Reviews

Ms. Barbara J. Gislason represented me in a divorce that was emotionally difficult and intellectually challenging. She supported me and helped me achieve a good and fair result. Through the divorce process, I discovered Ms. Gislason to be very knowledgeable about all aspects of law, efficient, strong-willed, and foremost, compassionate! In addition, Ms Gislason has a great, friendly, and proactive support staff! I will definitely recommend Ms. Gislason to my friends and family.

I went in for a consultation - which should have been a warning right off the bat, because she charges $200 (discounted rate) for 60 minutes. She first has you fill out a form that asks for personal information, including your Social Security Number. She gave me a second form 10 minutes later, and right when we were about to go into her office. The form was an agreement of the "consult fee", and she has you sign it before she'll sit down to discuss anything. We then sat down, and she immediately explained how she conducts her meetings. i was not allowed to ask questions, or even tell her why I was there. Again - this is signs a client needs to pay attention to. I was paying her for her time - yet, she wouldn't let me talk. She presceded to ask me questions about my childhood. Mind it I'm almost 60. I tried to question her why that matters since my case was to do about a vet's misdiagnois, and how should I handle addressing the situation. So asking me about my growing up - and in details.....how many siblings, what was the family situation like - did we have any animals. What training did they have; how long did they live; who were the primary caregivers of the pets? Everytime I'd jump in to get to the issue at hand - she would tell me to be quiet and "follow her". After at least 45 minutes later, she informed me that she was doing this as a way to find out if I was credible; and then told me I was. She would talk about her writing books, and situations she's encountered - as examples. Our conversation was going no where and when I finally got her to stop the nonscence - she told me that its been 1.5 hours (must have had the clock behind me on the wall), and that I owed her $350. She got up and presented me with the signed form stating I agreed to pay and as she headed for the doorway to block me from leaving - she asked for my credit card. I didn't feel I could get around her and reluctantly gave her my credit card but told her that an hour of the time was wasted on sizing me up. She got an attitude and asked me if I was critizing her. She was definitely a nut case; and I would warn anyone - everyone do not use this attorney. My gut feeling of her asking for my SS#, and a $200 fee for consultation should have had me say Hell NO, but I had wanted someone to talk to that dealt with animal rights and she is posted as such. No reviews out there to steer you away.........So - this is the steer away sign. Go the other way!

I met with Barbara Gislason on a family law matter. She was very helpful and knowledgeable about the issues and understood the situation and problems involved. She discussed the options in a way that helped me make the necessary decisions. She handled everything in a very professional way while also being supportive and making me feel comfortable at a difficult time. I truly appreciate having her assistance as my lawyer. Robin

I hired Barbara about 10 years ago for a situation, and I had to hire an attorney for a somewhat similar situation of late, and it reminded me of just how bad of a job she did for me. She did not listen, and kept interrupting me as I tried to tell her my story, which she needed to know in order to represent me. Then, in court, without my prior approval, she stipulated to the matter that I had hired her to beat, even though the plaintiff had no evidence, and was not able to make their case. When I asked her why she did that, she said that it was a part of "a larger legal strategy." I had not been apprised of this earlier, nor did I approve of it. She then asked for more money for a retainer. I later realized that this was all that she was about: finding creative ways to bill me more money. One very annoying thing was she kept losing information that I had given her, or so she claimed, and she called me multiple times, leaving me voice mails telling me that she had misplaced information that I had given her, and she needed me to fax it to her again. I was billed for those phone calls, and for the receipt of my faxes. It was like she did not care for client information, losing it (or so she claimed), however, the client is going to be billed for her mistake. In the end, despite her "services" I managed to work things out with the other person. She actually resisted that. Then she sent me a large bill asking for more money beyond the retainer that I had paid her. I complained, and eventually she agreed to drop that, and seek no more money. I should have continued my complaint, and asked for a refund of what I had paid her, but perhaps I just wanted to be done with it. When I contrast her "services" with the exceptional service that I received recently, I decided that I needed to post this review. My experience is that Ms. Gislason is NOT a good listener, seems to almost be contemptuous of her clients, and is about finding ways to increase the size of your bill, NOT about trying to represent you zealously. I was sucked in by her claims of being named a "Super Lawyer," as well as some other claims like that, however, her representation of me created far more problems for me, cost me much more money than was reasonable - I ended up paying her around $4,000.00 for her "services" that made matters significantly more difficult for me - especially given how poor of a job she did for me, and left me believing that I would have been far better off representing myself than I was with hiring Barbara. My recommendation is that you stay far, far away from Ms. Gislason. That being said, I can give you the name of an amazing attorney in the Atlanta, GA area, and another great one in Ashland, WI.

Barbara was very knowledgeable and extremely easy to work with. She addressed the issues with patience and understanding while I was going through one of the most difficult times of my life. My ex husband was trying to win custody of our son when he turned 12, up until that point I had full custody. She interviewed people that had knowledge of the situation. Barbara presented all the facts to the judge and helped me retain custody of my child. I appreciate all she did for me and will never forget it. I even recommended that a friend use her when he needed a Family lawyer and she helped him too.

Barb helped me through a very painful divorce.. She realizes that every case is different and was very forthcoming in letting me know what she needed from me in order to keep the expenses to a minimum. She realized that I needed to think ahead towards my retirement and secured an agreement with my ex..The housing market was in the tank and yet we still were able to come up with a solution that I feel was very fair and we both are ending up with a resonable amount of money from the sale . The divorce was finalized in a short time and didnt drag out forever like with a few people that i know..(that also helps in keep the cost down). All in all, it all went pretty smoothly and she was very responsive in getting back to me and keeping me informed on what was happening.. No nonsense and explained things well . nothing else to say except ..Thank you Barb.

Hi Barb, This is not really a review. It is more of a thank you. I just wanted to thank you again for taking care of me, while you were also handling my divorce. I will always remember the emotional support and protection you gave to me all the way through the divorce process. Thank you again, Jim Heaney