Jennifer Lee Byers-Lawton

There should be more attornies like Attorney Jennifer Byers-Lawton. She is an amazing, intelligent professional. She gave us direction and comfort through a gruelling custody battle which involved child abuse. Attorney Byers-Lawton is very professional yet caring and she was always very well versed ...with the intricacies of our case. I would highly recommend her to anyone who is looking for an attorney that can get the job done and does it well. We were so blessed to have her representing us.

JENNIFER BYERS-LAWTON IS: CONFIDENT, CAPABLE, THOROUGH, TENACIOUS, PERCEPTIVE, INTUITIVE, HONEST, REAL, STRAIGHTFORWARD, A VOICE OF REASON, REASSURING, TERRIFIC, REPRESENTING WITH THE HIGHEST LEVELS OF INTEGRITY, HONESTY AND BRILLIANCE, UNLIKE MANY OTHERS IN HER FIELD. I AM NOT ONE TO PRAISE AT...TORNEYS OR TAKE THE TIME TO WRITE REVIEWS FOR THAT MATTER. BUT WHEN IT COMES TO THE LAW FIRM OF LERANDEAU & LERANDEAU I FIND EXCEPTION. I FIRST WENT TO PAUL ABOUT 4 YEARS AGO AND MET WITH HIM AS WELL AS JENNIFER. I HAD WANTED INCREASED CUSTODY. EVEN THOUGH I HAD JOINT PHYSICAL AND LEGAL CUSTODY, IT WAS MADE QUITE IMPOSSIBLE TO SPEND ADDITIONAL TIME WITH MY TWO SONS. I HAD NO DESIRE TO GO TO COURT YET I WAS PROVIDED WITH THOROUGH AND SOUND COMPREHENSIVE ADVICE. I HAD BEEN REFERRED TO PAUL FOR HIS EXCELLENT REPUTATION-HE WAS ON MY SIDE. THROUGH THE YEARS I KEPT IN CONTACT WITH HIS FIRM. THIS WAS A GOOD THING. AFTER I PRESSED FOR NUMEROUS MODIFICATIONS AND ARRANGEMENTS TO CREATE AND PROVIDE A STABLE ENVIRONMENT FOR THE CHILDREN, BY PROVIDING THEM MORE TIME WITH MY WIFE AND I, IT TURNS OUT THAT WE DISCOVERED SOME HORRIFYING FINDINGS LAST YEAR. ONE SON BRAVELY CAME FORWARD, AND ALTHOUGH A CPS REPORT IS GENERATED BY A PHYSICIAN AND THE TRUTH IS BROUGHT TO LIGHT REGARDING SPECIFIC INSTANCES OF CHILD ABUSE, NEGLECT AND FAMILY VIOLENCE, HAVING ALL OF THIS SOMETIMES MAY NOT BE ENOUGH TO PROTECT A CHILD. YOU NEED TO HAVE COUNSEL THAT IS WILLING TO GO THE DISTANCE WITH YOU. AFTER FILING PETITIONS, AMONG THEM AN EX-PARTE IN THE COURT TO GET THE BALL ROLLING FOR REQUEST OF FULL CUSTODY OF BOTH BOYS, I WAS QUITE OVERWHELMED WITH THE PROCESS. THERE WAS A REQUEST FOR TRIAL BY THE OPPOSING ATTORNEY AND AT THIS POINT I WAS WITHOUT REPRESENTATION. THE RESPONDENT HAD FILED A RESPONSE WITH AN ATTORNEY. UNTRUTHFUL DECLARATIONS WERE FILED BY THAT PARTY, GOING TO EXTREMES AND EVEN COERCING NEGATIVE DECLARATIONS FROM THE ELDEST MINOR. THEN I WENT TO PAUL, AND DISCUSSED OUR SITUATION AND WISHES TO ATTAIN FULL CUSTODY IN VIEW OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES. AFTER MEETING WITH HIM, I WAS PUT AT EASE FOR SOME TIME AND HIRED HIS FIRM. I WAS PERPLEXED AND A BIT HESITANT AT FIRST WHEN I HAD BEEN ASSIGNED JENNIFER BYERS-LAWTON TO HANDLE OUR CASE AND REPRESENT OUR REQUEST AT COURT. MY LACK OF CONFIDENCE WAS MORE RELATED TO THE FACT THAT I KNEW WHAT I WAS GETTING WITH MR. LERANDEAU. I MUST SAY THAT I FOUND JENNIFER TO BE THOROUGH, PROFESSIONAL AND COMPASSIONATE – A TOP-NOTCH ATTORNEY! SHE WAS ALWAYS RESPONSIVE, IS DEEPLY PERCEPTIVE, AND IS AN INDESPENSABLE ASSET IN THE AREA OF CUSTODY ISSUES. THROUGHOUT THIS HARROWING AND EMOTIONALLY EXHAUSTING EXPERIENCE, I WAS CONFIDENT WITH JENNIFER AS OUR ADVOCATE. SHE CALLED BACK AND RETURNED EMAILS IMMEDIATELY. SHE INSPIRES CONFIDENCE AND STRENGTH WHEN SHE IS IN THE ROOM. HER GENUINE AND CARING ATTITUDE IS EVIDENT. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND HER! BECAUSE OF HER EXPERTISE AND PERSISTENCE IN DOING THE RIGHT THING, MY CHILD NOW HAS A CHANCE FOR A WELL-ADJUSTED AND PROTECTED FUTURE. JENNIFER WAS EFFECTIVE IN WORKING WITH THE COURT SYSTEM AND DUE TO HER CONCERN WE WERE ABLE TO GET THE BEST POSSIBLE OUTCOME FOR THE YOUNGEST. JENNIFER TREATED THE CUSTODY PROCEEDINGS MUCH MORE THAN JUST ANOTHER CASE; SHE PUT EFFORT AND CARE INTO MY SON AND THE NUANCES OF OUR CASE. TO WHICH I AM FOREVER GRATEFUL!

