Steven Cripps

Having a very complicated case where my ex has kept myself from even speaking to my children since Mothers Day of 2014. Where my son and daughter last said Mommy I don't know when he's going to let us speak to you again. He has dealt w my very distraught situation with emense patience. He has filed s...everal motions including a personal lawsuit against my ex husband along with family matters.

I was referred to Steven Cripps because my case is rather complicated and involved both Family Court and Dependency Court custody cases and there is a short list of attorneys that have experience practicing in both of these worlds. I can’t say how lucky I was to have retained Mr. Cripps for my c...ases. Through many court appearances, judicial reviews, meditations, and now Appellate Court, often with 4 or 5 other attorneys in the courtroom, I found Steven to be the smartest, fairest and most knowledgeable attorney in the room. Even more importantly I could instantly see the respect that Judges, Magistrates and attorneys afforded Steven when he speaks. Certainly he enjoys a respect in West Palm Beach that is earned through decades of being in those courtrooms and mediations on a daily basis. Communication is critical with your attorney and Steven has never failed to return a text, phone or email to me often within minutes. He is backed by a super office and paralegal team that clearly takes advantage of 21st century technology. I get copies of every court filing by all parties and reminders of all court dates by email, so I’ve never felt I didn’t know the current status of my case. Steven has so brilliantly managed my cases through a complex system in the most professional and honest manner, that I can only recommend to you who are reading this because you need a lawyer for your Family law case, to do yourself a favor and schedule an appointment with him, then be sure to listen to him carefully and follow his advice, because he is EXCELLENT, a credit to his profession.

Mr Cripps has a confident and very knowledgable manor in the courtroom. He knows the family laws in and out. He is honest with me about what he thinks I can and cannot ask for. He has been most gracious with his time when I have questions and has helped my family achieve the much needed balance we de...served.

I retained Attorney Cripps for a contested Paternity action. Without qualification, Steve is trustworthy. You would undoubtedly be impressed if I were at liberty to publish the details behind that remark. I knew that Mr. Cripps was very highly regarded by other lawyers when I hired him. At a hear...ing, it also became very clear that he was well liked and respected by the Judge. During his tenure as my counsel, he never once failed to return a phone call and support staffer Charlene is kind, professional, and accessible. Since he worked on an affordable flat fee, only the other side could run out of money if they decided to litigate silly issues, a huge advantage from a strategic standpoint, and a great segue to my next point: Attorney Cripps is not for everybody. He is VERY pragmatic. He identifies the relevant issues and is not inclined to spend time on matters not worthwhile to take before a Judge. Within his practice area, it appears he possesses the knowledge to make accurate determinations of what is and is not relevant-- and fight accordingly. Being that pragmatic means that he didn't explain each rule, statute, case law or nuance to me; he wasn't inclined to comfort me and devote large amounts of time to how I FEEL. Family law cases are extremely emotionally distressing to any parent. If you need a therapist, then hire one, but do not expect that this attorney will wear that hat too. There are plenty of lawyers happy to bill you $400/hour to do that, but that doesn't make it wise! While I could probably score those lawyers higher on "kept me informed", only the results actually matter in the end. When it counted, Attorney Cripps did not fail me. All I heard about was how the other party's counsel was this world class "bulldog" who would destroy us in Court. It was clear the other side devoted all kinds of billable hours to some very serious pleadings. Steve showed up with just what he needed, and nothing he didn't, and won in a landslide. It was fun to watch the other attorney become visibly angry and unravel a bit in Court. The other party didn't attend and didn't get to see the results of their supposedly infallible lawyer in action. At one point, I was charged with a crime and was unable to contact Mr. Cripps. A materially false story was reported by a media outlet that, coincidentally, employs a family member of the adverse party; the coverage was included in a DV Injunction Petition against me. Unable to contact Steve, I was paraded into the hearing in shackles and inmate scrubs. Attorney Cripps knew about it and showed up to protect me, though I never actually retained him for that case. I was sure his strategy was wrong at the time and was outraged! Classic Cripps, from my experience: He didn't explain why or give me a legal education or counseling session, but he was RIGHT. Once in 18 months, Steve didn't show up for an event and cancelled last minute. He said he had to attend another hearing. Maybe it was some other guy in shackles that day-- who knows? Having to reschedule something once in 18 months because my lawyer didn't show is reasonable, IMO. Some reviews make it sound like the he never shows up or is usually unprepared. That wasn't my experience, though he is clearly busy. It's possible his caseload is slightly too large or he could add a junior partner to provide a bit of "relief"-- pun intended. He did what I hired him for; job well done. My own decisions put him in a horrible position, but he didn't let me get railroaded in spite of myself. If you want to spend ten grand in attorney's fees litigating over a $100 lawnmower, hire someone else. There's no shortage of lawyers who will exploit your disdain for your ex and line their pockets. If you seek PRACTICAL, adequate, and affordable family law representation, I'd recommend Steve Cripps.

Mr. Cripps was hired to simply terminate alimony upon remarriage. This process took 13 months for a simple statutory case. Mr. Cripps is incredibly unresponsive and showed up to a mediation appointment 1 hour late and completely unprepared. He fails to return calls, "no-shows" for appointments and... has zero follow through. The one striking situation that occurred is that Mr. Cripps failed to notify me of a hearing scheduled by my ex-spouses attorney and then failed to show himself resulting in me being imposed sanctions and fees via a summary judgement last July. Mr. Cripps stated that he "told" the judges office he could not attend and didn't realize the hearing took place. He also stated he was going to take care of the situation immediately. I found out a few weeks ago that he NEVER did a thing and I have been accumulating sanctions since last July at $200 per day. As is consistent with Mr. Cripps I have been pleading with him for updates and next steps but with little to no response.