Frederic Cedar Foster

I am an attorney who retained Frederick "Rick" Foster, Esq. to represent me in my Suffolk County Supreme Court divorce case in 2002 (Index No. 01265- 02). His performance was a disaster for me. My ex-wife and I settled in open-court a year later on January 15, 2003, and Mr. Foster recited the terms ...but amazingly failed to address a necessary element entitling me to that divorce. My ex-wife then met John Ray, Esq. at the courthouse and began co-habiting with him, which continues to this day, and he undertook her representation by filing a motion to vacate the settlement due to Mr. Foster’s failure to meet all the statutory requirements in the settlement. Judge Emily Pines misguidedly granted the motion rather than force my ex-wife to file an appeal, so I was remarried by operation of law. The tens of thousands of dollars I paid her in the settlement was considered marital money and not credited in the final outcome, and that drained my cash. I had closed my law practice and building business in 2002, and found myself between a hard place and a rock. Mr. Foster appealed Judge Pines' order with a lightweight brief and we lost. In Tarone v. Tarone, 25 A.D.3d 779 (N.Y. App. Div. 2006), the court said, “Open-court stipulations are judicially favored, and will not be set aside absent fraud, overreaching, mistake, duress, or unconscionability.... However, in the instant case, in view of the determination that the plaintiff failed to establish his entitlement to a divorce, the stipulation of settlement should have been vacated....The stipulation cannot be considered a valid postnuptial or "opting out" agreement pursuant to Domestic Relations Law § 236 (B) (3).” Mr. Foster's lack of attention to detail, possibly due to his then frequently nagging migraine headaches that he really should have disclosed to me before taking my case, changed the course of my life. Due to his mishandling of the stipulation of settlement, my divorce went on for several years, and after Mr. Foster billed me $96,000 for his fees in 2007, I had no choice but to shamefully file personal bankruptcy. With a second divorce process came nine years of dealing with issues, and the last appeal was decided in 2011. By then, I was financially devastated and renting a little house in eastern Connecticut. I am just now, 16 years later in 2023, financially recovering fully from Mr. Foster’s error. Let the facts speak for themselves about Mr. Foster and his conduct in my divorce case. Now let the truth be known that choosing Mr. Foster as my divorce lawyer was unequivocally one of the worst decisions of my entire life, the most impacting on my lifestyle, and the most costly to me personally. I should never have trusted him with my rights and my security. If you want to contact me for any reason, please use my website contact form at TaroneEsq.com.

A BIG thank you to Rick and his team! I had a very lengthy (5yrs) & difficult divorce proceeding, which also included the setting aside of my prenuptial agreement. Rick and his team are knowledgeable, professional & know the court system well. Rick has an extensive Family Law career and chooses his t...eam well. Alex & Eric are savvy professionals that know the law - and do their best to keep you as calm as possible through the process. While no party is ever truly happy at the end of a divorce and divorce proceedings cost a lot of money - Rick and his team did their best and accomplished what I needed.

Met w Fredrick (who's receptionist said it was a free consultation) represented himself as my attorney, taking a $7,500. After a month and a half of my calling, with no response, I got a young attorney named Eric who doesn't know his a$$ from his elbow who says now he was my attorney. I even question...ed Fredrick who stated he was fully aware of everything that would go on in my case, Eric worked hand in hand with him. This firm took the WHOLE RETAINER for a simple Pendente Lite and Net Worth affidavit, even charging me for THEIR correction of THEIR mistakes. While in court, not only did Fredrick walk away from me saying Eric was representing me that day, Eric refused to fight for full amount of Child Support I was entitled by law to because "he didn't really feel like wasting time over another $75". Eric said he was going to file the PL while in court and then charged me for a visit to the court THE NEXT DAY for the paperwork he said he filed. Eric told me that I should put "my kidney out for sale" if I wanted to fight for custody of my child. When I requested a meeting w Fredrick to go over my billing issues (such as charging me for initial consultation, double billing, billing for attorney time when it was clerical, asking for same information 2-3 times) he not only couldn't answer any of my billing concerns because ironically Eric was out of the office (even though I had scheduled the meeting two weeks in advance, at the end of the day) he screamed and became belligerent demanding to know if they were "relieved of their representation". I have letter from my ex's attorney who states he had called Foster, Vanderburg and Riyaz to speak to anyone representing me and was ignored for 1 month! Fredrick screamed during the meeting that I was lying and refused to look at the letter. Fredrick has yet to have the backbone to have a proper meeting with Eric in attendance and refused to refund any portion of my retainer.

Ineffective gives contradictory advice non responsive no strategy/game plan no attempt to settle my divorce despite simple case with no real issues ignored my request for any type of settlement negotiations despite wife's willingness resulting in uncontested divorce seems more concerned with opposi...tion false claims -nill attention to mine - thought he was my atty !!! Very, very disappointed- heartbreaking situation w/minor children has needlessly been turned into an expensive nightmare with no atty plan & no end in sight Does not address the false & defamatory claims by wife's attorney even in presence of all ! Fails to advocate-the worst performance I have ever seen !!!! Cannot wait to change & find an atty who will work for me - wish I could get my money back as life savings wiped out.