I was a client for almost 5 years and I do not recommend this law firm. At all. Rita was good to me, as was Stanley who I worked with initially. But in between I worked with Brigitte Bell for a few months. I did not have a good experience with her at all. I do not believe she has the client's best interest at heart. Certainly not in my case. read more

Brigitte Bell was such an awful mediator that I felt like I was scammed by her, despite her impressive office and impressive resume. And her office is impressive. Enjoy it, as you are paying dearly for the view. I do not think she provided insight or guidance into the emotional process of creating a settlement. What she did say was pretty canned and obvious. She spent a lot of time on stuff we had no disagreement about. When my husband would dominate the discussion and project anger at me she did nothing to curb this. She appeared to be totally tone deaf and did not pick up on any emotional cues. She often did not respond to emails. $400 an hour is a lot to pay for this, or was it $450? We ended up seeing her three times (one meeting was 2 hours), were charged $5000, at which point my husband withdrew and backed out of two of the three major agreements we had made. Perhaps she had nothing to do with him backing out, but I can't help but think a skilled mediator would guide people towards decisions they felt good about and that would last longer than a month. The saddest part is that by going to her my husband and I thought we would be engaging in the process of the divorce in the best way we could, but instead she made it worse, and charged a lot of money to do so. It kinda sickens me in retrospect. read more

Brigitte was fair, firm, and friendly, exactly what a couple navigating divorce needs! She brought shape, logic and organization to an otherwise messy process. Thank you, Brigitte! Prospective clients should prepare to form a united front if, due to Brigitte's and the couple's progress, one/both of the individual divorce attorneys tries to derail the mediation process because it's going too smoothly and they want to make more money off of you. Happened to me. read more

As a mediator Brigitte seems be experienced, calm, and collective. She seems to care and has some good techniques for conflict resolution with co parenting. I was not impressed with the customer service, cost, and negotiation. read more

Brigitte Bell was such an awful mediator, I felt like I was scammed. Beyond the basics, she offered little insight or guidance in the emotional territory of mediating, and did not respond to emails asking for guidance. When my husband dominated the dialogue and dumped anger on me, she did nothing to curb him. When he would switch positions during mediation, she did not appear to notice. For $400 (or was is $450?) an hour I expected more professionalism and expertise. In the end, we went to 3 sessions (one was 2 hours) and were charged $5000. At this point my husband withdrew from mediation, and backed out of 2 of the 3 major agreements we had made. I feel a more skilled mediator would have guided us towards an agreement that would have lasted more than a month. What is impressive about Brigitte is her office and her credentials. Not sure what this says about mediation credentials, but her office is really nice! Enjoy the view, as you will be paying for it. The whole experience saddens me. My husband and I went to a mediator because we thought that would be a better way of getting a divorce, but that is not what I experienced. We ended up negotiating an agreement through lawyers, and while not peaceful it was more successful than Brigitte. read more

Brigitte Bell, is excessively expensive and charges for work not accomplished. She doesn't save you money or alleviate stress at all during the mediation and divorce process. You will have enormous bills after seeing her,or any communication at all. She charges as much as my divorce attorney and there was no resolution. There are 100 of other mediators who are of the same skill set and are not $400 hr. She was assigned by the judge and as everything no own in the legal field cares about helping save money during this difficult time. Be very careful when she tells you to send her any documentation to look over before a meeting. When you get to the meeting she will have no recollection of reading them. Be sure she will bill several hundreds of dollars for " reviewing letters and information". When I questioned her about it during a session, reminded her I sent the information so why isn't she aware of what I was discussing? Brigitte's answer was, I looked them over but didn't review them. I believe along with the prestigious law degrees on her wall she should have a certificate in scamming her clients ,as I found this to be her greatest asset. It was a waste of time and a major financial burden on top of everything else!!!!!. read more