Gemma Elisabeth Fenimore

Gemma Fenimore agreed to send a letter on my behalf to the management of a Tucson theater where I had been a successful volunteer usher for about 3 years, until experiencing discrimination due to my hearing impairment (one deaf ear) during a particular event. (I also ushered elsewhere for 15 years wi...thout incident.) I would like to have had an apology, and to return to my position with no fear of reprisal. I quit because of being treated disrespectfully by the usher manager. To my knowledge, there was no formal process for ending my services. Ushers at this theater agreed to work on a show-by-show basis, as few or as many as they chose, during the years I was there. It was difficult to work with Ms. Fenimore, and I should have stopped when I realized this, fairly early on. She seemed to think that she needed to change my way of presenting the situation, and my request for redress. I believed that it would be be appropriate to express the facts and my feelings my way. I needed her legal expertise and authority to indicate the seriousness of the situation to the director, and to give input about wording, but not to cancel out my personal experience. It was a struggle to get her to include statements I believed were important. However, I didn't know if I would find a better lawyer in a timely way. When a reply to the letter was finally received, it was not good. A policy was stated, with a long contract, which essentially said that volunteers are there to serve the theater with no expectation of any benefit. (Nor obviously of respectful treatment.) Ms. Fenimore basically threw up her hands. I think she could have sent a second letter to remind the theater management that: 1. I had been hired prior to this new paperwork being demanded of volunteers; i.e, I should have been "grandfathered;" and 2. Because of the issue of discriminating against me re my disability (which, again, did not affect my job performance), an apology would still have been appropriate. I wish this had occurred to me at the time. But it should have occurred to the lawyer, in my opinion. Ms. Fenimore had overcharged me for the letter she sent, in my opinion, and it did not seem that she would send a follow-up without another out-of-line fee. Bottom line: she really didn't care. Her area of law did not qualify her to act on my behalf, which she should have been honest about. I was left feeling under- represented and taken advantage of. This experience left a very bad taste in my mouth about her. I advise anyone to look further for meaningful representation.

Gemma takes a different approach to the divorce process. Which is what got me to hire her in the first place, it seems most of the lawyers in Tucson just want to perpetuate the adversarial nature of a divorce which in turn lines their pockets deeper. That being said, she knows when to fight for you a...nd when a softer approach is warranted with the opposing counsel. It was refreshing to have someone actually care about your well being throughout the process as well as your families. At no point did I feel like just a client to her or a form of income. She is a straight shooter and won’t fill your head with lofty potential outcomes. She will give you her honest opinion even when it’s contrary to what you may want to hear. Personally, I appreciated her honesty and was never shocked by anything that transpired. She will work hard for you and her fees are more then fair and transparent, once again I appreciated the lack of surprises on the financial front as well! Hopefully I don’t need to utilize her services in the future, but would if I found myself in the same situation again!

I had a child support modification recently and Gemma was incredibly professional and professional. I have had unfavorable experiences with attorneys in the past but Gemma was amazing. Not only did she obtain a favorable outcome and charge a reasonable price, she consulted me with every option and a...lways updated me on every legal situation. She worked hard to defend my reputation and my defend my rights as a parent. I would recommend her to anyone who is in need of a family attorney and I am looking forward to working with her in the future for my family’s needs.

Gemma was very thorough and diligent in her pursuit of a victory in my case to prevent my from having to pay a settlement amount for an indefinite period of time. Although my hope was to eliminate the settlement altogether, Gemma was successful in getting the time frame whittled down to something tha...t is a bit more reasonable. She was more than fair as it pertains to her fee for the services rendered. I would absolutely refer Gemma if the opportunity were to present itself.

I called Gemma hoping to have her help in defending me in divorce court. Her cost and retainer were reasonable and I was ready to get started on my case. I ended up not being able to come up with the retainer cost so instead I paid for an hour of her time to sit with me and develop my response and wh...at I needed to say. She was incredibly thorough, knew the laws and prepared me for what to expect. She was honest about what to realistically expect out of the case giving me worst case scenario. I am incredibly grateful for her time and her care to check in on me after my hearing to see how it went! I will definitely be hiring her if I need legal help again in the future!