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09 Sep, 2024 by Anonymous
Don’t hire this man!!! I repeat, DO NOT HIRE THIS LAWYER. He’s gonna take your money and do absolutely nothing for you. I paid him thousands of dollars for him to get me the same time I was offered walking in the door. He’s too old and you can’t even understand half the things he says. He’s incompetent and shouldn’t be able to represent anyone. At one point the man didn’t even know my name and even forgot who I was. He’s going to take your money and completely screw you in the end.
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11 Mar, 2023 by Anonymous
Why...do we have to meet his assistant to give her money at a coffee shop or RaceTrac gas station? No receipt...just a promise that they will be taking care of the charges. No office..they work out of their home. If you need to talk to your attorney in person, it is always at a coffee shop or some other meeting place. Why? Something it just not quite right about this. No set amount to be paid...always need more for this...need more for this...no receipt....you can't prove how much you paid since you do not get a receipt. They just charge whatever they want to..and you are paying it because they make you believe they can help your loved one. But to help them...it will be more money...only CASH...never a check or Venmo or Cash App...or a check...always cash. And no receipt. I am so disappointed in this attorney...Do not use him...you will regret it...I just hope you check for reviews on him before you hire him. All the above reviews are spot on. I think we would better to get a court appointed attorney...
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21 Mar, 2022 by Lisa
Please beware of this attorney. He will pretend to take on your case for tickets who knows what he does with the money you pay him to handle the tickets he will have you in jail not once but twice we used him and since my case was in Tarrant County his sub attorney Michelle I think her name was never did what she said this lady had a bag and pulled these shoes out I should have known then they were a joke. I had to stay in jail for one day for a ticket I paid then my mom referred my nephew and he had to remind in jail we paid a bond he ask for proof we provided it and still haven’t received our money back. Please research look at reviews before selecting a lawyer because this one is a real joke. I can’t really say what I want. However please be aware.
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12 May, 2024 by Anonymous
He convinced me to plead guilty in a FV case that I didn’t know was family violence.
As I was signing probation papers, I noticed things were not matching up with what he said. I stopped signing but he told me it was too late, that was already on probation. I made me ask for motion for a new trial, which I won because he admitted to not showing me any discovery. Then after 2-3 months they finally uploaded the documentation from the day I pled and he had asked for discovery AFTER I asked for the motion for a new trial.
If you need someone to really fight for you, he isn’t your guy.
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17 Apr, 2024 by Anonymous
He is the worst attorney in Dallas. He will only waste your time. Talk bad about you, disrespect you in all ways possible and get you no results. He is not going to work your case, he is not a righteous person trying to help. He is only trying to get paid doing the bare minimum
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13 Sep, 2018 by Anonymous
Well i hire rosalind in 7 year ago she lost my brother case. She toll me that she will appeal de case she charged 3,000.00 to get transcription from the court house plus 5.000.00 for her service. Months later i found out that she dint pay for the transcription because my parents went to get a secon opinions with other attorney in planview, tx his name is David Martinez. After that my brother work so hard to get a review she was call to be in court when she was in the stand she swear. My sorprise was that she has her lices suspend. But the most sadness is that she lie. she told to the judge that we told her that my brother was guilty and that when i went to get her services i ask about inmigration porpuses but thas wasnt true one of the thing is may parents dont speak english another thing why i will pay a lot money to her but the laws are the laws and my brother los one more time her case thanks to her.
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27 Jan, 2018 by Anonymous
This woman never showed up to court. Did a horrible job communicating. Always left us out of the loop in our own case. All she was great at was asking for money. Paid over $3,000 for her to make us miss court dates, plea deals, find a solution to our case, or even show up to COURT. Never hire her. She’s horrible, she shouldn’t even be a lawyer.
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11 Mar, 2024 by Anonymous
This is a court-appointed attorney and he does not talk to me. He does not try to understand my situation. Just asking questions bother him. It seems like he hates his job and rushes you to sign court documents to brush you off. I really wish that I could afford my own attorney right now but I'm stuck with this guy since I just started a new job. If you call him, he says to send him a text the next morning and he ignores it each time. He should be debarred from practicing law.
