Victoria Marie Mussallem

I was arrested in March for DUI on a bicycle, Battery against a Law Enforcement Officer x 2, Resisting arrest with violence, Disorderly Intoxication, and some other charges added on to that. I was abusing alcohol to cope with personal issues and landed myself in serious trouble. I was pulled over ini...tially for not having a bike light and acted like an animal with the police. I hired a Criminal Defense Lawyer in Jacksonville and was instructed to complete 50 hours of community service, court approved counseling, get character reference letters, go to DUI school, take the Victim Impact Panel with MADD, and write an apology letter. I was also released on ROR with a SCRAM ankle monitor for measuring alcohol, which I paid for weekly. Communication was limited with my initial attorney and I attributed it a lot to COVID-19, he wasn't working at his office etc. But the communication never picked up. Months passed, and everytime I would talk with his assistant she would just assure me that he is just "waiting on the prosecutor to get back to him" or "waiting on the Discovery". In November, almost 8 months after my arrest, I had a virtual court appearance with my then attorney. The judge was so perplexed as to why this was taking so long. My attorney at the time appeared disorganized and said he had just received my Discovery. After the virtual meeting he called me and said the state had offered me a deal of pleading guilty to DUI and everything else would be dropped. I said "How can you offer me this when you have not even reviewed my Discovery and said that there was still video evidence to be ordered that you have not even seen!" I hung up the phone and started to cry. I was angry and told my family that I am firing my lawyer and hiring a new one. This time, I did my research. I found Tori and felt pretty confident in giving her a call. This was the best decision I could have made. Immediately she answered the phone herself and consulted with me right then and there. She agreed to take on my case that day and the next day we met in person to go over everything (safely, masks worn of course). In 5 weeks she did what my lawyer couldn't have and never even would have accomplished in 8 months. She negotiated with the state and defended me and showed them the efforts that I have been making to better my life and abstain from alcohol. Last Thursday I had my case and I was charged with Disorderly Intoxication and Resisting Arrest. 6 months probation and 2 AA classes a week. No DUI. No Felonies. No year long probation. I could not believe it. The outcome was better than I ever would have imagined. Also that same day she got the court order to finally have my ankle SCRAM removed. I no longer have to pay $86/ week and do not have to hide my ankle anymore. She changed the course of my life. This could have been on my record for the rest of my life, my living options and career choices could have been negatively affected forever. I am so grateful for her representation. I highly recommend you seek her counsel for your criminal or civil case. She is educated, professional and experienced in the NE Florida legal world. Look no further- Tori will defend you to the best of her ability. Thank you so much.

I had 10 years of probation to do and was very doubtful that I could get off early because of a sex charge. After looking at everything, Tori knew that I had done everything right, that I was a very different person, and that if anyone had a chance at early termination it would be me. She had me ge...t all the character references, documents on what I had done since being on probation, and proof that I was a different person. She walked me through the process and got it done!! She kept me updated on timeframes, the status of what was happening, and she was ALWAYS on my side. Thank you, Tori!!

I highly recommend Victoria Mussallem. We hired Victoria during the holidays and she continued to work hard for us even though Christmas was approaching and the courthouse was closed for 2 weeks. I had 8 years probation and had completed 6 years. I got her every bit of paperwork that she asked me f...or, met with her and stayed in contact with her for the next couple of weeks. Today she went to court on my behalf and now my probation has been terminated. It still has not sunk in that it is finally over. She is a very hard working attorney and I would recommend her to anyone. She is absolutely amazing and works very hard for what she believes in.

I hired Tori to represent me in a "sexual contact with a minor" charge. She asked me what I wanted to get in terms of an offer from the prosecutor. I told her to keep me out of prison, keep me off of the Sex Offenders List and keep me from being labeled as a Felon. After 3-4 months of going back and ...forth with the prosecutor, Tori was able to get my charges knocked down to "child abuse" and offer me a deal of 6 months county jail, 5 years probation and my charges to be considered a Withheld Adjudication instead of a Felony. "No Felony, no Prison, no Sex Offenders List!!!!!" After 2.5 years of my probation, I rehired Tori to represent me for a motion for early termination of my probation. She got this approved immediately so that I only did half of my 5 year probation. My bad decisions could have shadowed me for the rest of my life with the charges I was originally facing but thanks to Tori and her willingness to go to the mat for me, 3 years later, I can put this behind me with just a hard lesson learned. I would hire Tori again in a second if I needed to but I'm hoping I will never have that need again. Tori is very intelligent, she understands how the world works and what it takes to get the job done. Tori is very professional and depenable. Tori Mussallem is definitely the one you want representing you.

Tori, as she likes to be called, is one of the best attorneys I've dealt with ever. She did an awesome job for me, but I got the sense that this was just her usual work. She's very experienced in the Jacksonville area with knowledge of all the judges and prosecutors. Very pleased with the job she did... for me.