Child removed or detention hearing within 72 hours? Call now: 949-209-5033

Child removed or detention hearing within 72 hours? Call now: 949-209-5033
Home  /  Meet the Team
Your team

Meet the team.

When you retain KALI CPS Lawyer, you do not just get an attorney. You get a small, intentional team built for what parents in a CPS case actually need: legal strategy, human presence, and someone who will tell you the truth about what is happening.

Founder & Managing Attorney

Keshia Adeniyi-Dorsey, Esq.

Family Defender · Educator · Activist · TK and TT's mama

CA Bar No. 291685Admitted 2013Southwestern LawUC IrvineAdjunct Professor

For over a decade, Keshia has helped hundreds of California parents safeguard their sacred family bonds and reunite with their children. Her own personal journey through the foster system in LA County informs every part of her practice. She is an adjunct law professor and the founder of K. Adeniyi Law, APC. Her work focuses exclusively on family defense, fighting the system, not other parents.

The short version.

  • California family defense attorney. Over a decade defending parents in juvenile dependency court: DCFS, SSA, CFS, DPSS, and HHSA cases across Southern California.
  • Federal civil rights litigator. Sues social workers and government agencies under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 when families are unlawfully separated.
  • Lived experience inside the LA County foster system. Her practice is informed by her own personal journey through the system she now fights.
  • Adjunct Professor at Southwestern Law School, where she graduated at the top of her class.
  • Focuses on family defense exclusively. No criminal defense, no personal injury, no family court custody disputes. Just one thing, done deeply.

The work, in her own words.

"I am a family defender, educator, and activist. For over a decade, I have helped hundreds of parents safeguard their sacred family bonds and reunite with their children. My promise to you is to always treat you and your family with dignity and respect, while fighting relentlessly to bring your children home and keep CPS out of your life."

The why.

Keshia's work is not theoretical. She grew up inside California's foster system in Los Angeles County. She knows what it feels like to be a child whose life is decided in a courtroom they cannot speak in, by adults who have never met them, on a timeline that does not account for who they actually are.

She also knows what it looks like from the other side now, from inside the courtroom, in the chair next to the parent. The system she defends families against today is the same system that shaped her childhood. That is not a coincidence. It is the work.

Most attorneys in this field came to it through criminal defense or family law and stayed because there was money in it. Keshia came to it because she lived it, and stayed because somebody has to.

The practice.

Our firm represents parents in three kinds of cases:

CPS investigations, before a petition is filed. Most attorneys will not take the call at this stage, because there is no court case yet. That is precisely why it matters. She attends the CPS interview with the parent, reviews every document before it is signed, defends against a CACI listing, and prepares parents for TDM and CFT meetings. A WIC 300 petition does not come out of nowhere. It comes out of an investigation that was not defended.

California juvenile dependency court. When the county agency (DCFS in Los Angeles, SSA in Orange, CFS in San Bernardino, DPSS in Riverside) files a Welfare and Institutions Code § 300 petition to take a child, she defends the parent through every stage of the proceeding: the detention hearing within 48 court hours of removal, the jurisdiction hearing, disposition, the six- and twelve-month reviews, and if necessary, the § 366.26 hearing where parental rights are decided.

Federal civil rights litigation. When a social worker entered a home without a warrant or court order, removed a child without exigent circumstances, fabricated evidence in a petition, or violated a parent's constitutional rights, those are federal civil rights claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. These cases are filed in federal court and can result in money damages against the individual workers, the supervisors, and the county. Our firm pursues these claims strategically, after the dependency case has closed, to protect families from agency retaliation while the case is still open.

Most CPS defense firms will not touch the third category, and many will not take the first. Our firm builds its practice around all three, because the same agencies that violate rights in private also lose in dependency court when those violations are exposed.

See all three practice areas in detail →

The credentials.

Keshia holds a Juris Doctor from Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles, where she graduated at the top of her class and now serves as an adjunct professor of law. She earned her two undergraduate degrees, a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, from the University of California, Irvine. She was admitted to the State Bar of California in 2013 (Bar No. 291685) and has been in active, good standing ever since.

She is a former Deputy Federal Public Defender. She serves on the steering committee of the Black Mothers March, as Chair of the American Bar Association's Commission on Youth and Family Justice, and as an advisory board member for both Movement for Family Power and UC Berkeley's Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice. She is a past president of the Thurgood Marshall Bar Association.

She is regularly invited to speak, locally and nationally, on issues involving CPS, juvenile dependency, and the family policing system. Her opinions on these subjects are shaped by both her professional work and her lived experience.

On the record

Bar, education, and affiliations.

Bar & Education

  • State Bar of California, admitted 2013, Bar No. 291685
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California
  • U.S. District Court, Central District of California
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
  • J.D., Southwestern Law School (top of class)
  • B.A., Criminology, UC Irvine
  • B.A., Psychology, UC Irvine
  • Adjunct Professor, Southwestern Law School

Affiliations

  • Black Mothers March, Steering Committee
  • Chair, ABA Commission on Youth and Family Justice
  • Movement for Family Power, Advisory Board
  • UC Berkeley Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice, Advisory Board
  • Thurgood Marshall Bar Association, Past President

Practice Areas

  • CPS investigation defense (pre-petition)
  • Safety plan and HIPAA release review
  • TDM and CFT meeting representation
  • CACI registry defense
  • Juvenile dependency defense
  • WIC § 300 petitions
  • Detention and jurisdiction hearings
  • § 366.26 termination defense
  • Reunification services advocacy
  • Federal civil rights (§ 1983) litigation
  • ICWA cases
Alongside you

The team that walks alongside you.