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26 Mar, 2015 by Anonymous
Roberto Dueno was my court appointed attorney, the first thing he said to me was "I do not care..." I was already under distress and it was only added to when all he cared about was getting in and out of court so i was bullied by him into signing papers that day, wether it be for probation or prison time. He wouldnt even speak to me. Now I can see it is most likely because being an accident lawyer he gets a cut of what he wins people, so haveing to help somebody who does not have money to pay somebody to help them, is not worth his time. Maybe Im wrong, but i believe its wrong to treat peoplrpeople like they dont matter. As a lawyer he is supost to fighting for your life, and my life didnt make any difference to him...
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03 Aug, 2022 by Anonymous
This attorney is very rude, nonchalant and does not work in your best interest on cases. I will not advise anyone to hire him or recommend him to no one at all.
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30 Jul, 2017 by Anonymous
Do not hire this lawyer!!! He is rude and will not fight for you. When you call or ask him a question he replies back rudely and make you feel stupid for asking. He does not make you feel he has your best interest in mind at all. My family's first impression of him was that they felt he was not interested in the case and when they asked him questions concerning the case he responded in I don't care type of response that left my family feeling less confident in him and the case. We felt he was only in it for the money instead of fighting for our loved one.
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24 Jan, 2014 by Anonymous
HE CONTINUED TO TRY TO MAKE ME ADMIT GUILT WHEN THERE WASNT ANY. aLMOST COST ME MY FREEDOM TWICE BECAUSE THE DATES HE GAVE ME TO SIGN FOR RETURNING COURT APPEARANCES AND THE DATES ACTUALLY ON THE DALLAS COUNTY WEBSITE WERE NOT THE SAME. SO IN TWO INSTANCES, I MISSED MY COURT DATES.
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06 Apr, 2012 by Anonymous
did not contact none of the time after my case was filed
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26 May, 2017 by Zulema dominguez
I don't know why he's doing so bad as an attorney, It's like everything he learned in law school was pointless. He's good at making appointments, but never showing up or emailing you, his employers are rude, there's was one time in particular that a lady answering the phone for the office started to yell at me. He didn't go to the best school either.
No sé por qué está tan mal como abogado, es como si todo lo que aprendiera en la escuela de derecho fuera inútil. Él es bueno en hacer citas, pero nunca apareciendo o enviándote por correo electrónico, sus patrones son groseros, allí era una vez en particular que una señora que contestaba el teléfono para la oficina comenzó a gritar en mí. Tampoco fue a la mejor escuela.
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18 Oct, 2015 by Anonymous
If I could give this attorney a half a star I could. His staff is extremely rude and for some reason. I had to send my documents more than 4 times and every time I would talk to the attorney he wouldn't even know anything about my case. He would treat me like if I was in the wrong when I paid him to represent me not to judge me. The only time we were supposed to be at court he didn't show up. The whOle time I had him as my attorney he didn't even represent me not even once but yet he took my money. One time I showed up for court and his office forgot to let me know that it was cancel. Very unprofessional staff and attorney. Please stay away from this attorney.
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13 Jan, 2016 by Anonymous
We have hired him to for a 1.000 dollars for the case , with a payment plan for $ 100.00 every 2 weeks we got a late payment and have a balance of $ 200.00 dollars and hi now wants $600.00 saying that is $400.00 for late fees .
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24 Jan, 2024 by Anonymous
As a court appointed attorney, all he did is accept what the DA offered. No attempt to get a better deal from the DA's office.
