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LeRoy Costner

17 years of experience
Criminal Law, DUI & DWI, White Collar Crime
Florida

Client Reviews

J. B. July 11, 2023

Avoid like the plague I am a disabled veteran on a fixed income, and he refuses to return my retainer! If you want a defense where you do all the work, save your money and just deal with a prosecutor yourself. I paid Leroy $3500 initially and ended up firing him and hiring a different attorney to represent me. The difference between an attorney who cares and someone who just wants to push you to accept a plea is striking. I was illegally stopped for failing to dim my headlights and arrested for DUI. My car has automatic headlights, and there was a median. As this DUI could affect my future employment, I desired an attorney who would have my best interests at heart and fight for me. Leroy did neither. I ended up hiring a new attorney because I would never refer to Leroy as an attorney. From the get-go, I was clear with Leroy that the traffic stop was invalid. From the get-go, he pushed me to take a deal. I had to push back to get him to question the evidence's validity due to the illegal stop. I was told motions to suppress rarely work. I was offered the same deal from the prosecutor that everyone is offered: 50 hours of community service, a plea of guilty, and no jail time. The strength of my case was significantly downplayed in attempts to get me to take a deal. I was told that my case depended entirely on jury selection, and if I went to trial and lost, I would go directly to jail. At the beginning, I was told the firm would be checking every day to see if my license had been suspended because I had never received a DUI citation. After not hearing anything for a week and wondering if I still had a license, I checked with the DMV and found it was suspended. I emailed Leroy explaining what I had found and asking why I was seeing that, as I hadn't heard from him. In response, Leroy ignored my question regarding when they last checked, then he looked for my citation and gave me two sentences regarding how to get my license back: (TWO SENTENCES) My new attorney is now actually handling the return of my license. "I have the citation; I will send it to you for your records, so you all may contact the DHSMV and make the request for the hardship license. The DMV will let him know what they need for him to do to get the hardship license; it is typically registered for the DUI school, and in some cases, he must complete the DUI school." My new attorney has explained that Leroy should have attended the formal hearing for the loss of my license because it's a time when you can fight the license suspension and also get the police on record under oath. Because this was not done, I automatically lost my license for a year. Thanks, Leroy When pushing back against taking a plea and pushing to fight the charges with a motion to suppress, Leroy told me I would need an expert witness to testify that my headlights worked. At no point did he mention he would get one, and it seemed as if it would be my job as he told me what he needed. No expert witness referral service will work with a defendant. They deal directly with the attorney. I spent hours trying to find one. This is the attorney's job. If they care about your best interests, they will work for you. I sent an email to the attorney the next day, stating he would have to find one. When I hadn't heard back in a week, I emailed him, asking if we had any luck. We were initially told the attorneys always responded within 48 hours when we first hired Leroy. At the 2-week mark, I emailed again, asking because I was physically ill and worried about my case due to no communication. Leroy responded and stated he was unable to find an expert witness. He didn't look very hard because I sent him the contact information for three or four services. I asked him if I should get service records for my car. His response: "It couldn't hurt." I HAD TO BRING THIS UP, or it would have never been evidence for my case. I had my motion to suppress hearing today with my new attorney It lasted 5 minutes. I won because when there is a median the roadways are considered separate roadways and there is no requirement to dim headlights. Something Leroy didn't know and/or didn't take the time to look up. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY WITH LEROY. You can do what he "did" and deal with the prosecutor yourself. I'm so glad I hired someone else because he heard me and achieved the result I wanted.

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Biography

LeRoy Costner is a Death Penalty Certified and experienced trial lawyer. LeRoy Costner understands when you start something, you must finish it. LeRoy has done it all - farmed cotton fields in Mississippi, and orange groves in Polk County. He had to work full time to put himself through college at Valencia Community College and Florida Southern University. During school, he worked at Universal Studios and a five star Orlando hotel as a concierge, where he learned the “fine art” of service. He then graduated from Barry University School of Law where he won the prestigious Lion of Justice award from the Florida Bar Standing Committee on Professionalism. During his final semester of law school, he worked at the Orange County State Attorney’s Office as a Certified Legal Intern prosecuting 1st and 2nd-degree misdemeanors.

After graduating from law school, he took a job with the Monroe County State Attorney’s Office in Key West, Florida. Over the next five years, he prosecuted thousands of criminal cases. As an Assistant State Attorney, he was a special prosecutor for DUI cases, receiving the same training that law enforcement officers undergo, as well specialized training in prosecution. Before taking on the additional responsibilities of prosecuting crimes of violence, LeRoy was selected to train incoming DUI prosecutors. He then went on to prosecute numerous violent crimes for the Government and was often chosen by his bosses to prosecute conflict cases in other counties which is an honor for a prosecutor.

When LeRoy goes to work for you –here is some of what you can expect - he will diplomatically negotiate with the opposing side so that he can keep the lines of communication open and get the best results for you; he will methodically check the accuracy of your case for all possible defenses. He will maintain communication with you at every turn, and he WILL fight for you if it comes down to a jury trial.

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