Andrea Merrell Caster

When I met Andrea, she was so different than any other lawyer I had spoken to over the years. She was patient, kind, considerate, DV and trauma-informed, and did not make me feel stupid for not knowing something or for the decisions I made in my past relationship. I instantly knew that I wanted to wo...rk with her after our first consultation. I hired her that same week. Throughout the year we worked together, Andrea helped prepare me for the court process, hearings, and trial. She would assure me that I was going to do fine, answered my numerous questions, and walked me through the process each time. Working with Andrea helped me regain the courage to advocate for myself and my child: something I had not experienced since I filed for custody years ago. Andrea was always willing to work on things that were important to me and for the best interest of my child. In our trial briefs, she used DV research, and she highlighted evidence and issues that I felt were important to my case. It always felt like a collaborative exercise, and it made me feel like I had some agency through the court process. In court, Andrea was a constant support and advocate. She engaged me in every issue, explained and discussed what she thought would be best options moving forward. I always felt as though I had a say in what was going on. Court and trial were difficult and terrifying, but Andrea helped me take things one step at a time and get through the hardest thing I have ever done: face my abuser openly and honestly in trial and do everything in my power to obtain full custody of my child. She fought hard for me during a 5-day trial. I gave over 14 hours of testimony and Andrea was there supporting and uplifting me the whole way. I was so anxious and felt like it was impossible, but Andrea took the time to walk through my questions and concerns each time. She always supported me and did not belittle me for the choices I made as someone who survived an abusive relationship. Instead, she asked questions and discussed details and shared resources and research that supported my reality as someone who survived DV and was trying to obtain orders that helped protect me and my child moving forward. I feel like she did everything she could to support me in this complicated process. I honestly do not think I would have been able to do it without her. In the end, I got sole custody of my son and the judge adopted almost all of the schedule we had requested to the court. Throughout the process, Andrea’s kindness, dedication to her work for DV survivors, and her understanding and care for her clients and the children involved makes her an absolutely amazing and one-of-a-kind lawyer (and human being): one that I never ever imagined existed. It has been a hard and long journey, but I thank my Ancestors and Creator for Andrea. Because of her work and dedication to my case, and my family; I am now able to make decisions for the best interest of my son and can move forward with our lives. I would highly recommend Andrea to everyone. She has been a huge blessing to me.

I hired Andrea to help with what I thought would be a simple Domestic Violence case. I had an ex-partner who was sending me death threats and I we wanted a restraining order. We hired Andrea and then didn't hear from her for two weeks. At this point, we'd already paid her fee and were hoping that i...t was just taking a little while. When we called on the third week she didn't even remember who we were at first. When the restraining order had to go to trial it was rescheduled because she had never sent the notice papers and afterward told us we had to hire another person to deliver the court papers. I wish we'd known that before taking the day off work to appear in court only to have it rescheduled. So I had to request another day off work to go to court. The day of the case the Judge ruled that there wasn't enough evidence after 10 minutes of looking at the paperwork for the restraining order. When we asked Andrea what happened, she just said "this happens sometimes" and that we didn't have a lot of evidence. So not only do I still have a stalker sending me death threats, but now I'm out several hundred dollars and had to take time off work to go to court. The final kicker was when we received a bill for "admin fees" from her office for over a hundred dollars. When we asked she told us this was for court filing costs. When we showed her that she'd already charged us for them when we originally hired her she never replied.

I hired Andrea to help me in a desperately bad situation with my children. She NOT only got screwed in court but SCREWED me along with her. She refused to accept my response declaration which was the truth and demanded that I accept what her and her paralegal wrote stating "trust me, it's in the best... interest of your children. You have to submit it this way." Andrea being the attorney, I did. I trusted her. We go to court and guess what??? Not only did the opposing counsel knew she was lying, so did the judge. Do not use this woman. Her price and payments may sound like it's great, it isn't. Don't trust your children's life in her hands.

Andrea is a brilliant and determined person in her field. We could not be happier with our outcome in a recent custody battle. In a state that quite favors mothers Andrea presented our evidence so clearly and calmly and persistently that our battle was complete in one hearing. Happy kids mean happy u...s. Thank you!

Andrea Caster went above & beyond in her efforts representing me in my divorce case. She is not only a competent lawyer but is easy to talk to & supported me throughout my divorce proceedings. I would not hesitate to hire her again for any litigation I might have in the future. I highly recommend her... for any one who is shopping for an attorney.