In the latest Board-Certified Attorneys Spotlight, we sat down with the partners at Sasso & Guerrero, Molly Sasso and Christie L. Guerrero, who both achieved Board Certification in Marital and Family Law. No other law firm in Jacksonville has two partners who are Board Certified in Marital & Family Law.
AALM: Molly, tell us about your decision to launch your firm?
MS: After transitioning into family law, I started thinking about doing it on my own. I was in the rudimentary stages of becoming an entrepreneur – I had ordered the “How to Start a Law Firm” books on Amazon and that was about it – when my relationship with my employer soured, and I was terminated.
It turned out to be the best thing that had ever happened to me. Within a week, I doubled-down on starting my own firm, effective immediately. Because I had not planned things in advance, I only took one client with me when separating from my previous employer. (I represented my “Client Zero” again recently, and he’s proud to hold such a place of distinction in the annals of Sasso & Guerrero history.)
It was an overwhelming challenge to start a law firm the same year my husband started medical school. We went from two incomes to no incomes and a startup business. However, because failure wasn’t an option, I learned on my feet, and quick! Hiring Christie a few years later was a huge blessing to the practice and our mutually forward-thinking and respectful partnership over the years has given me a career and professional freedom beyond my wildest dreams. I never would have imagined how well this was going to go!
AALM: Christie, what drew you to join the firm after graduating law school in 2012?
CLG: I knew before I was even admitted to law school that my passion was family law. At the time I graduated, the market was saturated with new lawyers and many of my fellow graduates were accepting any position, simply thankful to have secured a job. I was unwilling to settle. I continue to feel exceedingly fortunate to have met Molly Sasso during my last year of law school, at a monthly meeting of the local chapter of the American Family Law Inns of Court.
As fate would have it, almost six months after our fleeting exchange of pleasantries, when I was searching for my place in the realm of family law practice, Molly was looking for an associate attorney with a passion for this work. I started working for Molly as a part-time law clerk while I studied for the bar exam, and I never left.
Molly and I have worked together for over a decade, ultimately becoming the founding partners of the law firm of Sasso & Guerrero, P.A. Together, Molly and I have thoughtfully and intentionally assembled a team of attorneys, paralegals, legal assistants, administrative staff (and more!) to join us on our impassioned pursuit of providing legal advice and support to the clients we have the privilege of serving.
AALM: Why and when did you achieve board certification in marital and family law?
CLG: Whether or not I would attempt to obtain board certification in marital and family law was never really a question in my mind. All the lawyers of the Sasso & Guerrero family strive to be the best, and achieving board certification was a natural part of the progression of that goal.
I was in my sixth year of practice when I sat for the board certification exam. I am proud to say I passed the exam, met all qualifications, and achieved board certification on my first attempt. Of all the family law attorneys that attempted this feat, I was one of only four to succeed in 2020.
AALM: Christie, tell us about your work with the Department of Children and Families?
CLG: Prior to attending law school, I worked as a child protective investigator with the Department of Children and Families. In this role, I had the responsibility of investigating, and distinct honor of protecting children from, child abuse. It was during my time with DCF that I gained an unparalleled insight into the world of dependency law, which is not common for family law attorneys to have. My experience and unique understanding within this subject matter permeates throughout my current practice, helping me provide robust advice to my clients. It is also this same experience that formed the foundation of my drive to become a licensed foster parent, so that I could continue to positively impact children in the foster care system. My husband and I have been fostering children in care for 10 years (and counting)!
AALM: Molly, tell us about Luciano’s Light.
MS: I have four wonderful children. My living children include 11-year-old twins and a 1-year-old baby. We have one child who didn’t get to stay. His name is Luciano and he lived with us here on earth for 57 wonderful days in 2016 before he died of a heart condition. After losing Luciano, I found comfort in a community of grieving moms, and I began to understand the overwhelming trials that many families face, of which conceiving is only the first in a mile’s worth of steps to carry a healthy pregnancy to term.
Several months after losing him, I returned to work. One of the women in my loss group was raising money through a Go Fund Me to finance an adoption for a “rainbow baby,” a child born after infant loss. This woman had lost two children to different causes two years in a row. While preparing for a hearing, the idea for Luciano’s Light struck me like lightning. She needed legal help. I thought, “Wait! I know how to do what she needs! And I can do it for free!”
The idea of providing legal services to loss parents – surrogacy contracts, egg/embryo donations contracts, adoption legal services – in Luciano’s name was instantly appealing. Even the logo, my angel Luciano casting his light through a prism and forming a rainbow, and the name “Luciano’s Light,” it all came to me right there.
I took the idea to Christie, who is infinitely more community-minded, and the whole idea sprung to life. My friend had a successful adoption and went on to have two more rainbow babies, in addition to her two angel babies.
AALM: Looking back on your career so far are there any changes you’d make?
MS: I’m not big on looking backward. Everything I experienced brought me exactly where I am today. I don’t know that you can achieve this level of success without facing challenges, setbacks, and yes, making mistakes. But making mistakes trains you how to learn from mistakes. There’s no better way! Success grows in difficult soil. No success story has at its helm someone who did not make mistakes or who handled every opportunity perfectly; there is someone sitting at the helm who knows how to get back up again. Coulda, woulda, shoulda isn’t helpful. I’m more of a “Get Back Up Again” kind of woman.
AALM: What goals are you still hoping to accomplish with your firm?
MS: Our goal is to build the “go-to” law firm specializing in family law matters in Northeast Florida so that we can attract the best legal talent and the most fantastic clientele that the area has to offer. Our lawyers are second-to-none in the litigation realm, and with the help of that phenomenal team, we intend to continue to grow.
Sasso & Guerrero is once again getting ready to shake things up in a big way. Stay tuned for some exciting announcements coming soon!