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07 Jan, 2019 by Nick
This lawyer is an absolute nightmare, I understand that lots of Public Pretenders, er ...Defenders, deal with inmates who are belligerant and uneducated, and incapable of understanding the enormity of thier crimes having been around them while incarcerated. I am however a well educated person, who has had some issues with substance abuse and had the unfortunate experience of having this woman "represent me". Over the course of 5 agonizing months for a state jail possession of a controlled substance under a gram, this woman didnt do the smallest amount of research on my case, a possession where the drugs were mine, but not even found on my person. She let me sit in jail, would call me to court and then have me sit in a holding cell all day and then send me back to the jail without even seeing me. This occurred over a dozen times. Out of ALL the times I went to court, the times I did actually see her, she had no remote interest in listening to me at all, talking over me and trying to sell me on a plea bargain to accept 4 years TDC ON A STATE JAIL FELONY, which is out of the punishment range for a state jail felony! She LIED to me and said my case had been enhanced by DA when it had NOT been enhanced when I recieved my indictment! She talks to you like total garbage, and seems as crooked as the true criminals she "represents", and has no interest in fulfilling her duty to give her clients a fighting chance because the county cuts her paychecks. After the 4 yr offer, came 2 years state jail, and then SAFP. She literally tried to convince me to accept a program in a lockdown facility for people taking a diversion program to avoid 10 and 20 year sentences, when I had something that carried 6 months to 2 years, tried to convince me to go to prison for 6 months and then come out on probation! The fact that she hadn't had her bar card revoked is beyond me! I fired her and demanded a new attorney (a private attorney that was appointed to represent me, but not in the public defenders office. What do you know? He walked in and communicated with the same DA getting me 7 months state jail time served and listened to what I had to say. I had 7 months back time by the time the case was resolved dealing with this vile woman, for a non violent controlled substance charge of the lowest magnitude. She had an air of arrogance, and talked to me like I was mentally disabled, I guess because I was unable to retain a paid lawyer and was in jail. I might add, people were walking out of jail for the same charge and worse and being dead to rights dealing with the same assistant district attorney as my lawyer dealt with. 12.44A's dropping their felonies to misdemeanors and time served so they could go home.
Fire her so you dont waste months of your life making jail worse by being woken up at 4 AM to sit all day on a cold metal bench for her to blow you off and trying to break you and sign on the dotted line.
Please Audrey, if you read this please just become a law enforcement officer because you have as much interest in helping your clients get a fair plea as the district attorney does.
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06 Sep, 2013 by Tierra
This lawyer did not represent me properly and screwed up my life! In 200 I was charged with assault on a person hat had been harassing me for months with threatening phone calls, voicemails, and stalking me at my place of residence. The young lady came over to my apartment and when I opened the door she barged in with a knife and attacked me. My mother and I called the police but she claimed that I stabbed her. So I was placed in jail for three weeks and charges with felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. My mother hired Jeff Buckwald to represent me and he urged me to plead guilty. I was 18 years old and scared out of my mind because I did not want to go back to jail. So I plead guilty following my attorneys orders and was convicted. The only thing he was concerned with was getting more money from me. I was young, naive and did not know what I was getting myself into. Now I have been living with a criminal record all this time and my chances of ever getting a decent job or place to live have been ruined. Do not hire this attorney if you want to be represented fairly.
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09 Feb, 2017 by Anonymous
I seek this lawyer advise and legal support about a criminal charge I trusted his advise to wait to hear from the county the issue took place after a year the issue came to haunt me and he kept saying not to worry
Because of the careless way he handled my criminal issue I am about to lose my job , my good name is in between the lines in other words am about to lose my life . I wish he could have been honest and tell me to seek legal counseling somewhere else because he did not know how to handle my case
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13 Jun, 2011 by Anonymous
Very disappointed with Steve, I paid him and he did nothing to even attempt to win a divorce case for me. He never returned calls or stated that he never got messages from me at all. Unless he was receiving money he would simply sit on it and do nothing. This WILL be reported to the State Bar Association POSSIBLLY have him return all of our money paid to him to apply towards another attorney.
