Avvo Review Score

4.8 /5.0

647 Client Reviews

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Showing 1 - 4 of 4 reviews | 2 stars

Posted by Matthew | June 23, 2026

Extremely rude

Extremely rude over the phone I was simply asking questions and getting information and he hung up on me and told me to find another lawyer

Michael Palumbo

Replied last June 23, 2026

We spoke and I realized that we would not be a good fit to service you. I could have taken your case despite that, but the ethical thing to do is to decline representation, so I did so. Nothing I did was rude.

Posted by Kenny | January 26, 2018 | Hired Attorney

Did not delay the case to avoid the 18 month period for assessment fee

I hired Mr. Palumbo in October, paid a steep price for apparently the best traffic lawyer in the city. I was told his team would try their best to push the date in hopes of dismissals. I was hesitant on hiring him because of the price but was confident due to the 5 star reviews. On January 18, 2018 I... was found guilty with 4 points and had to pay $288. I was not too upset with the verdict because it is very difficult to drop a speeding ticket case in the state of NYC. However, I am disappointed in the fact that I was told the case would be postponed so that I would avoid the driver assessment fee (18months). Today, I received a letter in the mail that I had to pay $450 for the assessment fee which I believe could have been avoided if Palumbo's team have done their job. i believe that paying the steep price of almost $700 would grant me at least the benefit of the doubt that the case would be pushed so I would avoid paying the driver assessment fee. Overall, I believe Michael Palumbo's team tried their best to fight my speeding ticket, but made promises that they couldn't keep.

Michael Palumbo

Replied last January 26, 2018

As we tell EVERYONE who has a NYC traffic ticket, EVERY case goes to trial. There is no plea bargaining. This means that we cannot negotiate to plead our clients guilty to a non-moving violation. The deal in NYC is that if you do nothing you are found guilty as charged 100% of the time. Our law firm gets a lot of NYC tickets dismissed, however we never know which clients cases will be dismissed and which ones will be found guilty as charged. Part and parcel to NYC traffic ticket defense is that we adjourn NYC tickets for as long as we can. This keeps the client clean for as long as possible. IF the client is found guilty the conviction accrues to the driving record on the conviction date, but the insurance look back period is from the date the ticket was written. In other words, we get the client through all or most of the insurance increase period before we do the trial. This saves the client MORE THAN they paid us, win or lose the case. We NEVER guarantee to adjourn the case a minimum of 18 months. We adjourn the trial for as long as we can. Some adjourn more than 18 months and some accrue less than 18 months. However, EVEN IF we did adjourn this more than 18 months, this still WOULD NOT HAVE avoided the $450.00 assessment. Here is what he is talking about. Whenever a motorist accrues 6 or more points from 1 or more tickets, of which the VIOLATION DATES are within 18 months of each other (note, NOT CONVICTION DATES but VIOLATION DATES), the DMV nails the motorist for an extra fine, called an ASSESSMENT. The assessment is $300.00 for the first 6 points, and $75.00 for every point thereafter. So in his case, he already had a 4 point accrual and the ticket he was convicted of was written within 18 months of the other ticket or tickets. As a consequence, if he were convicted 10 years from now he still would have accrued the assessment, because the VIOLATION DATE of this ticket was with the VIOLATION DATE or dates of the other 4 point accrual. In addition, what he also does not tell you is that he was CHARGED WITH a 6 point ticket, but was CONVICTED OF a 4 point violation. So that saved him 2 points and an additional $150.00 assessment plus about $100.00 less in court fines. What he also does not tell you is that due to this ticket and his other conviction he was considered to be a PERSISTENT VIOLATOR, of which he was in real danger of being suspended if convicted. We avoided that for him as well. The simple fact of the matter is that we did not make any promise we could not keep. We explained our services to him clearly and succinctly as we do to everyone that calls us. In addition, everyone who retains us signs a simply, 1 page agreement which clearly lays out the nature and extent of the services. NEVER did we guarantee a minimum period for adjourning a case. However, you don't have to have to take my word for it. If you have a speeding ticket or moving violation and have questions, give us a call anytime 24 / 7 at (914) 500-8929. We talk to people who have tickets every day, and we'd love to talk to you!

Posted by Aron | May 23, 2016 | Hired Attorney

Cell Phone Ticket NYC

I received a cell phone ticket in Queens NYC on May 2015, after pushing it off multiple time they finally went to court and i was found guilty as charged. I called the office afterwards to find out what happened and they said there is not much you can do in NYC and they usually recommend paying the t...icket and taking a course for point reduction. I just wish they would have told me that up front.

