Jessica Fay Phillips

I moved to C'Ville recently to help an ex-girlfriend get custody of her 2 children, biggest mistake of my life which ended up costing me dearly, a hard but necessary lesson for me to learn. Months after I bought a home here, there was an altercation between my ex-girlfriend and I and I soon found my...self in jail for 15 days and facing 2 misdemeanor as well as a Felony charges. I was in shock and was referred to the Law Firm of Royer Caramanis where I was assigned to Ms. Jessica Phillips. During my preliminary hearing while in court, Ms. Phillips wanted an $10,000 retainer and I signed a personal check to obtain her services while I was still in handcuffs! Ms. Phillips did not want any evidence I had and strongly suggested for me to take a plea deal under false pretense. Ms. Phillips misstated to me that I could be facing a 10 year prison sentence if found guilty by the Jury when in fact my charge carried a maximum of 2 years. I really wanted to fight my case but I ended up taking a plea deal mainly due to Ms. Phillip's professional advice. Ms. Phillips lacking any compassion of my situation told me I'm going to do some time, she was going to ask for 7 months and in her experience i'll probably do 12 months. I asked her why she is not asking for probation and her response was that Probation wasn't possible and that I was going to do some time in jail! I terminated her services, which in my opinion was inferior to that of a court appointed attorney. I hired another local attorney and ended up with probation. Thank God I did Fire Ms. Phillips in time, but not before she took $8,600 of my retainer for plea deal on a case she wasn't interested in the evidence I had. I feel that because I am new to the area and considered an "Outsider", Ms. Phillips took advantage of me and the situation I was in. I STRONGLY DO NOT recommend Ms. Jessica Phillips !