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10 Apr, 2017 by Anonymous
I gave McBeth a $5000.00 Retainer and the rest on contingency for 2 employment law cases. He tried to immediately settle the cases and when that did not happen. The Retainer disappeared while not being accounted for and he demanded $18,000.00 in 48 hours to continue. Some of the charges he came up with were not accurate. I was a unemployed disabled veteran living on a fixed income. I was ripped off and left stranded in State Court.
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18 Aug, 2021 by Anonymous
I was recommended Mr. Chandler by a therapist I had been seeing for several years. He ignored my emails and spoke mainly to my father when I was the accused. He blatenely ignored my points when my accusers story wasn’t even adding up ie the actual cost of damages compared to the evidence, the fact my accuser listed random addresses I’ve never lived at, and they put wrong phone numbers down repeatedly. Mr. Chandler had me defending my right to exist as a member of the LGBT+ community rather than defend myself. I spent $4k on his services to be told one of the cases was dropped but I’m facing parts of my probation in regards to the dropped case.
*disclaimer* Mr. Chandler states he has never lost a case ie his definition of losing if you are a member of the LGBT+ community is if you get off.
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19 Aug, 2024 by Anonymous
Richard J Deaguero agreed to represent my family member he did not show up to the court hearing, took $2,000 from us and has ignored our text messages and phone calls
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What a Criminal Defense Lawyer Can Do for You
A criminal defense lawyer provides legal representation to individuals or organizations accused of criminal conduct. If you're facing criminal charges, a defense lawyer will work to protect your rights, build a defense strategy, and ensure you receive a fair trial. Their primary goal is to reduce or dismiss charges, secure an acquittal, or negotiate a favorable plea deal.
Criminal defense lawyers have extensive knowledge of criminal law and court procedures. They investigate your case, identify weaknesses in the prosecution's evidence, and represent you in court, ensuring that you have the best possible defense.
When Should I Hire a Criminal Defense Lawyer?
It’s crucial to hire a criminal defense lawyer as soon as possible if you are facing any criminal charges. Some situations in which you should seek legal representation include:
- Arrest or police questioning: If you've been arrested or are under investigation, hiring a lawyer early on can prevent self-incrimination and protect your rights during police questioning.
- Felony charges: Crimes such as murder, assault, drug trafficking, or robbery carry severe penalties, including long prison sentences. A defense lawyer is essential in these cases.
- Misdemeanor charges: Even for less serious offenses like DUI, theft, or simple assault, a lawyer can help reduce penalties, negotiate alternatives to jail, or get charges dismissed.
- Plea negotiations: If you’re considering a plea bargain, a lawyer can evaluate the deal, advise you on its consequences, and negotiate for more favorable terms.
- Probation or parole violations: If you’ve been accused of violating probation or parole, a lawyer can defend you against additional penalties or revocation.
- Juvenile offenses: For minors charged with criminal acts, a criminal defense lawyer can protect their future by minimizing legal repercussions or keeping the case in juvenile court.
What Does a Criminal Defense Lawyer Do?
Criminal defense lawyers provide comprehensive legal services to protect their clients’ rights throughout the criminal justice process. Their duties include:
- Case evaluation and investigation: Reviewing the evidence, interviewing witnesses, and investigating the facts to develop a strong defense strategy.
- Legal advice: Advising you on your rights, the charges you’re facing, and potential defense strategies, including whether to take a plea deal or go to trial.
- Negotiating plea bargains: Working with prosecutors to negotiate a plea deal that could reduce charges or minimize penalties.
- Court representation: Representing you in all court hearings, including bail hearings, pretrial motions, trials, and sentencing hearings.
- Filing motions: Filing motions to dismiss charges, suppress evidence, or reduce bail, depending on the specifics of your case.
- Trial preparation and defense: Preparing a defense strategy and presenting arguments, evidence, and witnesses during trial to contest the prosecution's case.
- Appeals: If you are convicted, a defense lawyer can appeal the conviction or sentence, arguing errors in the trial process or legal rulings.
How Are Criminal Defense Lawyers Paid?