Michael Palumbo

Replied last May 23, 2016

This review is grossly misleading and partially false. The falsity is that we NEVER "usually recommend paying the ticket..." That is a bald faced lie. In fact, had we done that with this person then why would they have retained us? In NYC the court is an administrative tribunal, which has a no plea bargaining policy. So UNLESS you fight the ticket you are found guilty 100% of the time. We make this clear to EVERYONE that contacts us that the only path to dismissal is to fight the ticket. We also make it exceedingly clear that there are no guarantees in NYC that you can lose despite our best efforts. In fact, this is the very language of the retainer agreement this guy signed: "please note that we do not guarantee a particular or even favorable result. In other words...you might lose at trial. You might be found guilty of the charge or charges you are currently facing despite our best efforts." This is what this liar signed. It was right there in black and white. In NYC, the name of the game is to delay the case for as long as we can so that even if as here the client is found guilty we avoided the insurance increase, because we took the case to trial after getting them through all, or most, of the insurance increase period. We also get our client's court appearance waived. That is EXACTLY what we did in this case. Rather than go on and on in detail, just check out our web page on how and why we defend NYC tickets the way we do here: http://www.mpalumbolaw.com/new-york-city-ticket-defense.html. The simple fact of the matter is that no one knows whether they will be found guilty or not in NYC until AFTER the trial. Every day we have clients whose cases are dismissed and clients who are found guilty. It happens. One has to have a risk and loss tolerance if they are going to retain counsel in NYC, and If this guy did not have the risk & loss tolerance then he should have just plead as charged. Don't listen to what this misleading complainer who had unrealistic expectations has to say. Check out what our hundreds of other clients from both in and out of NYC have said about us in their own words. Then, pick up the phone, speak to us, and judge for yourself. We can be reached at 914-777-2990, or by e-mail at Michael@MPalumboLaw.com.

Posted by anonymous | December 01, 2014

Responsive, Communicative but Not Impressed with His Efforts

I received a 4-point speeding ticket after being charged with going over 70 mph in a 55 mph zone in New York State. Immediately, I plead not guilty and began researching traffic ticket-specific attorneys and was very impressed with Mr. Palumbo, his track record and reviews from others who were charg...ed with similar violations. I hired Mr. Palumbo for his flat fee of $495 with no guarantees expected. Cripes...his firm even goes to court on your behalf to fight your ticket! Or so I thought. Less than a week before my pre-trial date, I received a notice that my ticket issue was resolved and that he had plead guilty on my behalf for a measly 1-point reduction. So my ticket ended up being a violation of running a stop sign with a 3-point penalty. Countless others with the same 4-point charge on this site were left with a 2-point charge or had their points dropped to zero as Mr. Palumbo told me he could do. Although Mr. Palumbo was very professional and responsive, I was expecting him or one of the other firm's attorneys to fight their hardest and actually go to court for me to get the "best possible outcome," in his own words. Several other attorneys could have plead guilty through mail on my behalf for a lot less money with the same outcome, but I hired him specifically with the expectation of the firm showing up to court and using his cross examination of an officer techniques in the 2007 periodical to which he contributed. Honestly, he did not fight as hard as he could have, in my opinion, for the money. Overall, I would not recommend him.

Michael Palumbo

Replied last December 01, 2014

This comment is the very reason why people should retain counsel - to protect themselves from themselves. What this former client does not understand is as follows: Yes, while we did plead him guilty for a 1 point reduction we plead him guilty to a 3 point NON-SPEEDING ticket. This was a great outcome although not seemingly so, because we got him a conviction OUT OF SPEED. That is always the exigency in a speeding ticket case to get the client out of speed, because speeding causes amplifying problems on ones driving record. What this former client did not tell you, because he does not understand the significance of it, was that in the past 18 months he 1 prior speeding conviction. Once a person receives 3 speeding convictions in an 18 month period his NYS license or privileges are revoked. So had I turned this offer down I would have risked having my client found guilty of a speeding ticket, and then if he had received another one and been found guilty he would have lost his license. In this case, we acted in the most prudent way possible. Our clients insurance did not go up and he is not in danger of losing his NYS driver's license or privileges if he gets a speeding conviction in the future. Moreover, we saved our client time and money by getting his personal appearance waived from court. All and all, this client benefited greatly from the service.

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