Leo Patrick Ross

My husband & I met with Leo Ross to hire him in 2015 to help change our broken up visitation schedule to a more consistent schedule for our 2 stepchildren (to a solid week every other week vs. weekly back-and-forth). Upon meeting with Leo he seemed efficient, professional, & knowledgeable. We assumed... that due to his age, he was experienced in providing legal guidance for families fighting for the well being of their kids. In the beginning, Leo agreed to fight for Rule 27, (provides a stable schedule for my 2 stepchildren). After explaining the lack of consistency, & structure that occurred at the other household, Leo was adamant that it was HIGHLY likely that the courts would honor the Rule 27. On at least 2 occasions, Leo ”guaranteed” that we would get Rule 27. I thought that was unusual, that attorneys gave “promises” but nevertheless, we were confident in what he said. We trusted he’d fight for us. It’s NEVER okay for an attorney to “promise” their clients a specific ruling. They have no control over the final decision. That was our mistake, trusting his word. On several occasions (in court) Leo pulled us aside & specifically told us personal information voiced from the opposing attorney in regards to the mental stability of my husband’s ex-wife. Specifically, he said, “ I spoke with her attorney, and even HE says that she's mentally unstable, so I believe she just wants to keep the kids away from you.” As clients this was somewhat reassuring, knowing that both our attorney, & the opposing attorney knew there was mental instability. However, Leo never brought this up as an issue in court. It took an entire year for progress. My husband became upset when Leo eventually became rude, interruptive, & argumentative via phone. He then avoided our phone calls. Towards the end, my husband & Leo were in a heated debate regarding the lack of follow up, empty promises, & stagnant nature of the case. Instead of Leo professionally saying he longer wanted to represent us, he let everything go without our knowledge. We received a court notice saying our case was dismissed because we missed court. Why? Because Leo FAILED to tell us that he quit. Leo then pretended to be completely oblivious to the court date & dismissal, saying, “that’s odd, I never received notification for a court date, I’ll follow up with you.” We reached out the next week, he gave us a huge (fib) explanation about how he “fought” to have the case work in our favor, but STILL FAILED TO TELL US that he quit representing us! It wasn’t until we received the Motion from the Guardian Ad Litem via email & noticed that Leo’s name wasn’t on the motion, that we realized he no longer represented us. Who does that?!? After 2 conversations, he conveniently failed to mention that he quit representing us; no courtesy call/email/text, nothing. During our conversations, he acted like he had no idea why the case was dismissed. We found out from the Guardian that Leo backed out. Upon calling Leo to discuss the news, he interrupted & beat around the bush as I inquired about why he failed to disclose why he quit. Thus the dismissal of the case. He never gave us a direct answer. His response was, “I interpreted my last conversation with your husband as him not wanting to proceed.” That was his INTERPRETATION. Even if that was his interpretation, he should have followed up with us before the case was dismissed. As a result, we missed our court date. His fault. Listen; if you are looking for an attorney who is honest with his clients, do not hire Leo. In the beginning, he seems fair & compassionate. After a year, & looking back, we realized that all the promises he provided were false, & that he never once fought for the kids’ stability. The only thing Leo did was file the necessary paperwork. He allowed the opposing attorney & Guardian to run everything, giving us the impression he was fighting for us. We now have to find ANOTHER attorney to clean up Leo's mess. Run the other way!