Family defense is more than a courtroom. It is a process that requires presence, communication, and care, and our firm is built to provide all three.

Associate Attorney

Janve Sobers, Esq.

Associate Family Defense Attorney

Janve Sobers is an Associate Family Defender at K. Adeniyi Law, APC. She represents parents in CPS investigations, juvenile dependency court, and related family law matters.

Janve is known for getting results. She is a master legal researcher and writer who brings sharp legal analysis, careful preparation, and powerful advocacy to every case. Her lived experience with the family policing system gives her a deep understanding of the families she serves and the stakes they face.

Before joining K. Adeniyi Law, Janve served as a staff attorney with Los Angeles Dependency Lawyers, where she defended parents in juvenile dependency proceedings.

Her work is rooted in protecting family integrity, preserving sacred family bonds, and helping parents move through CPS involvement with clarity and support.

Community Justice Doula · Unique to KALI

Tamara Robertson.

she/mama · Birth Worker · Root Doctor · Multi-State Organizer · Community Justice Doula

Tamara Robertson is a birth worker, root doctor, multi-state organizer, and community justice doula from Long Beach, California. A proud mother of five and U.S. Navy veteran, her work is grounded in faith, ancestral wisdom, and a deep commitment to the care, protection, and liberation of Black families.

Tamara is the co-owner and Health Equity Director of Mind Body Birth LA, a majority Black-owned birthing and wellness center providing comprehensive prenatal, birth, and postpartum care, along with holistic well-being services.

She is the co-founder of For Mamas By Mamas, which provides community-based support to Black families navigating birth, life transitions, and system involvement through community justice doula care, collective healing spaces, mutual aid, and movement-rooted support.

Her work centers Black birth justice, healing justice, and abolition, with a focus on supporting families impacted by carceral and family policing systems, as well as those experiencing obstetric violence and racism.

Tamara moves across organizing, birthwork, and healing spaces, supporting families, mentoring birth workers, and holding space for community healing and transformation. Across her work, she is committed to building a world where Black families are supported, protected, and able to thrive.

No other CPS defense firm in Southern California has a Community Justice Doula on the team. This is not a standard feature of family defense. It is a deliberate decision about what parents in this system actually need.
Legal Administrator

Romel Curambao.

Legal Administrator · Client Care · Family Liaison

Romel is the Legal Administrator at K. Adeniyi Law, APC, and one of the steady forces behind the firm's client experience.

For parents facing CPS investigations or juvenile dependency court, the process can feel like a flood of paperwork, deadlines, logins, court dates, and unanswered questions. Romel helps make sure families are not left to navigate that alone. He keeps clients informed, organized, and connected to the information they need at each stage of their case.

Romel is known for rapid response and exceptional client care. He goes above and beyond to make sure families receive the documents, updates, reminders, and practical support they need to feel less overwhelmed and more prepared. His communication feels personal because it is. He treats every client interaction with urgency, patience, and care.

Romel's work reflects one of the firm's core commitments: families should not feel forgotten while fighting to stay together.

He also holds a special place in the heart of K. Adeniyi Law. Romel's sister previously worked with the firm before her passing, and her memory remains part of the firm's story. Romel's presence on the team carries forward a legacy of connection, service, and deep care for the families we serve.

Operating principle

How we practice.

The phrase "fights the system, not other parents" is not a slogan. It is the operating principle.

Most family court attorneys take an adversarial position against the other parent. Our firm takes an adversarial position against the family policing system itself. Our work focuses exclusively on defending families against state intervention. We do not handle parent-versus-parent custody disputes. We do not split our practice across personal injury or criminal defense to fill the calendar. We do one thing, and we do it deeply.

Our approach is built on three commitments to every family we represent:

Dignity. CPS investigations are designed to make families feel powerless. Our firm treats every parent who walks into our office with the dignity the system tried to take from them, regardless of what the petition alleges.

Speed. When a child has been removed, the clock is already running. Detention hearings happen within 48 court hours. The most consequential decisions in a dependency case happen in the first 72 hours. Our office responds to urgent matters in hours, not days.

Honesty. Reunification in California fails between 40 and 60 percent of the time. We will tell you the truth about your case, what is winnable, what is hard, what is going to take work, instead of selling false hope to retain a fee.

What we do not do.

To be clear: our firm does not handle every kind of case that brushes against CPS. We do not handle family court custody battles where neither party has a CPS case. We do not handle criminal defense, divorce, personal injury, or immigration. If a parent comes to us with a matter outside our practice, we refer them to a trusted colleague rather than dilute our focus.

This is a feature, not a limitation. The depth of our CPS practice is possible because we do not divide our attention. Multi-practice firms try to do everything. Our firm does one thing, the right way, every time.

Removing a child from his or her parent is one of the most violent actions the government can take against its people.
Dorothy Roberts · Shattered Bonds

The right call at the right time.

If you are in crisis, a social worker is at your door, your child has been removed, a detention hearing is within 72 hours, call now. Do not type. Call.

If you are at an earlier stage, under investigation, threatened with removal, or trying to understand whether you have a civil rights claim, start with the confidential intake.

949-209-5033

Or start the intake so we are ready when you call.

Strategy sessions are $297, applied toward your legal fees if you retain the firm.

A California family defense practice for parents in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, and Riverside Counties.

K. Adeniyi Law, APC

Orange County Office

18650 MacArthur Blvd, Suite 300
Irvine, CA 92612

Los Angeles Office

5800 S. Eastern Ave., Suite 500
Commerce, CA 90040

949-209-5033
[email protected]

Call Email