John Mark Sutton

I hired Mark to defend my son who got into trouble with a group of juveniles. I wanted him to take responsibility for his actions, pay his fair share and learn from the experience, but the police were out to ruin his future with felony convictions and jail time. Working with an attorney is not somet...hing that most people do every day, so it’s hard to know what parts of a case to expect an attorney to handle, and which you should expect to handle yourself. To be honest, I’m still not really sure exactly where that boundary is, but I learned that you and your lawyer are a team, and Mark was an excellent teammate. Why do we need lawyers? To understand the legal jargon and speak for you in court; to negotiate offers; and to guide you through the basics of the legal process. But more than that, you need someone that understands the intricacies of negotiation and has good instincts on what will and won't work in court. Mark is that lawyer. I am a very proactive person, and waiting for the wheels of justice to turn was very frustrating for me. Mark worked very hard on several occasions, to keep me from making rash decisions in my frustration and explained how important patience was in any case. With Mark’s guidance, and when the time was appropriate, I was able to communicate with the plaintiffs, at their discretion, and discuss what they thought was a reasonable punishment for the offense. This helped in softening the prosecutor's stance on the case. We also gathered as many witness statements as possible for Mark's review and use in the case. Mark pretty much did the rest. He has a great understanding of how cases make their way through the courts, when to negotiate, how to press for action and how to get all parties on your side – as much as they can be. He has a good working relationship with the prosecutor, which helped convince the police to look at the statements we had collected and take a full and honest statement from my son. After a great deal of effort on both our parts, we got the reasonable settlement we were looking for with a misdemeanor charge and probation in place of felonies and jail time. The lesson for my son is paying off. He broke ties with the juvenile troublemakers, is working hard and is not far from paying off his settlement.