Client
My partner hired Attorney Di Francesca for his divorce proceedings, which took quite some time, not entirely due to the attorney. However, the service and quality of advice only went downhill at each turn. This lawyer has no knowledge of what a contentious divorce looks like and has no idea how to deal with one. It seems he only handles cases where the parties completely agree. He also called the divorce "uncontested" when that is not how the term is used. He believed because the parties had agreed on MOST things that he wanted to keep any further issues out of the divorce because it was "uncontested." This was obviously not the case since my partner and his ex could not agree on many things, including custody, which is kind of the point of a divorce lawyer when you have children. When safety issues arose between my partner and his ex where she was being threatening and even breaking the laws in our state, the lawyer said he wanted to keep the divorce uncontested and my partner could file a restraining order when it was all done (which took several months and delayed any help that could be obtained about these safety concerns). When emotions were high and I got a bit teary-eyed in the meeting and simply stepped out when he said he wasn't going to help my partner, I overheard the attorney tell him that "WOMEN ARE EMOTIONAL" among other negative things about me. Pardon?? We were asking for help in a subject you should be knowledgeable in and which was affecting your client and their minor children, but you chose to instead brush it off, not do your job, AND act in a sexist manner. When a party in a divorce is committing crimes, that can definitely affect their custody. Attorney Di Francesca simply couldn't be bothered to do his job. There was then a paragraph added at the end of the proceedings that GREATLY affected my partner's life going forward. Instead of arguing the very easily proven false points, attorney Di Francesca simply let the order pass without argument. When this matter was discussed with him afterward he told my partner to get letters stating the false claims and proving them wrong. In May (one week after the divorce) we did just that. By August we had still not heard back from him and heard rumors that he was retiring. He completely fumbled the divorce (my partner ended up with 40% custody when he had done 90% of the child raising until that point, among several other points that should not have been allowed into the order), and then proceeded to ignore us completely and not give any help on an issue he had caused! This attorney added to the stigma of mental health, the importance of fathers, the rights of fathers in divorce proceedings, and generally acted in an unprofessional manner. None of the money was returned to my partner for a job half done, and he had to seek out a new lawyer days before a court proceeding that was scheduled that month. It was completely unacceptable. Retiring or not, you take care of your current clients. I have no idea how attorney Steele is, but if this man is still working there or if her practices are anything like his, this firm is not to be trusted.