Criminal defense lawyers generally charge clients in one of three ways, depending on the complexity of the case and the lawyer’s experience. Payment structures include:
- Flat fee: For straightforward cases (e.g., minor misdemeanors), some lawyers charge a one-time flat fee that covers all aspects of the defense.
- Hourly rate: For more complex or ongoing cases, lawyers may charge by the hour, with rates varying based on the lawyer’s experience and geographic location.
- Retainer fee: In cases where extensive work is expected, the client may pay a retainer fee upfront. The lawyer then bills against that retainer for their work on the case.
The cost of criminal defense services can vary greatly, so it’s important to discuss fees during your initial consultation.
How Much Does a Criminal Defense Lawyer Cost?
The cost of hiring a criminal defense lawyer depends on several factors, including the severity of the charges, the complexity of the case, and the lawyer’s experience. General cost guidelines are:
- Misdemeanor cases: For relatively minor offenses, such as a DUI or petty theft, a flat fee may range from $1,500 to $5,000.
- Felony cases: More serious charges, such as assault or drug trafficking, can range from $10,000 to $100,000 or more, depending on the complexity and duration of the case.
- Hourly rates: For cases billed by the hour, lawyers may charge anywhere from $150 to $500 or more per hour, depending on their expertise and the case's location.
- Additional expenses: You may also be responsible for other costs, such as filing fees, expert witness fees, or the cost of private investigators.
Be sure to clarify the lawyer’s fee structure and any potential additional costs during your consultation.
Top Questions to Ask a Criminal Defense Lawyer
Before hiring a criminal defense lawyer, you’ll want to ensure that they’re a good fit for your case. Here are key questions to ask:
-
What is your experience with cases like mine?
Make sure the lawyer has a strong track record with the specific type of criminal charges you’re facing, whether it’s DUI, drug offenses, or violent crimes. -
What is your fee structure?
Ask how the lawyer charges for their services and whether you’ll be responsible for any additional costs. -
What are the potential outcomes of my case?
A good lawyer should provide an honest assessment of your case and the likelihood of dismissal, a plea bargain, or conviction. -
How many cases have you taken to trial?
While many criminal cases settle with a plea deal, it’s important to hire a lawyer with courtroom experience in case your case goes to trial. -
Who will handle my case?
Ask if the lawyer will be personally involved or if other attorneys in the firm will handle most of the work. -
How do you communicate with your clients?
Be clear on how often and through what channels you can expect updates on your case.
How to Check the Credibility of a Criminal Defense Lawyer
To verify the credibility of a criminal defense lawyer, take the following steps:
- Check their standing with the state bar: Confirm that the lawyer is licensed and in good standing with your state’s bar association. Look for any past disciplinary actions or complaints.
- Read online reviews and testimonials: Platforms like Avvo, Martindale-Hubbell, or Google can provide insights from previous clients about the lawyer’s communication, professionalism, and case outcomes.
- Ask for references: A reputable lawyer should have past clients or other professionals who can speak to their competence and work ethic.
- Review their case history: Look at the lawyer’s website or professional profile to see their experience with criminal cases, including high-profile or complex cases.
- Look for trial experience: If your case might go to trial, make sure the lawyer has a strong history of courtroom advocacy and success.
What Should I Prepare for My First Consultation?
To make the most of your first consultation with a criminal defense lawyer, bring the following:
- Details of your case: Be prepared to provide a detailed account of the charges against you, including any documents related to your arrest, police reports, and court dates.
- Criminal history: If you have any prior criminal convictions, inform your lawyer so they can understand how that may affect your current case.
- List of witnesses or evidence: If there are any potential witnesses or evidence that may support your defense, share this information during the consultation.
- Questions for the lawyer: Prepare questions about their experience, legal strategy, and fees to ensure you understand how they will handle your case.
- Bail or release documents: If you’ve been released on bail, bring any paperwork related to your release conditions or restrictions.
By being well-prepared, you can help your lawyer quickly assess your situation and begin building an effective defense strategy.
