Meet Dominic DeFeo of The DeFeo Law Firm

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dominic DeFeo.

Hi Dominic, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Being born and raised in Kansas City my entire life, I was fortunate to have the father and family I did. My father was an attorney my mother was an accomplished businesswoman, who then sacrificed her career to raise my little brother and me. Most children when asked what they want to do say things like a fireman, astronaut, or president maybe, but I just wanted to be like my dad and help people as a lawyer. I will never forget in fourth grade asking my teacher how do I draw a lawyer for the arts and crafts project of our future selves.

We grew up in a rural area in Lee’s summit surrounded by corn fields until we moved further into town for school around junior high time. I was able to see the sacrifice of even well-educated honest hard-working parents every day. I saw the rewards of their work for their clients and for our family from all of their late hours and incredible patience. I attended high school at Rockhurst after attending grade school at Saint Thomas Moore. My education was completely funded by my parents without any assistance and was fortunate to still be able to not worry about food or clothes because of my parent’s commitment to themselves and our family.

Once I graduated I started higher education at Kansas State University before transferring to the University of Missouri-Columbia. I had too much fun in undergrad but was still able to keep the trajectory of my childhood goal of becoming an attorney on pace and was able to be accepted at the University of Missouri Kansas City returning to my hometown. After three years of recalibrating the acceptable amount of nights to go out and maintain my GPA in school, I graduated with my Juris Doctorate and passed the bar exam the following summer.

By September 2014 I was an official attorney 24 years in the making and I felt like Babe Ruth calling my shot when I finally saw that congratulatory message saying I had passed the Bar. From that day forward not only did I get to be like my dad I got to work with him in our office as a team both father and son as well as professional colleagues. It is truly something special to be able to have earned your spot next to the person that raised you all on your own and so much more appreciation for everything they must have gone through by themselves before you got there.

Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Many obstacles presented themselves throughout my journey to where I am now. As a younger brown boy in a predominantly white affluent neighborhood and school social dynamics were an ever-present struggle. Judgment, bias, and intolerance were always a reality of life that periodically reared their head. In my own personal battles understanding why something I could not control in any way would be a reason for me to not be allowed, accepted, or actively criticized was no easy feat.

But this is true for all people that appear different from the norm and learning how to navigate this unique experience became a positive roadmap I could utilize later in life when it came to the professional world and age discrimination all of the sudden was a new form of hurdling that required my attention. Academically, I was never as gifted as some of my peers but the gift my parents gave me of discipline and gumption granted me all the necessary tools I needed to succeed in every aspect of life regardless of the circumstance.

More than anything the hurdle that was the toughest for me while ironically not even being about me was the transition of parents from being together to splitting apart played the greatest role in forming my resilience. It is often the ones we care about most that when they hurt we hurt that much more because we feel helpless.

It was through watching this process of wanting to help others that I knew by becoming an attorney I would never have to feel this way again. By accomplishing this endeavor I could be a guiding light for those in need of help but didn’t know how to help themselves and that is my greatest overcoming adversity accomplishment.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Most of my work revolves around my clients as human beings and not as legal scholars. Our office provides services to people, everyday people, not simply well-to-do, or the highly educated. We take great pride in doing everything in our power to help our clients with navigating the murky waters not just in the lawsuit but surrounding their lives.

Whether it’s childcare, phones, Christmas presents, furniture, or anything that our clients need or are hurting for we find solutions for them. I have been around lawyers and law firms my entire life and have never known another firm to aid a client in not just deciding how to respond to discovery but also how best to secure a home after they receive their settlement.

Anyone can go to school and learn how to move paper, forms, and construct a legal argument, but doing that and then breaking it down for the client so that they truly are informed enough to participate and then continue to help them years after a case is finished is something I rarely see outside of our firm.

This is what I am most proud of its what got me interested in the profession in the first place was growing up and seeing the real change and difference you can make in someone else’s life as an attorney. No case happens in a vacuum and so no client lives in one either and in order to best serve them so that they can make the best decisions for themselves it’s the extra intangible help that makes the biggest difference.

Any big plans?
The future looks very bright with more clients than ever wanting to work with our firm, more attorneys from across the country and world reaching out to see how they can emulate some of the work we do here has launched our firm into a new way of practicing on a bigger scale and on bigger stages.

More than anything we and I look forward to working to make a difference in people’s lives, sure the monetary component helps but there are many ways to make money much of which requires less work and effort than the practice of law but few are as rewarding.

Pricing:

• Pre-suit no upfront cost all expenses are covered by our firm.
• Pre-suit settlement 33% fee
• Post-filing settlement 40% fee

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.defeolaw.com

Image Credits
Daniel DeFeo, Christopher Accurso, and Eric Muehlbach