The Gaines Law Firm, P.A.

I cannot say enough about how pleased I am with the services rendered by Attorney Richard Gaines of The Gaines Law Firm! Our family hired Richard to handle the probate of a family member's estate after having a bad experience with a previous attorney. Richard immediately took action, gathered information and started the process. From day one, Richard provided excellent guidance, keeping us informed every step of the way. I was extremely satisfied with his knowledge of family law and how responsive he was to our frequent questions and inquiries. He provided expert advice, ensuring the best outcome for our family. It was the best experience that I have had with an attorney in many years! I highly recommend Richard Gaines, of The Gaines Law Firm!!

I cannot say enough about Mr. Gaines and his legal assistant. He's a true professional! He's responsive, great communicator, very helpful, gives great advice and got my case done almost immediately for my circumstance. I would recommend Mr. Gaines and his firm to anybody I know or don't know.

DO NOT HIRE RICHARD H. GAINES Based on my personal experience with a two-year ordeal, I strongly believe Richard H. Gaines is grossly incompetent and should not be trusted with divorce or alimony cases. My girlfriend, Dena, sacrificed her career for 15 years to raise her three children so her ex-husband could complete his residency, fellowship, and ultimately become a highly paid surgeon, and in 2000 was listed as the 23rd highest paid US govn't employee as a surgeon for the VA. Despite my only living with her for 3 months and paying $1,200 a month for rent at the time she was served, ($3,600 in total rent) Mr. Gaines blatant incompetence resulted in her losing over $200k in awarded alimony, as well as thousands in wasted legal fees. Aside from only living there for 3 months at the time of the petition, Dena and Mr. Spector's daughter testified that I only moved in because she, the daughter, has asked me to out of concern for her Mom's mental health at the time. Dena was suffering from severe anxiety and depression, all medically documented, and relied on me to communicate with Mr. Gaines on her behalf. For six months, we corresponded with Mr. Gaines via email without ever once being advised that including me in those communications, would waive attorney-client privilege for my Dena. This was blatant incompetence. As a result, opposing counsel successfully demanded access to all of those emails. Just three days before the trial, Mr. Gaines turned over six months of our private communications--including lawsuit strategy and personal comments--without even notifying Dena he completed this action until afterward. He also failed to make any coherent objection to protect those communications, despite Dena's medical need for someone to correspond on her behalf. During the trial, conducted via Zoom, Mr. Gaines discovered his office Wi-Fi wasn't working. Instead of fixing the issue beforehand, he went to breakfast and assumed it would resolve itself. It didn't. He then conducted a four-hour trial--where over $225,000 of alimony was at stake--entirely from his cell phone. His video and audio repeatedly cut out, his face was often off-screen, and he had to embarrassingly rely on opposing counsel to present his own exhibits because he was unprepared. Strategically, Mr. Gaines failed in several key ways: He advised against accepting a 50/50 settlement, assuring us the case was a "layup". While we accept that was not a guarantee, this misplaced confidence was misleading and clearly off base after later witnessing his negligent failure to advise of the attorney client privilege. He suggested I didn't need to move out immediately after my girlfriend was served, which proved false and harmful. He ended up helping the other side when he warned opposing counsel that I might move out to protect alimony, information they later used against her when Mr. Gaines actually turned over our email correspondence to opposing cousel. Mr. Gaines was not adequately prepared, and he failed to execute our agreed-upon strategy, including the planned cross-examination of Dena's ex. He was repeatedly cutting in and out of service, often had his face cut off screen, and embarrassingly had to ask the opposing council to post ALL of his exhibits, as neither he nor his own assistant had no such capability. This was all after telling us how he "would love to handle this case" because he felt it was a layup. These mistakes--combined with his negligence around attorney-client privilege--were, in my opinion, disastrous. Despite Dena's years of sacrifice and the significant income disparity, she ultimately lost over six figures in alimony against a highly paid surgeon for receiving $3,600 in rent over a 3 month period. There is more to this story and I will be publishing a blog about the entire ordeal in the near future. In my personal view, Richard H. Gaines did not provide competent or effective representation, and in many instances, I believe he was grossly negligent. Hiring him comes with serious risk in my opinion.

From the very first contact, Richard has been very knowledgeable, efficient and was able to take care of all the estate needs. He kept us informed along the way. Could not ask for a more professional attorney and staff to manage all of the needs. He gave an approximate timeline, and it was very close to the actual settling of the estate. Thank you

I had the pleasure of working with Richard during my recent divorce, and I can't recommend him highly enough. From our very first consultation, Richard displayed a level of professionalism and compassion that immediately put me at ease. He took the time to listen to my concerns and explained the entire process in a way that was easy to understand. His knowledge of family law was evident, and he provided invaluable guidance at every step. Richard was always responsive, promptly answering my questions and keeping me informed about my case. It was reassuring to know I could reach out to him anytime I needed support. I wholeheartedly recommend Richard and his assitant Barbara!