Gina Maria Costello

We hired Ms. Costello for our daughter's divorce. She was unprofessional with her writing, grammar and punctuation in her court reports! Really bad. I have to re-do her work multiple time. She must have been working too fast, or dictating without editing. Many of her sentences and paragraphs did...n't make any sense. Her paperwork was never in order during court hearings. The judge commented several time that he couldn't find what she was talking about. The way she wanted us to work with her was quite manipulative to both parties. Sneeky, sly communication with the exiting spouse in order to catch him. Really not my style. She yelled at us a few times when the going got tough and we were frustrated. She even told the judge, in open court, that she smoked marajuana, in an attempt, I think, to minimize the act of using. She also told us that one of her visits was free, then later charged us full price for the same visit. With the multitude of attorneys in Spokane...no one should ever use this person for any legal proceedings. Never.

If I could give no stars I would. I was referred to Gina by another attorney in a child custody matter that unfortunately he was too busy to take my case so he gave me 2 other referrals for attorneys. I was told to call both, talk with them, see how I felt, ask questions and go from there. I called G...ina first. After 7 minutes of being on the phone with me she started to insult me, telling me that she can already tell what kind of person I am and if I’m just going to go back, not to waste her time, that everything trickles downhill and she didn’t want to be bothered. I cried, and told her that I appreciated her brutally honest opinion, but that is why I was reaching out to her for help and representation. I asked her about cost and she said her pricing was cut and dry, $3,500 retainer, $250 an hour which started at the beginning of our conversation that we were already having . I had asked since she’d been doing this so long, and that I knew it might be a hard question to ask, but how much did she anticipate a case like mine costing? Her answer was I’ve had cases go from the $3,500 all the way to $50,000. At this point she said, get me my retainer and then we will talk. She patched me back to her secretary to set up an appointment for the following Monday being that it was the aFriday before. After setting the appointment I had asked the secretary what time they closed that day in the event that I had to call back and possibly cancel and she told me 5. I explained that I was referred Gina and another attorney and it was my right to contact the other attorney as well. Apparently that was too much honestly. Immediately after hanging up the phone I called my mother to discuss getting the $3,500 retainer. While I was on the phone with my Mother, not even 2 minutes after getting off the phone with Gina’s secretary, Gina calls me back herself, says “I’m not gonna get played like that. You want to call me and then shop around for an attorney? I don’t play, gods luck finding an attorney to represent you”. I was speechless, I still had my mother on the other line, and hadn’t even called the other referral yet. I said, “Are you serious right now?”, her response was “absolutely”. I explained I had my mother on the other line discussing her $3,500 retainer. Then she hung up on me. Ultimately I ended up with a better more respectful and respected attorney that didn’t make me cry, is more experienced, less money and not looking to rip me off like Gina would have done. It’s almost a blessing she did what she did because there was a huge possibility that I was going to hire her, and I would have regretted it.

In the initial interview Gina listened carefully to the facts of my specific situation and ultimately agreed to a different approach than she might have taken. I appreciate that she evaluates each client's individual needs and it resulted in a no-fault divorce that went off without a hitch and in rec...ord time. Gina's staff was wonderful and supportive, with special thanks to Leanne. Thank you, Gina!

A lot of attorneys don’t bother getting to know their client or really try to build a good attorney/client relationship but this is not the case for Gina. She genuinely cares about your story and well being. She will recommend you get into a domestic violence support group and seek therapy to heal fr...om the harrowing experience of an abusive relationship because she has your best interests at heart and wants your emotional health to be a priority. She is blunt and straight forward but that’s a good thing, you don’t want an attorney who just tells you what you want to hear. At my first meeting with Gina, she told me exactly what her plan was and had a draft of the declaration written up by the end already. Her communication is great and she leaves you feeling informed instead of in the dark and unaware of what she plans to do. She understands what abusers do and seems to know how to counter it. So far after hiring Gina I am very happy and confident that she will represent me to the very best of her ability and help keep myself and my child as safe as possible under the circumstances.