Jeffrey DeRoberts

Let me tell you about Jeff as an attorney, is he warm hearted, nope. Is he one to listen, nope. Is he a good attorney, yes. I hired Jeff for a nasty custody battle where I was going for 50/50 and my ex-wife was going for full. I hired him after reading about his aggressive tactics, I knew it was who ...I needed on my side. Well I went to talk to Jeff, and in the consult I did very little talking aside from telling him what I wanted. Whatever I said, he is confident he can get me 50/50 then fine. Now all attorneys aren't great about returning phone calls, Jeff was one of the best even calling me from his cell phone after hours. When I did talk to him he did most of the talking, but he was honest and upfront and did not hold back because he would hurt my feelings. If I wanted something he saw as stupid, he held no issue in saying it. But for all his talking, put him in front of a judge and he shows the utmost respect and knows when to speak. So Jeff isn't the warm fuzzy let me pamper you type, he curses, can be blunt, but at the end of the day he knows what he is doing. There is a reason he has a beautiful office, he is good at what he does. He fights for his paycheck by fighting for his client. He talked circles around my ex's attorney and I came out getting nothing less than I wanted. If you hire him, don't go in with unreasonable expectations, don't go in thinking he will coddle you, go in knowing what you want and be upfront. He will fight for you like no other.

I hired Jeff to handle my custody case and child support proceeding. From the start I realized that Jeff was a poor listener, but the A-hole I needed to get things done. He’s amazingly cocky, but he has the ability to be a pitbull in court—if you provide him with the right tools. He will rarely have ...time to speak to you, which is in your best interest…because speaking to him is billed by 15 minute increments, which can be pretty costly when you’re speaking to someone like Jeff who loves to hear himself talk (the money is subtracted from your retainer. Syracuse is so small, all of the lawyers and judges know each other, so I don’t/didn’t take it personal when I heard them trying to make deals with my ex’s attorney. I spoke mainly to his assistant and strategically set up how I wanted things to go through her. She was amazingly competent and she is billed at a lower rate than Jeff. In all do fairness, I think most lawyers are horrible listeners and ALWAYS think they are right. But one shouldn’t be surprised by that because they take classes on persuasiveness and believing in the impossible. Plus I have several close friends who are lawyers and they validate this perception. In all, I think Jeff is a guy who can get the job done. He was my fourth lawyer and after spending upwards of 15K, I was pretty clear as to what I needed and how to get this accomplished. Is he warm and fuzzy? NO! Does He listen well? Only when it has a benefit for him or something he’s doing. But if you write out your expectations and communicate with his assistant, you will be fine. Good luck!

Jeff did exactly what he promised me that he would. And QUICKLY! He kept me informed on things my former lawyer didnt tell me at all, and handled my case within a couple months. He is kind of a jerk, but thats a good thing when it comes to an attorney. I hope to not ever need another attorney, but if... I did, I would deffinately go with Jeff.

I hired this attorney to represent me in my Child Support proceeding in which the father whom resides in NY and myself in VA. I was seeking a arrearage of about $5,000 along with some additional modifications. This attorney whom I thought was qualified from speaking to him over the phone did nothing ...for me. I arrive at court to find MY attorney meeting with the other party and trying to work out a lower support payment for him when there was NO discussion of that. Please take in consideration that the other party had submitted a modification to have his support lowered when he made $80,000 a year and only paid $18000 a year for two children leaving him with about $60,000 a year to live off of. Prior to court my attorney told me that his modification was frivoulous and would have it thrown out. So when I conffronted him about the issue of him trying to work out a lower payment he told me to BE Quiet and let him handle it. To make a long story short this attorney didnt even mention the arrears or attempt to obtain a judgement on them as previously discussed nor did he mention anything in court about seeking my court cost. Everytime I would whisper to him about these and other issues he would tell me to shut up and on several occcassions he put his hand up towards my face to hush me to be quiet. I was in complete shock and intimidated by his rudenesss and unprofessionalism. In the end he took my entire retainer for 1 day in court and actually worked with the other party to get him another court date for his modification. This attorney works out of Syracuse,NY and the other party is a Syracuse Firefighter so Im sure there was a conflict of interest somewhere but a ethical attorney would have never taken the case if there was. So if you are in the least bit considering hiring this attorney please be aware that he will NOT represent you how you want but how he wants towards his best interest. This guy is NY TRASH and stay away. I am in the process of filing a letter with the NY Bar Association in regards to this experience with this attorney. Thanks for reading and please stay away from this attorney.