William J. Hayes

William J. Hayes

4.6
Rating: 9.8

Licensed for 50 years

Criminal defense Lawyer at Beloit, WI
Practice Areas: Criminal Defense, Personal Injury, Speeding & Traffic Ticket ... +2 more

1725 N. Lodge Drive, Beloit, WI

About William

Fees and Rates

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Licenses

Licensed in Illinois for 40 years

State: Illinois

Acquired: 1985

Retired

No misconduct found

Licensed in Wisconsin for 50 years

State: Wisconsin

Acquired: 1975

Resigned

No misconduct found

Location

Law Offices of Dr. William J. Hayes, S.C.

1725 N. Lodge Drive, Beloit, WI, 53511-3938

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William J. Hayes's Reviews

Avvo Review Score

4.6 /5.0

9 Client Reviews

Filter Avvo Reviews (9) Refine reviews to match your needs. Use the filters to quickly surface reviews that align with your case or priorities.

Showing 1 - 5 of 9 reviews

Posted by Clarence | February 14, 2018 | Hired Attorney | Criminal Defense

Owi in Wisconsin and Illinois

Excellent service and very caring. Day of court represented very professional and talked thru everything before and after court so I understood the outcome. Worked hard at getting my penalties reduced. After court assisted me at the jail to make sure everything went as planned. The day after cou...rt called to check up on me. Very caring Lawyer who cares about his clients. With what I was faced with very pleased with his service and highly recommend William and his caring staff. His secretary Sherri who made plenty of phone calls to me helping me out. Still working on the citation in Illinois but feel the outcome will be favorable on my behalf. Just want to thank you and your caring staff for everything you have helped me with. Highly recommend his legal service and his reasonable rates.

Posted by anonymous | November 11, 2016 | Hired Attorney

Traffic citations

Extremely qualified to get positive results with very reasonable cost. Always very easy to work with, I make a call and it gets handled.

Posted by anonymous | November 08, 2016 | Hired Attorney | Child Custody

Very poor communication skins and time management skills when dealing with people without unlimited funds

Very good in the courtroom very aggressive straight to the point and tells you how he feels about things. HOWEVER... II paid my retainer (2500) which was every penny my family could afford and I explained to him I needed to use the money as gently as possible until our actual court date and well he a...ssured me I had no bill with him and not to worry... 3 days later I got a bill for another $2300 and we hadn't even seen our day in court and the papers filled hadn't even been signed by the judge. My ex husband now have my children who want to live with me and continue to run away and fail in school I have learned law is all money that's it if you have money you will win no matter what.

William Hayes

Replied last November 08, 2016

It is always an honor and a privilege, as well as a welcomed obligation, to represent a person who hires our law firm to represent them. Clients who retain us to represent them are required before we begin representation to sign an 8 page written contract. That contract spells out in some detail the responsibilities and the obligations of not only the law firm, but also the client. It is explained to the client at the time they sign the contract, if they do not meet their obligations under the contract, we will not agree to continue to represent them. In litigation cases we tell them at the time they sign the contract that we will approach the court and ask the court to allow us to withdraw as their attorney. We want there to be no misunderstandings. In this case, the client had a previous attorney representing her, before she retained our law firm to represent her. We knew that at the time we sat down with her and went over the 8 page contract. This client signed the contract and her obligations under the contract were explained to her, in detail. Despite having this written contract signed by her, our office, on more than one occasion, explained to this client that she was not honoring her obligations under the contract, and that she is required to do so. There was always some excuse why she was not timely cooperating with us; why she was not timely returning our calls, and why she was not timely paying us our fees and costs that she owed to us. The law firm finally reached a point where it could no longer tolerate this client’s lack of keeping her obligations pursuant to the contract, and the law firm brought a motion before the court asking the court to allow us to withdraw as her attorneys because of her failure to honor her obligations under the contract. The court ruled on our motion and granted it, allowing us to withdraw as her attorneys. We work very hard to please every client that we have. We expected no more from this client than we do from any other client who signs a contract with our law firm. Our law firm fulfilled all of its obligations pursuant to the contract with this client. It was this client who failed to fulfill her obligations pursuant to the contract with the law firm.

Posted by Nathan R. | November 08, 2016 | Hired Attorney | Criminal Defense

He saved me

I was in big trouble. I was guilty (first degree wreckless endangerment) but with some mental health issues that the D.A. didn't care about or maybe didn't understand fully. Combat veteran with PTSD. He (Bill Hayes and his excellent staff) poured through thousands of pages of medical records. I d...o mean thousands. He pinpointed things and asked pointed questions to me. He took an interest in every detail. He met with me several times in jail and kept my family up to date after asking if that was ok with me. The D.A. wanted years in prison. I wanted a year in jail. Bill Hayes wanted me to go home. I went home. He is a bulldog in a suit. I cannot tell you how good he was. I live a quiet life now. I am free and it is because he is very very good at what he does. These are my words and I wouldn't say this if it wasn't how I honestly feel.

Posted by John | September 07, 2015 | Hired Attorney

Outstanding lawyer

Dr Hayes has represented myself and family members on a number of times and has done an excellent job every time. He has been relentless when needed and yet shown compassion at the same time. He has always put our best interests first. I highly recommend Dr Hayes to anyone that is looking for an at...torney.

See All Client Reviews

William J. Hayes's Lawyer Endorsements

Endorse William
Thomas J. McClure headshot
Thomas McClure

Criminal defense lawyer | Feb 15

Relationship: Fellow lawyer in community

"Attorney Hayes is simply outstanding. If you want to win, there is no one in the area who is even close to his professional skills and passion for his client's cause. He combines a phenomenal work ethic, extraordinary courtroom experience and excellent client service at a fair price. Judges are impressed by him, opposing lawyers fear him and his clients love him. As a lawyer in the same region who has seen him in court, heard his clients refer to him in glowing terms and watched his results for over 30 years I can say from my personal experience you will be well served if you have Attorney Hayes as your counsel."

View All Endorsements
Thomas J. McClure headshot
Thomas McClure

Criminal defense lawyer

Experience

Rating:  9.8 (Superb)

Honors

2017

AV Preeminent 5.0 out of 5 Peer Review Rated, Martindale-Hubbell

2016

Top 10 Attorney Award, National Academy of Criminal Defense Attorneys

2015

Top 100 Trial Lawyers, National Trial Lawyers

Work Experience

1985 - Present

Private Practice, Law Offices of Dr. William J. Hayes, S.C.

1979 - 1985

District Attorney, Rock County District Attorney's Office

1975 - 1979

Private Practice, Private Practice

1971 - 1978

Professor, Madison Business College

Associations

Illinois State Bar Association

Board Member

Rock County Bar Association

Member

American Bar Association

Member

American Association for Justice

Member

Wisconsin Association of Justice

Member

Wisconsin Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

Member

State Bar of Wisconsin

Member

Winnebago County Bar Association

Member

Education

2005

Madison University

PhD - Doctorate

2004

Madison University

MA - Masters

1975

University of Wisconsin Law School

JD - Juris Doctor

1973

University of Wisconsin, Madison

BS - Bachelor of Science

Speaking Engagements

2009

University of Wisconsin - Madison

Divorce Mediation

2009

Mediation Matters

Basic Divorce Mediation

2006

State Bar of Wisconsin

GAL Training Workshop

Languages

English

Avvo Rating

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