Avvo Review Score

4.8 /5.0

349 Client Reviews

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5 stars 333 4 stars 2
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Case Results (277) Recommendation (149) Advocacy (130) Professionalism (82) Communication Style (77) Responsiveness (77) Practice Area Knowledge (71) Cost of Services (62) Trustworthiness (46) Character & Conduct (45) General Knowledge (31) Compassion (15) Staff & Support (7) Punctuality (6)

Showing 11 - 12 of 12 reviews | 1 star

Posted by anonymous | September 09, 2017 | Hired Attorney

Dissapointed!

I paid this attorney well over $400 to get a ticket lowered. The infraction was going 38mph in a 25mph zone. What happened? Nothing. I might as well had represented myself. Here are the exact words texted to me from this attorney, "You were found guilty. The judge would not amend the ticket from 4 to... 3. You were found guilty of a 4 point ticket. I did my best but sadly this is the result. Please call me after 8am." Those were his words. Unbelievable such a highly rated, experienced attorney could not get such a small ticket lowered. 38mph in a 25 mph zone. Really? In addition, there is a retainer you sign, which you pay (his fee) the money online. The retainer does say he cannot gurantee the outcome. However, again, look at all of the stars and the high rating. In that retainer it does say there is $40 which is reimbursed back to payer (me). Here is the next message he went on to text me, "The DMV took the $40 and applied it against any fines/surcharges". There you have it folks a NO WIN and good night!

James Medows

Replied last September 09, 2017

This person was a client of mine and is partially correct. New York City does not negotiate. Therefore, there are no guarantees and I expressed this multiple times to this client. I did represent this person on a 4-point ticket. In this case, my goal was to get his 4-point ticket dismissed. I was not able to get his 4-point ticket dismissed but I was not able to do so because the officer was able to legally articulate all the points necessary for the motorist to be found guilty and the judge (very tough judge) would not allow this ticket to be amended down from a 4-point ticket to a 3-point ticket (which I generally able to do 90% of the time even if I can't get the ticket completely dismissed). As stated, my retainer agreement does state "THERE ARE NO GUARANTEES". I will never promise anything more than I will do my best and that my goal is to win because winning clients tell their friends and families and I make more money. I have won many cases in the past and hope/expect to win many more. Additionally, I did state in writing and on the phone that if I win, the DMV refunds you $40 and if I am not successful, the $40 bond will be applied against any fines/surcharges. The DMV applied the $40 bond against the minimal fine the court issued on this case. I am disappointed that I can't win all my cases but this client is completely out of line. I appeared in court 4 times (motorist did not have to show up to court), I dragged this case out for a very long period of time so his insurance company would not find out, the court did not take any action against the motorist's driver's license and the court issued a minimal fine. I told the client to speak with me in the morning because he sounded too sore to speak to me like a rational person when I initially told him the bad news. I consider myself a surgeon who is trying to help the patient, however, sometimes, the doctor loses the patient and I do lose some of my cases. My goal is cure the patient and if I can't do that, then at least minimize the pain which I definitely did in this case. I do not win all of my cases but I promise you like I promised this client that I will do my best.

Posted by Katie | August 23, 2017 | Hired Attorney

Unprofessional, Yelled at me over the phone

A few years ago, after my father was arrested for physically assaulting me, my family and I hired James Medows to get the case dropped with my cooperation. He was nice throughout most of the process, until he told me to go to the prosecutor to sign something. Being a naive 18 year old victim of domes...tic violence at the time, and not understanding what was going on, I was easily manipulated into answering questions that James had told me to answer. James proceeded to scream at me over the phone at a time when I was confused and afraid. He yelled at me, frustrated that I didn't do as he asked, despite knowing that I was a teenager in high school who did not have the mental competence to match lawyers and prosecutors twice my age have having not warned me that the person I was dealing with would try to be manipulative. Years later I remember this as a horrific part of the process that followed my abuse. James conducted himself in an unprofessional manner, to say the least. He did, however, get the case dropped. Great job, James.

James Medows

Replied last August 23, 2017

I have no idea who this client is....the fact that the person ("Katie") is traumatized about me yelling years ago (which I categorically deny) at her is troubling. The fact that she wrote a review years later is even more troubling. The fact that I got the case dismissed is expected as I have a very good track record as you can see from all my other reviews. I wish Katie a speedy recovery and hope she seeks counseling as soon as possible. From this reviewer's own words...I did get the case dropped (which is what this person wanted in the first place). Even the highly unstable reviewers have to admit that I get the job done. Thank you Katie.

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