Palmé Law Firm, P.A.

I had an extremely disappointing experience with this parent coordinator and would strongly caution others before agreeing to use him in a high-conflict coparenting situation. From the very beginning, his behavior demonstrated a clear and undeniable bias in favor of my ex, to the point that multiple decisions he made had to be brought before the judge and ultimately reversed because he overstepped the scope of his authority. Rather than acting as a neutral professional focused on improving communication and helping both parties work toward healthier coparenting, he consistently approached every situation with hostility, condescension, and apparent preconceived judgment toward me. His communication style was often rude, dismissive, and accusatory, regardless of the facts or context presented. What was most concerning was the complete lack of objectivity. Despite extensive written communication clearly showing that I was making repeated efforts to de-escalate conflict, cooperate, and improve the coparenting relationship, those efforts were routinely ignored or minimized. Meanwhile, my ex’s communications frequently contained unnecessary nitpicking, antagonistic behavior, and attempts to manufacture conflict out of minor issues, yet those actions were never acknowledged or addressed fairly. A parent coordinator is supposed to help reduce tension and encourage productive coparenting. Instead, this process became another source of conflict because of the obvious imbalance in treatment and repeated overreach. When a neutral professional inserts personal bias into already difficult family dynamics, it can create significant emotional and financial harm for everyone involved — especially the children. I understand that not every recommendation or decision will favor both parties equally, but neutrality, professionalism, and respect are the minimum standards expected in this role. Unfortunately, those standards were not met in my experience.

I hired Shomik Gibson for a hearing that was coming up relatively shortly after having a 30 minute consultation with her. However after the consultation, the communication between me and the firm went down, as I wanted to change what was in the contract, however no one got back to me. As my hearing was approaching, I just paid the $4,000 retainer fee they charge because I wanted representation for my child custody hearing. After which, the communication had ramped up and I was able to edit the contract. After a little discussion , Shomik asked me if I wanted to postpone my hearing to request more time, or proceed in a few weeks. I've been waiting for my hearing for about 15 months at this point, and I was #1 on the docket, so I just wanted to take care of things on the date coming up. When I told Shomik this, she then basically told me: "Since you don't want to postpone your hearing, you will not receive full custody, barely 50/50 if that." After she said this, she then asked me what evidence do I have against the other party. So to sum it up, apparently if I pay more money, I have a better chance at winning more custodial time with Shomik. Whatever evidence I had against the other party (which is pretty damning in my opinion), did not matter when it came to getting what's in the best interest for my child. I paid $250 an hour for her to tell me this. I'm not sure if this is how family law is, but after that, I decided I'd my better off representing myself. I still never got my refund.