Brian R. Laxton

I retained Brian's services after learning my application to practice law in Michigan was denied due to believed shortcomings in my character and fitness to practice. I had made mistakes in my past, and I needed to rehabilitate my image and reputation to convince those in charge of the decision I de...served the honor of being called an attorney. I knew finding the right attorney to help with this process would be one of the most important decisions I'd make. I did my due diligence, and asked countless practicing attorneys who they recommended. Brian's name came back time after time. Brian was confident in my case, and we worked together to achieve a positive result. We discussed many possible strategies, and he provided his expertise. He has been through countless Character and Fitness hearings, and knew the important points to focus on. We came up with what we believed would be a successful defense. Brian was sure to make clear any final decision would be mine to make. Anyone who has gone through or is going through a licensing problem for any profession requiring licensure understands the process is embarrassing. Brian understands this, too. He knows it is easy to get down on yourself in embarrassing situations. Accordingly, he encouraged me to focus on the future, not dwell on the past. Above all, Brian counseled me throughout the process. He demonstrated to me one of the most important parts of being an attorney is acting as a counselor to your clients. I was successful in my appeal, demonstrating I possessed the requisite character and fitness to practice law in Michigan. I am thankful for Brian's services, and would recommend him to anybody going through a similar situation. I have been practicing law now for a few months, and try to keep with me the lessons I learned from Brian. I hope to be as good a counselor to my clients as Brian was to me.

I hired Brian Laxton about a year ago to help me through the character and fitness process to be admitted as an attorney in the State of Michigan. Brian was excellent in every stage of the case. His extensive knowledge of the admissions process and his experience bringing cases before the standin...g committe and the Board of Law Examiners made a huge difference. He put together a winning case for my admission even after I had already made a mess of things while trying to represent myself. I would enthusiastically recommend attorney Brian Laxton to any law student who thinks that they may run into problems with the character and fitness process. The sooner you call him, the better!

I will start by describing the process in which Brian Laxton represented me. I had applied to the Michigan bar but faced a challenge to my character and fitness to practice law--I do not want to describe the details of my challenge but I will say that the procedure is this. You take the bar exam, y...ou wait for results. You hear (as I recall) "unofficial" results that you passed. You see other people you took the bar with being admitted to the bar. Then you wait some time and receive a "referral letter" which informs you that you have been referred to a district committee hearing on your character and fitness, based on specific issues in your file. That is a few months after the bar exam. If that district committee hearing goes well, you are admitted after that. In my case, the district committee hearing went against me, and I had to go to the final level of review, a standing committee hearing. My standing committee hearing was a long while after I took the exam. After the standing committee hearing the committee members told me they would recommend my admission to the bar. After that I received their official letter advising the bar of their decision, and after that I received my official letter advising me that I had passed the bar. Then I was sworn in as an attorney and paid my bar dues and became an attorney. I hired Brian Laxton after receiving my district committee referral letter (I considered one other attorney). Brian Laxton is a very good lawyer. He has very good communication skills and knows the process of the character and fitness review process in Michigan very well. If you are facing a character and fitness challenge to your admission to the bar then you need someone by your side to help you, and I believe Mr. Laxton is the best there is. In my case Mr. Laxton helped explain the process to me (which by itself was just manna from heaven, because I would never have known what to expect without advice), helped prepare me for the questions that the character and fitness review lawyers would ask, and perhaps most importantly, helped me to shape my current behavior in a way that helped me to gain admission to the bar. He spent hours on the phone with me speaking about my file and preparing me to face the character and fitness committees that I had to face. To some extent he confronted me over the more egregious mistakes in my file, but that was to be expected and overall I felt that he did that only to the extent that he had to. I obviously had to do some work as well, reviewing my file in detail and preparing my answers in my own words but with his coaching to stay away from pitfalls that I would not have been able to foresee on my own. He had strategic advice I would never have thought of on my own that helped me prepare the path to success, like writing a response to the district committee referral letter before my meeting with the district committee. I cannot imagine how I would have gotten past the character and fitness challenges to my bar application without Brian Laxton's help. But in large part thanks to his work, help, and advice, I am now an attorney in Michigan. I considered the services of one other attorney before deciding on Brian Laxton, but I believe the other attorney is not as professional, intelligent, or competent as Brian Laxton. If you hire an attorney you want somebody who looks the part and sounds professional. Brian Laxton in my experience was always on time to our meetings, always well dressed, always smooth and well mannered, and argued on my behalf at a couple of key points in the process. That is something that you also want. If you are in a room full of lawyers looking to possibly prevent your having a legal career, you want someone there who will speak up for you and point out any egregious breaches of conduct by those attorneys, just to keep them in check by his very presence. Mr. Laxton is a busy lawyer--so you cannot expect to be the only thing on his plate. But on balance that is probably what you want--an attorney with a lot of experience