Lisa Anne D'Agostino

In all fairness to her, she had been admitted to the bar the year prior and at the time was an associate of the firm, likely acting under orders of her (in my opinion) crooked boss who has since left the firm. BUT..... Child Protective Services took me to court on nasty, hyper inflated abuse charg...es and took out an Order of Protection against me so I couldn't see my son. Ms. D represented me for the one hearing I had, to modify the Order of Protection against me. The OOP modification hearing was recommended by her boss to, in my opinion, increase billable hours. Her boss' legal strategy of me not testifying reduced my chances of prevailing by 75%, and her weak cross examination by another 20%. Just before the hearing started, Ms. D and the opposition's lawyer went into the conference room together. Ms. D treated the hearing as if it was Saturday afternoon brunch. I'll leave it to the reader to draw his/her inference. The agency entered into evidence the State Central Registry report called in on me. Anonymously. This is illegal to enter this into evidence. Ms. D did not object. The witness against me testified. Leaving out any details as to when I allegedly did what I did, how often, the frequency, etc. The witness failed to provide date, time, etc. as to when my son allegedly did ht he did because of me. Ms. D failed to request a conference with me so I could give her suggestions as to how to cross examine the witness. She failed to ask the witness when, where, frequency, etc. Her cross examination consisted of two questions, and when the witness rebutted that my son was attempting to grab the breasts of grown staffers at my son's school, Ms. D could have pointed out that the original court papers said my son was putting his head on chests of girls at school. I left court that night no closer to my goal, and I'm absolutely convinced a decent lawyer could have torn the witness to ribbons. I'm not an angry litigant who lost and is looking for revenge. The Child Advocacy Center determined I did not abuse or even touch my son, the local District Attorney found no reason to file criminal charges against me, and in front of my lawyer, the psychologist concluded no abuse occurred. I was given a six month Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal, I got through it with minimal disruption to my life, and my record with the State Central Registry amended to unfounded and sealed. But I truly believe she could have blown the case against me out of the water that night. The American Bar Association's ethical canon of zealously and aggressively representing your client should mean something. I gave her fair for knowledgeable because she accomplished three things: told me not to react no matter what was said, punched enough holes in the case so my son's lawyer supported his desire to be reunited with me for good, and got a short adjournment. Circumstances for her are different now, and maybe she is. But I simply could not recommend her under the circumstances.