I initially contacted the law offices of Lerandeau & Lerandeau as it came recommended by a family friend and two other associates as they had experiences with Paul. I went to the office, Paul was not available that day so the receptionist convinced me to do a consultation with Jennifer as she said sh...e also is a great attorney. Long story short, during my initial hearing date Jennifer, in my opinion, lacked both confidence and capability to stand against the other party's attorney. I came to this conclusion because Jennifer spent time (approx 25 minutes - time I ended up paying for btw) speaking with another attorney about how another attorney just moved to a corner location that he owned, how she needs to make more money and how L&L rent their current offices, but need to start ownership, rather than briefing me to prepare for court. Also, the other attorney took initiative to get our hearing moving forward while Jennifer was just waiting, when I said "it's a good thing the other party's attorney called" Jennifer said "I know right? Well the bailiff would have eventually opened the door in about 15 more minutes at 9am if she hadn't called them" (we were scheduled for 8am). The other party's attorney looked at my attorney as if she was a junior attorney - that's the feeling I received from the body language and it made me very uncomfortable as Jennifer did appear to be absent-minded to say the least. I addressed my feelings to Jennifer and requested for Paul to represent me instead - she said "Paul wouldn't take a client from under me, so I can either try to reassure you that I can handle the case or refer you to another office before your court day in two days". Being that I had such a short amount of time and didn't want to have to try to update a whole new attorneys office on my case within, really one day, I felt as though I didn't want to go to court now unrepresented and be stressed about dealing with this alone, I went ahead and kept her on. The day of the hearing was a horrible experience that I would not wish upon any good parent trying to fight for the best interest of their child. Jennifer was unaware of CPS laws, but she spoke as if she did until I, myself, told her that I had just spoken to a CPS supervisor and that is when she stated that she did not know. Jennifer misadvised me about the mediation process and the disclosure of information. I had this case completely spelled out for my attorney all she needed to do was present it, but instead she allowed the other party's attorney speak over her on important issues regarding child abuse evidence. Jennifer dropped the ball on numerous occasions to the point where I called Paul once again to see if he was available to be able to come after the recess - I knew the entire time that Paul's fees are hire than Jennifer's but my main concern was that I had a fair hearing that Jennifer did NOT provide. Paul gave me the "I would hire her for my own divorce" speech and said that Jennifer is the best, etc. so I was in a position to either keep her on for the remainder of the day or do it myself - honestly I wish I would have represented myself. Jennifer stated that the other party's attorney was a b*#%h and after that court hearing - I see why she addressed the other attorney as such - as that attorney fought hard for their client as if it were their own child that was being fought for. While Jennifer, in my humble opinion and observation, only showed up to clock in hours. The other attorney was adamant about her statements to the judge - while Jennifer stated important issues vaguely and only once - very passive. To the reader, I have tried to summarize my experience in short here and have skipped many details, but overall: Please - I highly recommend that you do not retain Jennifer for child custody. If you are a great parent, you want someone to fight your case as if it were their own child.