Who Is Handling Your CPS Case?

Who Will Represent You in a San Bernardino County CFS Case — and How to Verify It

Meet Mohammad “Mo” Abuershaid, founding partner of ALL Trial Lawyers and lead dependency practitioner, with 50+ years of combined firm experience behind every case.

When San Bernardino County Children and Family Services (CFS) opens an investigation, the timeline moves faster than most parents expect. A petition can be filed and a detention hearing held almost immediately, and the decisions made in those first days shape everything that follows. Choosing counsel is one of the few parts of that process you actually control — which is why you should know exactly who is standing next to you, and be able to confirm their credentials for yourself.

The attorney: Mohammad “Mo” Abuershaid

Mo Abuershaid is the founding partner of ALL Trial Lawyers and the firm’s lead dependency practitioner. His practice centers on juvenile dependency defense, CFS matters, and the situations parents most often face in the Inland Empire: a dependency petition running alongside a parallel criminal case.

State Bar	California State Bar No. 297270, admitted 2014
Court admissions	State Bar of California · U.S. District Court, Central District of California · U.S. District Court, Southern District of California
Education	Juris Doctor, Western Michigan University Cooley Law School, 2014
Prior service	Former Deputy Public Defender, Orange County Public Defender
Practice focus	Juvenile dependency defense, CFS (Children and Family Services) matters, and parallel criminal and dependency representation
San Bernardino court	Appears in San Bernardino County dependency proceedings at the San Bernardino Juvenile Dependency Court, 860 E. Gilbert St, San Bernardino, CA 92415
Languages	English, Spanish, Arabic

Verify these credentials yourself

Any attorney making claims about their record should make those claims checkable. These three sources are independent of this website:

State Bar of California profile — license status, admission date, and discipline history
Avvo profile — third-party rating and client reviews
Wikidata entry — structured public record of professional details

Third-party recognition

Super Lawyers, 2020 to 2026Rising Star, 2020 to 2026OCCDLA Top 10 Young Lawyer, 2023Avvo Rating 10.0Justia Rating 10/10Best Attorneys of America

The firm’s work and commentary have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, OC Register, Business Insider, Chicago Tribune, CNN, NBC, FOX, ABC, Good Day LA, and KTLA 5.

Why dependency experience specifically matters

Juvenile dependency is its own body of law. It runs on the Welfare and Institutions Code, not the Penal Code, and it uses a lower burden of proof than a criminal trial. An attorney who is excellent in criminal court but unfamiliar with dependency practice can miss the deadlines and findings that decide whether a child comes home.

The hearings that drive the case

Detention hearing. Held the next judicial day after the petition is filed, where the court decides whether your child stays in custody (Welf. & Inst. Code § 315).
Jurisdiction hearing. Where the court decides whether the § 300 allegations are true — generally within 15 days of detention if the child is detained, or 30 days of the petition if not.
Disposition. Placement and reunification services are ordered; absent exceptional circumstances this should not run more than 60 days past the detention hearing.
Review hearings. Progress is measured at 6, 12, and 18 months.
Section 366.26 hearing. The permanency stage, where the court can terminate parental rights.

Issues that come up repeatedly in San Bernardino County

Removal and detention defense at the first hearing
Reunification services, and challenges to bypass under § 361.5
Relative and NREFM placement requests
Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) inquiry and notice
CACI listings and grievance hearings
Coordinating a dependency defense with an open criminal case so that statements in one do not damage the other

If CFS has contacted you: write down the social worker’s name and the date of contact, keep every document you are handed, and speak with a dependency attorney before signing a safety plan or giving a recorded statement. What you say in the first 48 hours often becomes the record the court reads later.

Talk to Mo about your case

Talk to Mo about your CFS case in San Bernardino County today.Call 866-811-4255

This page was written and reviewed for legal accuracy by Mohammad Abuershaid, California State Bar No. 297270. Reviewed: July 2026. Serving San Bernardino, Fontana, Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Victorville, Rialto, Hesperia, Chino, Redlands, Apple Valley, Barstow, Yucaipa, and surrounding San Bernardino County communities. Information here is general and is not legal advice for your specific case.