Hiring Joseph Cerino was the best thing I did for my case
I hired Joseph Cerino for my dependency case in November 2013. The case began in December 2012 and after a strenuous year of working a dcf caseplan, I had made little progress and was only allowed to be around my child under supervision. I had a month of incarceration resulting from a VOP, and everybody had lost faith in me. At this point, the most probable outcome of the case would be permanently losing custody of my child. After some research in the Lee County region, I read great reviews about Joseph Cerino who has well over a decades experience in Family & Criminal Law . I scheduled a consultation with him and my first and ongoing impression with him was upfront, honest, and to the point. The reason I hired Joseph was because he was able to see the case from both sides, and he had faith that if I made certain changes I would gain back custody. After 11 months of using public defenders, I finally got the legal advice I needed all along. Right off the bat he gave me a checklist of tasks I needed to accomplish. From that point on I was restored hope in a lengthy, retrogressive case. The case was at an all time low, but having communicated with Joe, I was able to get through it. . If a case takes longer then a year, then a permanent decision is put in place; the state was leaning towards adoption. Within a weeks we were able to prolong the case from being closed. Within 3 months the goal of my case went from adoption towards reunification, I was strongly focused on finishing my case plan, and my visits quadrupled. After 13 months of fighting for time with my daughter, I had finally gained unsupervised visits. If it wasn’t for his advice, I am 100% sure I wouldn’t have gotten this far, especially in this short amount of time. Joe helped me communicate in court, something my previous attorneys were never able to do. He is a sharp attorney, and doesn’t sugar coat anything; he gives you straight facts, point blank. I was in constant communication with him every week, and he consistently gave me the advice I needed to win. I gained overnight visits within 5 months of hiring him, and was reunified with my child within 6 months. Life for me has changed more in this period of time then it has in the entire case. Now my child and I are back together and I am closing this chapter in my book. But I wanted to take the time to let anyone who is in similar shoes to seek out Joseph Cerino, an attorney who has realness, and a genuine heart for families.