Nicholas Andrew Balland

Mr. Balland is an outstanding attorney. He has undertaken a serious and bona fide negligence case for me and has worked with passion and diligence on the case. He truly and genuinely cares about its impact and pursues justice with skill, expertise, and tenacity. He is, undeniably, the best in the b...usiness and his experience shows.

Divorce is a difficult experience. Unlike Olympic Diving, one does not get extra points for an added degree of difficulty. As such, I am very disappointed by the treatment I received from Nick Ballad. Although he is a smart man, he treated me like a number, frequently got my name wrong, and rarely ...kept me informed on the status of my divorce. Whenever I tried to call him, he either wasn't available or would get off the phone with me in less than 30 seconds. I saw him do the same thing to other clients when they called him. At one point, after he had supposedly filed my paperwork, he forgot who I was. In Virginia, it should take 6 months to get a divorce (assuming there are no kids involved). My divorce has taken over nine months, and is still not finalized. He also charged me additional money on top of his flat fee without actually doing additional work. This is no way to treat clients.

I have known Mr. Balland for years. As the other commenters stated, he is hard to get in touch with, is abrupt, and sometimes rude. While he is very knowledgeable and knows his way around the judicial system (judges, other lawyers, etc.) he should be more courteous to his clients and take a little ...more time with them and not treat them like "a number" in the system. You are made to feel that you are one of many spokes in a wheel, which makes you of very little importance. He needs to realize that while it is just a "job" for him, it is our lives and the reasons why we go to him is because what is happening (in my case the divorce) has a huge impact on our lives, and not just financially.

After being charged with a crime and before I retained the services of Nicholas Balland, I had interviewed several attorneys in the Arlington area. What made me decide that he was the right attorney for me, was his obvious knowledge of similar cases, familiarity with the Arlington Court judges and ...prosecutors and his demeanor. I had read some of Mr. Balland's previous bad reviews and I had to laugh, because Mr. Balland does not come off as a nice guy; He is abrasive and curt, but I didn't need a nice guy. I'm a nice guy. I wanted a pit-bull, not a boy scout to represent me against people who are in the business of ruining lives for the sake of fulfilling a quota. Mr. Balland first changed the venue back to his stomping ground in Arlington from where my case was originally set. He was then able to leverage his influence in Arlington and ability as a shrewd negotiator. I would not plead guilty to any of the allegations leveled against me and requested Mr. Balland not to accept any plea deals with the prosecution. Mr. Balland was able, in a flurry of exchanges with the prosecution, to have the them drop the case. Mr. Balland took me aside after the court ordeals and gave me a conversation full of encouragement, which helped me to then face additional issues that came as collateral to my legal ordeal. Mr. Balland is a real human being and I would recommend him to anyone, except women wanting to divorce their husbands