team-member

Silas Pisani

Akron, OH

N/A

Law Degree

Awards

Primary Practice Area

Child custody

Language

English

About

I was born in Birmingham, Michigan on August 17, 1961. I attended Youngstown State University, graduating in 1983 with degrees in Economics and Political Science. I went to law school at Ohio Northern University and received my law degree in 1987. Prior to joining Slater & Zurz, LLP, I served as the Assistant City of Findlay, Ohio Law Director and Assistant Hancock County, Ohio Prosecutor. I was also in private practice while in Findlay. I have been practicing law for over 24 years.I am focused on getting results for my clients while providing them with unparalleled service. I will respond to your questions promptly, provide you with complete explanations that are easy to understand and cover all options under the law. I will also thoroughly prepare and aggressively pursue your case to achieve the results you desire. By doing this, we will be able to effectively settle your case without the need for trial. In the event that a trial is necessary, I have extensive trial experience with a proven record of success.My father’s dream was to be a lawyer. He attended Harvard Law School but joined the U.S. Army during World War II and was never able to finish his legal education. I originally became a lawyer to fulfill my father’s dreams. However, my career is about so much more than that. I take great pride and satisfaction in helping others resolve their legal issues.

Practices Areas

Child custody

Child support

Divorce and separation

Language

English

Contact

Slater & Zurz LLPOne Cascade PlazaSuite 2210Akron, OH, 44308One Cascade PlazaSuite 2210Suite 2210Akron, OH, 44308

Office: N/A

Website: N/A

Reviews

Dieter
July 30, 2014

Mr.Hawkins defended me on a child support case that lasted almost 3 years.I was being sued for 18 years of back child support.He attended every pretrial hearing on my behalf and always filed an apropiate response to the plaintiffs attorney.He most diffently let the opposition know that we where not settling and we're ready to take this to trial.Resulting in the plaintiff and daughter from withdrawing this lawsuit.Mr.Hawkins was there for me from the beginning to the end.I highly recommend Mr.Hawkins and the entire law firm of Slater and Zurz.

anonymous
August 6, 2020

Hawkins decided that 8 minutes before my first divorce hearing via Skype would be a good time to learn how to set up a Skype account. He failed miserably . Being 25 minutes late didn't make the magistrate very happy and he let Hawkins know it throughout the whole hearing and it showed in his ruling. He was under prepared and over matched by opposing counsel. He basically went down in a ball of flames after being smoked by my ex's attorney. His handling of paper work was pitiful rendering it usless. Needless to say he did me more harm than good and was promptly fired. Avoid Hawkins at all costs.

anonymous
November 19, 2018

My wife and I hired Jeff to help us with a custody battle. He did NOT listen to us, nor did he do anything to help win our case. He sat on all of our info and never presented our case to the courts. Once he realized that he lost our case, before our final hearing, he asked to be paid in full; almost $3,000. We told him we cannot pay that much during the holiday season, so he emailed us the following Monday and demanded $500 to be paid by the end of the day or he would drop us. We are now stuck having to defend ourselves and are looking at losing custody of our son. Thanks for nothing Jeff!

Chad
November 8, 2013

In my three-year long divorce/custody case, the final hearing was rescheduled seven times, the last four times were while Hawkins was my lawyer. The last two rescheduling were to allow my ex-wife's primary witness to testify. The final hearing was scheduled for two days. Per my conversation with him (on day two), Hawkins had "car problems" on his way home from work the day before the first scheduled day of testimony in my case. Rather than take his car to a professional repair shop or make other transportation arrangements, he took his car to a "buddy" and they tried (and failed) to fix it themselves. Hawkins was a no-show for the first day of testimony. The Judge cancelled the entire day outright. I was required to pay my ex-wife's witness to reschedule for the following day of testimony. FYI, during conversations over the time he was my lawyer, Hawkins told me that he owns two cars personally, and his firm owns multiple cars. Rather than reschedule an eighth time, the Judge simply refused to allow my two rebuttal witnesses to offer any testimony... and my own time on the stand was limited to less than an hour (by comparison my ex-wife had four hours, and her primary witness had three hours). Hawkins failed to object to any of this. Even during the time I was on the stand, I had given Hawkins a list of issues I wanted to raise... he ignored it. My own testimony was limited to little more than "who are you? what is your background?". All throughout the second scheduled day, Hawkins refused to really discuss anything at all with me during the breaks... even when I demanded to know why he wasn't objecting or asking to reschedule so that my witnesses or myself could actually testify. The only response I could get out of Hawkins the second day was "we'll address the remaining issues in closing arguments"... and when the Judge decided against allowing oral closing arguments, Hawkin's response was "we'll do it in written arguments". A week later, I get a one-line email saying "Judge isn't accepting any further briefing / arguments". This was after paying him over $20,000 to represent me.

