Steven Cripps

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.

I hired Mr. Cripps and he never noted the court he was representing me. Mr. Cripps failed to adequately review my file. The Court was attempting to modify custody without a motion or petition before the court which is HUGE!. Mr. Cripps did appear telephonically for a semi-emergency hearing. Mr. C...ripps did the bare minimum for my case . Judge Martz stated and untruth in court by stating the court does not address motion for temporary court orders until a final order is issued in a case as an explanation to why the court had not hear my prior filed motions and the court was addressing the father's recently filed motion on a semi-emergency bases. When I followed in up in person with MR. Cripps approximately 1-1.5 weeks later Mr. Cripps informed me there was nothing I could do but wait for the judges decision and he would work on an appeal. If Mr. Cripps had reviewed my court file he would have learned there was never any motion before the court to modify custody. Judge Charles Burton also reaffirmed subsequently modifying custody without a motion/petition before the court is illegal. I terminated my relationship with Mr. Cripps. The replacement attorney i hired informed me within 10 minutes the court did not have the authority to modify custody by simply reviewing the court docket and verifying there was no motion/petition before the court to modify custody. Mr. Cripps did not motion the court to officially withdraw from my case until months later. In my opinion Mr. Cripps does not listen and is abrasive. I would not recommend him for animal court.

MINIMAL (if you could even call it that ) COMMUNICATION, NO RETURNED CALLS UNLESS STRONG DEMAND/REQUEST WAS RELAYED TO HIM THROUGH STAFF, NON-COMMITTAL ATTITUDE, NO "FIRE" WHAT-SO-EVER, MINIMAL RETURNED E-MAILS (and when they did occur contained bare bone/ two or three word "guttural" responses)...NE...VER PROVIDING ME WITH COPIES OF ANYTHING UNLESS I KNEW TO ASK FOR THEM AND REMINDED HIS OFFICE OVER AND OVER AGAIN TO SEND TO ME, RUDE AND "SNIPPY" STAFF, NO INTEREST IN FIGHTING FOR ME AND MY KIDS IN ANY WAY, FORWARDED A CONFIDENTIAL "FOR HIS EYES ONLY" DOCUMENT DIRECTLY TO MY EX HUSBAND IN THE BODY OF AN EMAIL THAT CAME FROM ME WHICH CONTAINED MY PERSONAL PRIVATE NOTES AND IDEAS FOR COURT (client confidentiality right out the window with that one, kind of defeats the purpose when you show your hand before you play the round!!!) I can say that I'm glad I've never needed much legal assistance in my life, but having this experience truly taught me to be more diligent when reviewing and making a choice of legal representation in the future should I need it!! I truly don't know how he stays in business if this is his "approach" to being an attorney as it leaves a TON to be desired. I will never be so blind EVER again!!!!

Mr. Cripps advertises as a flat fee attorney . This is so he can justify, in his own mind, doing the bare minimum of work to benefit his client . Mr. Cripps encouraged me to settle for the standard visitation agreement for fathers. This is equivalent to four to six days a month. Mr. Cripps advised m...e to pay child support based on this visitation schedule . My ex wife and her attorney loved Mr. Crips. He was willing to concede to her every demand. I finally hired a different attorney. For the past two years I have had my children every Friday , Saturday , and Sunday . Also I have not paid any child support because with a holiday schedule I have had 50% of the visitation . The divorce is not finalized but I have a good chance of having 50% shared parental responsibility with minimal support going to the ex which would never get spent on the children. Mr. Cripps does not return calls, keep appointments, or demonstrate professionalism in any shape or form. He is very good at endorsing and cashing retainer checks.

During my divorce, he NEVER brought 1 piece of evidence to court, of child abuse or neglect from my husband toward my children. He had video, emails, pictures & SOLID PROOF of the abuse & neglect. It was blatantly obvious BUT he didn't even show up with the proof. He walked into court empty handed ...& basically blind-folded because he apparently doesn't even read his emails or messages, refuses to return phone calls. This was an easy case to win & HE BLEW IT by not being prepared or even caring!!! He couldn't even cross-examine my husband on the stand because he never spoke to me & had no clue of the case or the situation my children had been suffering through. He just sat there in silence, as I was DEFENSELESS & my CHILDREN SUFFERED! NO CHILD or Mother should EVER have to suffer due to the irresponsibility of an attorney! It's been over 6 months my children have suffered & not been able to see their own Mother, living in abuse for NO REASON AT ALL!!!! This is uncalled for. The system is broken & he made it worse. I was also held in contempt due to documents he never mentioned that I needed to file as well as, NOT filing the documents I sent to him that were requested by the courts. I had to pay contempt fines due to his negligence! If any other company did this to their clientele, they'd be out of business & shut down by the government. How he gets away with it, is beyond me! RUN from him....DON'T WALK. DO NOT HIRE THIS ATTORNEY, HE WILL DESTROY YOUR FAMILIES LIVES with NO REGARD, blaming everyone else involved!!!!! All these reviews here are TRUE & CORRECT! I witnessed his incompetence, 1st hand & now my family suffers from it! I will be defending myself from this point since he took all of my money & I can no longer afford another attorney SAVE YOUR MONEY, SAVE YOUR TIME, SAVE YOURSELF THE HEARTACHE!!!!! You will spend more time and energy fighting with this attorney to try & get him to do something than you will fighting your own spouse to protect yourself.