Overall Rating
This is an aggregated review score of Avvo and Lawyers.com reviews.

4.0 /5.0

205 Client Reviews

Avvo

5.0

(203)

Lawyers.com

3.0

(2 )

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5 stars 201 4 stars 1
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Criminal Defense (136) DUI & DWI (136) Lawsuits & Disputes (20) Administrative Law (7) Litigation (7) Speeding & Traffic Ticket (5) Appeals (3) Car Accidents (2) Admiralty & Maritime (1) Drug Crime (1) Employment & Labor (1) Expungement (1) Personal Injury (1) State, Local And Municipal Law (1)
What Clients Mention
Case Results (172) Advocacy (114) Recommendation (99) Practice Area Knowledge (79) Professionalism (76) Responsiveness (60) Communication Style (58) General Knowledge (56) Character & Conduct (41) Trustworthiness (32) Compassion (21) Staff & Support (19) Cost of Services (16) Punctuality (5) Free Consultations (1) Payment Plans (1)

Showing 201 - 203 of 203 reviews

Posted by Steve | August 09, 2010

2010 defense OUI

James (Jay) was a great lawyer for me. He always kept me in the loop with what was happening with my case and what could happen with all scenarios. He walked through the case and what would be happening and what I needed to do as well. His expertise in DUI defense was crucial in my case. I would ...highly recommend him and his team to anyone who needs help defending DUI case.

Posted by anonymous | November 10, 2010

OUI Review

Attorney Milligan took my case when I had lost confidence in the initial attorney that I hired. One of the best qualties of Attorney Milligan are his communication skills, he consistently kept me informed. I also had a feeling throughout my case that I had a lawyer that had an extremely high level ...of understanding of the specific legal matters. While I did not get the verdict that Attorney Milligan or I was looking for, I feel that I was treated fairly and that I had the best possible defense and I would comfortably refer him to anyone that needs his services. He has also assisted me post-verdict with several important questions that I have had and I am appreciative of his post-verdict assistance.

Posted by Sue | May 19, 2023 | Hired Attorney

Cannot Believe He Has Such a High Rating Online

Beware! I have never dealt with such incompetence from a legal counselor in my life. I hired Attorney Milligan to help me with a few criminal cases I had received in a short period of time last summer. James did not take the proper time to go over the cases with me, and our only “meeting” before my t...rial date was about ten minutes long, where all James did was reassure me that I was not going to be incarcerated and that he had devised a bulletproof plea deal that would end up working in our favor. He was extremely difficult to get ahold of, and all he did was fill me with false hope for the outcome of my trial. James went on a vacation during the week of the trial, and sent his associate to court with me. His associate stood there the entire time the judge and PO berated and belittled me, shaking his head and looking down at the ground like he had already been beaten before the argument began. He did little to nothing to defend me, and the plea was rejected. I was incarcerated for three months. I believe if I had stronger legal counsel this could have been avoided I was very disappointed in the representation James provided to me. When my next court date came up (a date James was aware of the entire time) he was on yet ANOTHER vacation, and out of the country, in Japan. How do you run a successful business without being present for your clients? I do not understand what is going on with this law office, but it seems like Attorney Milligan has taken up early retirement. When I was having a hard time contacting him from jail, my mother called him to ask why he had left the country during the time we had hired him for, he raised his voice at her and was very rude to her, citing that he should be able to vacation whenever he wanted. As a business owner I do agree with this, but I would NEVER deceive my clients the way that he did to me. If I had travel plans I would refer my clients to a more appropriate office that could actually provide the work that was being paid for. After sending attorney Milligan a small fortune, I was left to basically fend for myself throughout my legal battle. He did call and apologize to my mother for the way he spoke to her, and agreed to refund us our money, as he recognized that he did a horrible job. The kick in the face was when he sent us a measly $1,000 back, which was pocket change compared to the money we sent him to have fun on vacation while I basically represented myself. Attorney Milligan has clearly checked out in terms of responsibility and accountability for his law office. It seems that he no longer cares about his clients, or the way his business is run. Very disappointing. Google ads declaring yourself “The top DUI attorney in MA” will only work for so long, until people figure out that it’s all a smoke screen to take their money and run. I am much happier with my current legal counsel, and the difference has been night and day. I cannot believe I put up with Attorney Milligan’s antics for as long as I did.

James Milligan

Replied last May 20, 2023

Beware of this review because it is not accurate and some context is certainly required for the reader to understand. This client’s “few criminal cases” were a pending OUI offense from June 2022, another OUI offense in July 2022, she was later placed on probation for July OUI case on 11/14/23. In January 2023, she was arrested again on another Operation under the influence offense case. In the span of 7 months, she was arrested 3 times for OUI offenses. As a result of the January arrest, the probation department requested that she be detained because of her violation of probation and that request was allowed by the judge. When I was retained, this client was already in custody and had a date for the violation of probation hearing. The probation department was looking to incarcerate this client for 1 year because of her OUI history. Prior to the hearing, I told this client that I was not available for the hearing date and instead of continuing the case with her in custody, my law partner could handle the case. I was in frequent contact with the client’s mother and I will agree that it was difficult to get in touch with the client over the phone because of her custody status, not because I was unavailable. More importantly, I met with this client at the jail (which she fails to mention) and spent far longer than 10 minutes with her at the jail. The severity of her situation was explained clearly. I informed this client the only way for her to try and avoid jail was to get enrolled in an inpatient program in lieu of jail. This plan was relayed to the family and they got a bed for her. There were never any promises or a “bulletproof” plan laid out. Ultimately, the judge was extremely upset with her 3 OUI arrests in 7 months and committed her to 90 days in jail. The client was in jail because of her own behaviors not because of my law partner. As far as my vacation schedule, I returned the client’s mothers calls while on vacation and answered her questions. Just so the reader knows, I was away for my wedding anniversary and a trip to Japan to go skiing with friends that we had been trying to plan for 3 years. The client’s mother called me in Japan and said she was hiring another lawyer because I was on vacation AGAIN!! I never recognized that I did a horrible job. This client was billed on an hourly basis for the work that was performed on her 3 OUI cases, visiting the jail that took 3 hours and the probation surrender hearing that took approximately the same amount of time. This client paid me $5,000 as a retainer towards the total fee to handle the cases and per the written fee agreement upon termination they were billed on an hourly basis for the time spent on the case and were refunded $1,000. I assure the reader of this review that I have not checked out, I have run a very successful law practice for 26 years and will continue to represent my clients. I would encourage the reader of this review to look at approximately 180 - 5-star reviews left by clients that actually appreciate the effort that was invested in their cases.

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