Jessica
December 18, 2012

Mr Hawkins gave me poor and wrong advice through my whole divorce. 1. Advised me I could go through a different facility for assessment. Ultimately judge was very upset . 2. Forwarded several emails between me the client and Mr Hawkins to my ex husband's attorney clearly a breach of clientt attorney Confidentiality. Through custody trial he was looking at my notebook for questions to ask. You would think he should have been a little more prepared. An hour waiting in conference room before trial with my witnesses he was looking at a magazine talking.g about dogs. When he should have been prepping my witnesses. The court did not get nearly any facts of the case. Everything was all one asides one my ex s side. His lawyer was clear detailed. Do not use this attorney u will lose your house your child and he would not have a care in the world. Several more instances happen. I could write a book on how poor this atty was. Filing a complaint with the bar.

Dieter
July 30, 2014

Mr.Hawkins defended me on a child support case that lasted almost 3 years.I was being sued for 18 years of back child support.He attended every pretrial hearing on my behalf and always filed an apropiate response to the plaintiffs attorney.He most diffently let the opposition know that we where not settling and we're ready to take this to trial.Resulting in the plaintiff and daughter from withdrawing this lawsuit.Mr.Hawkins was there for me from the beginning to the end.I highly recommend Mr.Hawkins and the entire law firm of Slater and Zurz.

anonymous
August 6, 2020

Hawkins decided that 8 minutes before my first divorce hearing via Skype would be a good time to learn how to set up a Skype account. He failed miserably . Being 25 minutes late didn't make the magistrate very happy and he let Hawkins know it throughout the whole hearing and it showed in his ruling. He was under prepared and over matched by opposing counsel. He basically went down in a ball of flames after being smoked by my ex's attorney. His handling of paper work was pitiful rendering it usless. Needless to say he did me more harm than good and was promptly fired. Avoid Hawkins at all costs.

anonymous
November 19, 2018

My wife and I hired Jeff to help us with a custody battle. He did NOT listen to us, nor did he do anything to help win our case. He sat on all of our info and never presented our case to the courts. Once he realized that he lost our case, before our final hearing, he asked to be paid in full; almost $3,000. We told him we cannot pay that much during the holiday season, so he emailed us the following Monday and demanded $500 to be paid by the end of the day or he would drop us. We are now stuck having to defend ourselves and are looking at losing custody of our son. Thanks for nothing Jeff!

Chad
November 8, 2013

In my three-year long divorce/custody case, the final hearing was rescheduled seven times, the last four times were while Hawkins was my lawyer. The last two rescheduling were to allow my ex-wife's primary witness to testify. The final hearing was scheduled for two days. Per my conversation with him (on day two), Hawkins had "car problems" on his way home from work the day before the first scheduled day of testimony in my case. Rather than take his car to a professional repair shop or make other transportation arrangements, he took his car to a "buddy" and they tried (and failed) to fix it themselves. Hawkins was a no-show for the first day of testimony. The Judge cancelled the entire day outright. I was required to pay my ex-wife's witness to reschedule for the following day of testimony. FYI, during conversations over the time he was my lawyer, Hawkins told me that he owns two cars personally, and his firm owns multiple cars. Rather than reschedule an eighth time, the Judge simply refused to allow my two rebuttal witnesses to offer any testimony... and my own time on the stand was limited to less than an hour (by comparison my ex-wife had four hours, and her primary witness had three hours). Hawkins failed to object to any of this. Even during the time I was on the stand, I had given Hawkins a list of issues I wanted to raise... he ignored it. My own testimony was limited to little more than "who are you? what is your background?". All throughout the second scheduled day, Hawkins refused to really discuss anything at all with me during the breaks... even when I demanded to know why he wasn't objecting or asking to reschedule so that my witnesses or myself could actually testify. The only response I could get out of Hawkins the second day was "we'll address the remaining issues in closing arguments"... and when the Judge decided against allowing oral closing arguments, Hawkin's response was "we'll do it in written arguments". A week later, I get a one-line email saying "Judge isn't accepting any further briefing / arguments". This was after paying him over $20,000 to represent me.

