Raymond Paul Sciarrino

Firm Focus and History:

Criminal Law, Social Security Disability, Personal Injury. Helping people when they need it most.

My father, Raymond L. Sciarrino, started the practice in 1963, and it continued to grow with the help of various accomplished associates, until 1995 when I joined the firm after graduating from Cornell Law School. I become a partner a few years later and took over the practice in January 2009. The firm now has 3 office locations, one in Mount Morris, NY in Livingston County, a second office in Rochester, NY in Monroe County and a third in Wayland, NY in Steuben County. For the past 55 years, we have been able to provide legal services to Allegany, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Steuben, and Wyoming Counties.

Why I decide to be a lawyer:

As I grew up, I watched my father, an attorney for the past 55 years, help the people of my community through those difficult times that inevitably arise during one's life. This inspired me to want to be an attorney, who is there to make a difference in peoples lifes, on a daily basis? What could be better?

What work experience and education helps me be a better lawyer:

I have been fortunate to have access to the best education available. From my secondary education at St. Marks School in Southborough, Massachusetts, to my undergraduate degree at Cornell University in Applied Economics, to the diverse and rigorous legal education I received at Cornell Law School. This Ivy League education has been grounded by my family's humble origins.

My father, the youngest of seven children, was born to struggling parents that were factory workers and whose parents were immigrants to the U.S. He always spoke of the hard times growing up and that the key to overcoming those hard times was through education. Although I have had the privileges of the middle class, because of his hard work and accomplishments as an attorney, he taught his children that all men and women deserve respect and kindness no matter what the circumstances in their lives. This caring attitude towards people, fueled by the knowledge gained by education, have given me the ability to represent my clients vigorously and zealously, while remembering the legal system we work in not only is law based, but people based.

Why I decide on my primary area of practice:

The presumption of innocence is gone today. You don't even have to be arrested to be assumed guilty. The mere mention of someone as "a suspect" is all that it takes for a person to be tried and convicted in the media and at the local coffee shop. More than ever an accused person needs the help of a competent and passionate attorney, to turn back the weight the government exerts on the defendant in a criminal case. At no time in a person's life is his/her liberty and freedom more in jeopardy than when accused of a crime and/or arrested. People ask me how I represent sex offenders, drunk drivers, and other types of accused criminals. I answer and believe that all people need to have the best defense I can provide, regardless of the accusations made against them. The integrity of our legal system is as important as the individual case because if the system is corrupt or manipulated to convict the "bad man" then you or I could be falsely accused and convicted ourselves. The English jurist William Blackstone once said "better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer." When I represent the rights of the accused, I am also representing the rights of all men and women. This is why criminal law is one of my passions.

What I like best about my career:

The opportunity each and every day to change someone's life for the better.