Alembik & Alembik

I waited for over 18 months to write this review. My Ex and I ended up using Gary Alembik as an Arbitrator in a heavily contested custody case. That was a BIG mistake. Mr Alembik came off as an ‘everybody should get a trophy’ guy. He sought evenness even when it wasn’t warranted. We had a GAL work on our case for almost 10 months and when it came down to it, Gary Alembik decided to ignore most of the Guardians recommendations…a simply unbelievable act. A Gaurdian worked with me, my Ex and our son for almost a year….and in a 4 hour Arbitration this guy throws almost all of it away. Now 19 month later…guess what? It’s a borderline disaster. Another ‘fantastic moment’ was when Mr. Alembik wanted to talk to both Attorneys in private leaving me and my Ex in a room together alone…imagine the words exchanged? Who does this? I would avoid his ‘services’ or you might risk him pouring gas on your divorce or custody fire. If I could give zero stars I would.

I was bullied, pressured into making rash decisions, and taken advantage of at mediation by not only OC, but my mediator and attorney, the two people who were supposed to support me that day. I spent hours preparing documents to bring with me to mediation and Gary did not even look at them or take them to show OC even after he asked what proof I had. It was all there, and he could have cared less about it. As a result, things I bought personally were just given away. Mediators don't care about your things...obviously. My efforts were disregarded. Gary was ready to leave long before the day was over, and it was obvious. OC was making things difficult, and while I remained calm and kept sacrificing again and again with no support, he was irritated. One thing that mediators need to be careful of is staying neutral and not assuming things about either party. When Gary said to me, "Your husband really loves and cares about you", I was in utter shock. That statement was not only incredibly biased and unprofessional, but completely false. He assumed he knew my husband personally after a few hours, but unfortunately was fooled just like the rest of them. Al tis'takel ba'kankan, êla be'ma she'yesh bo. Do better.