Jessica
December 18, 2012

Mr Hawkins gave me poor and wrong advice through my whole divorce. 1. Advised me I could go through a different facility for assessment. Ultimately judge was very upset . 2. Forwarded several emails between me the client and Mr Hawkins to my ex husband's attorney clearly a breach of clientt attorney Confidentiality. Through custody trial he was looking at my notebook for questions to ask. You would think he should have been a little more prepared. An hour waiting in conference room before trial with my witnesses he was looking at a magazine talking.g about dogs. When he should have been prepping my witnesses. The court did not get nearly any facts of the case. Everything was all one asides one my ex s side. His lawyer was clear detailed. Do not use this attorney u will lose your house your child and he would not have a care in the world. Several more instances happen. I could write a book on how poor this atty was. Filing a complaint with the bar.

Dieter
July 30, 2014

Mr.Hawkins defended me on a child support case that lasted almost 3 years.I was being sued for 18 years of back child support.He attended every pretrial hearing on my behalf and always filed an apropiate response to the plaintiffs attorney.He most diffently let the opposition know that we where not settling and we're ready to take this to trial.Resulting in the plaintiff and daughter from withdrawing this lawsuit.Mr.Hawkins was there for me from the beginning to the end.I highly recommend Mr.Hawkins and the entire law firm of Slater and Zurz.

anonymous
August 6, 2020

Hawkins decided that 8 minutes before my first divorce hearing via Skype would be a good time to learn how to set up a Skype account. He failed miserably . Being 25 minutes late didn't make the magistrate very happy and he let Hawkins know it throughout the whole hearing and it showed in his ruling. He was under prepared and over matched by opposing counsel. He basically went down in a ball of flames after being smoked by my ex's attorney. His handling of paper work was pitiful rendering it usless. Needless to say he did me more harm than good and was promptly fired. Avoid Hawkins at all costs.

anonymous
November 19, 2018

My wife and I hired Jeff to help us with a custody battle. He did NOT listen to us, nor did he do anything to help win our case. He sat on all of our info and never presented our case to the courts. Once he realized that he lost our case, before our final hearing, he asked to be paid in full; almost $3,000. We told him we cannot pay that much during the holiday season, so he emailed us the following Monday and demanded $500 to be paid by the end of the day or he would drop us. We are now stuck having to defend ourselves and are looking at losing custody of our son. Thanks for nothing Jeff!

Chad
November 8, 2013

In my three-year long divorce/custody case, the final hearing was rescheduled seven times, the last four times were while Hawkins was my lawyer. The last two rescheduling were to allow my ex-wife's primary witness to testify. The final hearing was scheduled for two days. Per my conversation with him (on day two), Hawkins had "car problems" on his way home from work the day before the first scheduled day of testimony in my case. Rather than take his car to a professional repair shop or make other transportation arrangements, he took his car to a "buddy" and they tried (and failed) to fix it themselves. Hawkins was a no-show for the first day of testimony. The Judge cancelled the entire day outright. I was required to pay my ex-wife's witness to reschedule for the following day of testimony. FYI, during conversations over the time he was my lawyer, Hawkins told me that he owns two cars personally, and his firm owns multiple cars. Rather than reschedule an eighth time, the Judge simply refused to allow my two rebuttal witnesses to offer any testimony... and my own time on the stand was limited to less than an hour (by comparison my ex-wife had four hours, and her primary witness had three hours). Hawkins failed to object to any of this. Even during the time I was on the stand, I had given Hawkins a list of issues I wanted to raise... he ignored it. My own testimony was limited to little more than "who are you? what is your background?". All throughout the second scheduled day, Hawkins refused to really discuss anything at all with me during the breaks... even when I demanded to know why he wasn't objecting or asking to reschedule so that my witnesses or myself could actually testify. The only response I could get out of Hawkins the second day was "we'll address the remaining issues in closing arguments"... and when the Judge decided against allowing oral closing arguments, Hawkin's response was "we'll do it in written arguments". A week later, I get a one-line email saying "Judge isn't accepting any further briefing / arguments". This was after paying him over $20,000 to represent me.

Jessica
December 18, 2012

Mr Hawkins gave me poor and wrong advice through my whole divorce. 1. Advised me I could go through a different facility for assessment. Ultimately judge was very upset . 2. Forwarded several emails between me the client and Mr Hawkins to my ex husband's attorney clearly a breach of clientt attorney Confidentiality. Through custody trial he was looking at my notebook for questions to ask. You would think he should have been a little more prepared. An hour waiting in conference room before trial with my witnesses he was looking at a magazine talking.g about dogs. When he should have been prepping my witnesses. The court did not get nearly any facts of the case. Everything was all one asides one my ex s side. His lawyer was clear detailed. Do not use this attorney u will lose your house your child and he would not have a care in the world. Several more instances happen. I could write a book on how poor this atty was. Filing a complaint with the bar.