter of the seminars covering multiple issues). Barbara is clea...rly knowledgable about Elder Law and Estate Planning issues. She skillfully navigated the shifting sands of a complex dispute, quickly grasping the issues, changing demands and alternative approaches that allowed her to assist me to a workable solution for my Mother's care. I was wise enough at the outset to clearly establish the fact that I would appreciate a double check on my take on things and that I expected her to wisely counsel me and pull me up short when I was wrong as well as to reinforce my reasonable requests. It pays to be a good client and she was able to work constructively with me to create a solution that was accepted by all of the multiple siblings with differing views of the world as it is. Even when she "yelled" at me, she was able to listen and think and to understand my points as well as to constructively get me to the point where I was not putting myself at risk by giving the impression that I was not being fully cooperative which allowed me to achieve a "win". She was experienced enough and wise enough bringing a wealth of experience to the problem that we could recalibrate, try alternative approaches, hold the adversaries fully accountable and yet keep on the target which was to maintain the best care for my Mom. I will be maintaining my relationship with Barbara as my wife and I see value to her services. As a fiduciary I will be presenting my accountings to the court and her services will be very valuable.