Celia J. Harned

Celia “handled our case” in the early 2000’s. She was in the same building as my ex husband in my case, and adored him. Sat with him in Court, as I navigated my way through my custody case, on my own. She was dumbstruck when my ex admitted to being an addict on the stand because “she never saw what... I was telling her”, in the times that my abusive ex had visit with her. With her outstanding Pink Panther skills intact, she also failed to show that a woman who drove the kids (on his time, because love, ya know) used a breathalyzer to drive at all. Oh well, “the kid’s best interest” and all. The horror of admission swayed her none, to continue her journey to ask that custody be given to my Mr Jekyll, who was “suffering from terminal cancer”. Hence, “children need their father”. I paid him child support, to the tune of $85000 dollars over the years, as a single abused gaslight controlled mother. He threatened the authorities for non payment, but never gave our children any. He has still never spoken to me about them. Harned said that she would not write the corrections, nor consider the new evidence, and harassed me for years for payment. Enter bankruptcy era. It is 2023, and my boys are 22, and 24. A movie just came out called “The Son”. I dedicate this movie to all of the quiet humans who have “lived through” Celia Harned. Celia, YOU have had power for far too long. Your reviews and testimonials stay in the skeletons closet, but our children detest your very existence. There are so many reviews you have not seen, do research, and stop this child predator.

I hope to write this review & help anyone else that chooses to use her in a case as a CFI to help your family. DON'T DO IT. She is bias & spends her time seeking info that will prove her point even if it's not what's best for the child. She is untrustworthy & does her job poorly. She was a CFI in our... case & did not help our case even with many facts that prove my ex was not making proper parenting decisions. She did nothing to help the well being of our son who is still under the control of my negligent ex 50% of the time. The court takes their opinion too seriously. She did not take any of the abuse my ex put me thru seriously simply because it wasn't physical. Emotional & verbal abuse/control is still abuse. It still affects the parenting decisions made by my ex husband.

Previously I was assigned Ms. Harned to my case and I had many of the issues and/or complaints that others have cited. She did not seem to care about me as a father figure, that meaning, and I quote, "I will never approve you to see your child unsupervised," This came after a ten month stent of sup...ervised visitations that were nothing but positive. Here is my concern, my case has now been delayed over two years and the court has once again remanded me back to Ms. Harned AGAIN!!! Of course I protested, but was denied. I even stated to the court all the terrible reviews that were posted, and I had these complaints before I read the reviews. I may not be the smartest person in the world, but when I see first hand the incompetence and the "continuing" pattern posted online, I ask, how is this person slipping through the cracks with our legal system and being allowed to continue to practice within our judicial system. Unfortunately I have to deal with her yet again and pay her. This time I am going in with back up with all these posts in hope to get her removed from my case. I agree with everyone else that has said to get a different attorney!

Ceila Harned is the most incompetent, biased, untrustworthy and unprofessional "lawyer" I have ever had the unfortunate displeasure to meet. Ms. Harned was assigned to my case as a CFI to help to reach an accord with my extremely difficult ex. She promised that she would be fair and professional, ho...wever after my experience with her its apparent that she has no idea what those words mean. From the beginning she showed favoritism towards my exes version of events. While she showed him sympathy I was met with aggressive disdain and disapproval. When I was honest with my concerns about that she rudely told me that she couldn't be "bamboozled". After that she was openly hostile during our interactions. She told me to leave the room while speaking to my young children, however I could hear her talking to them. She completely discounted their concerns about whate was occurring with their father, practically calling them liars and then leading them to answer her questions in a more favorable way towards my ex. Afterwards she flat out accused me of telling my children what to say, which I did NOT do. She put that in her report anyway. She constantly refused to answer my phone calls or return emails, but when she did her responses were short and scathing. Meanwhile my ex bragged that he had her "eating out of the palm of his hand". As a "unbiased" lawyer, she showed up to court and hugged my ex and laughed and joked with him. When we remarked how unprofessional that was she tattled to the judge that my side was harassing her. Ceila's report appeared to have been written by a middle school student. There were misspellings, run on sentences and even smiley faces included! She couldn't even get the names of my children correct in her report. It was ridiculous. This woman is a danger to your children. If she is assigned to your case immediately request another person. RUN! She has zero interest in the truth and most importantly she has no interest in your children. She is one of the worst, most dishonest people I have ever met in my life.

I'll be honest, when Ms. Harned was assigned to our case I saw the bad review and was concerned. Yes she's overworked and sometimes details or typos happen - BUT she CARES about understanding the family dynamics and about doing what's best for the kids. She was very thorough and listened carefully ...to all sides and looked at all the documentation as well. Things were extremely high conflict and ugly but she maintained a pragmatic approach that was very helpful. I appreciate that she didn't make "assumptions" but rather took the time to learn the background and talk to both parties repeatedly to get a real understanding of things. While the outcome of my case wasn't ideal from my perspective, Ms. Harned was extremely thorough and fair and reasonable.