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Showing 36 - 38 of 38 reviews

Posted by Chad | May 20, 2020 | Hired Attorney | Criminal Defense

STOP!!!DO NOT HIRE THIS ATTORNEY!!!!

STOP!!!DO NOT HIRE THIS ATTORNEY!!!! January 2019 Bruce Rivers was first hired to get my seized truck back.After telling him circumstances his EXACT words were, "For $3500 I 100% guarantee I'll get you your truck back." Well what he did was kept putting off the court date. Finally 6 months later my e...x and I go to my hearing. No attorney was present. Judge asks who I am and says oh yes the procecuter and Mr. Rivers informed him criminal charges would be filed soon making this hearing irrelevant.(still waiting for 3500 refund) So he says they are gonna charge me but doesn't know with what but he want $15000 now. He says he will work with $5000 more making it $8500 total and we figure out rest later. In Dec.2019 he says they put warrant out and to turn myself in.(he gave them 11 months to turn the guy originally charged against me, instead if fighting for my truck right away) Once in custody Bruce did not show up for ANY of my hearing. Though he was paid $3500 in Jan-2019 and $5000 in June-2019 at my 2nd hearing he missed the judge told me Bruce had not even registered as my legal attorney. And this was January or February 2020. He'd been hired a year ago. Very rarely could I even reach him by phone. I was in Polk county jail 72 days and he did not go over my discovery with me AT ALL. Didn't even get me copy of it for 60 days. I repeatedly told the lady that answers his phone I wanted a bail reduction hearing or a 1 day furlough to take care of my CDL. He did neither. He said prosecutor would pull plea deal if he asked for a furlough or bail reduction hearing. I wanted to go to trial but Bruce said we would lose and all he talked about was how good prosecutor is and how big our fish to fry is. So he says plead to 3rd degree poss. He said S.A. says I have 3 points but he doesn't think I do. I know I don't, I have 2. So THE ONLY HEARING HE SHOWED UP FOR IS MY GUILTY PLEA. There he says ya you do have 3 points. He shows me a handwritten point sheet from S.A. not a PSI calculations sheet. He gave me a FULL FELONY POINT for a past misdemeanor. And when I said no I want a PSI Bruce said no that will push sentencing out 4 months and SA would pull deal(how, guilty plea in already and it would've been just sentencing hearing). I could go on &on about what Bruce did not do for me but I will just leave it at I want my money back for breach of contract, I am reporting all this and more(he called my ex and her attorney and was screaming and swearing at them) to the lawyers professional board , the bar, anyone I can report him to. he didn't show up for any hearings but one... I've applied for the MN Office of the Appellate Public Defender to take my case to fix my points since my hired attorney was incapable of doing his job. One more thing to note. SA wanted fine of $500. I said to Bruce argue that they are getting $13000 truck that's enough. He stated he wasn't gonna worry bout $500.(course not he sat back collected $8500 to show up for a plea bargain) Luckily we didn't mute mic and judge heard that and way lowered the fine. Chad

Bruce Rivers

Replied last May 20, 2020

First, Chad had been caught with a large amount of methamphetamine. I never ever guaranteed that he would get his truck back but I filed the necessary forfeiture petition and started the process. The government had built a decent sized conspiracy case against him, long before his truck was seized, which he never seemed to grasp the seriousness of it. He was charged with first degree sales and plead to third degree. Voluntarily. No one forced him. He was looking at a hard 86 months and the State threatened to refer the prosecution to the feds where, with his background and quantity of the meth in the conspiracy, he would be facing a hard 120 month mandatory minimum. He received a 41 month sentence that he agreed to. The deal struck qualifies him for boot camp so he should be out in less than a year. He lied to me about his involvement, his drug use and what was found in the truck and who it belonged to. His phone was shut off constantly and could not be reached. Although I met with him in Jail, he also was able to reach me at any hour while in jail. I invite him to report whatever he wants to whomever. No ethical violations occurred. I never called his ex and yelled. I did call her when the bankruptcy trustee for his ex wanted $1,000 returned as she did not disclose the distribution to me but he was not her lawyer and I never yell. He did not pay the full amount of his fee and I never asked for the remainder. I wish him the best.

Posted by Patrick | September 28, 2018 | Criminal Defense

Didn't even show up to an appearance!!

Mr. Rivers initially told me he was about "aggressive representation", turns out he wasnt. It was the exact opposite. In fact he didn't even call in to an appearance I had, and when the court clerk's tried to reach him he was "unavailable". Which is funny because his "team" sent me a letter reminding... me to set it in my calendar and I'm positive he got a similar heads up seeing as it was him who sent me a reminder. Then after all is said and done and I had been sentenced and locked up I get a letter stating that my bail (which was a considerable amount) was being seized and that Mr Rivers had done absolutely nothing, not even tell me this was a possibility or that he had basically told the state to keep it. Needless to say, I would have rather hired some zoo animal in wingtips and a suit than Mr. Rivers and I suggest you do the same.

Bruce Rivers

Replied last September 28, 2018

This is a completely fake review. Either by a competitor or someone wishing to harass me. If the person identifies who they are, and can prove that I had a part in having their bail forfeited, I will reimburse this person in full. The plain and simple truth is that there is no truth to what is said above. I have a stellar reputation. Take my job extremely seriously and do not miss appearances. Give me the date time and court. Never happened. How much was the bail. The only way bail gets seized is if it comes from illegal proceeds. I have received no complaints as stated above. I have not represented someone in similar circumstance. If you can prove you are a dissatisfied client I would do everything in my power to make it right if I did something wrong. However I have an idea who wrote this and an investigation is under way. I should be able to get the IP address and when I do I will file suit for defamation.

Posted by Kendra | November 16, 2017

Rude

I initially sent him an email via his website briefly explaining myself, my situation & asked him a couple of questions. I instantly received an email reply saying "call me". So I called. It was obvious he hadn't even read my email because of the questions he asked me. Our entire phone call lasted ...about 30 seconds before he said "I have to be in court, I can't talk to you" & hung up on me.

Bruce Rivers

Replied last September 13, 2017

I never represented this person. This person called me after pleading guilty and being sentenced. She was represented by another lawyer. It would have been unethical for me to speak with her because she was represented by someone else. I told her to speak to the other lawyer's supervisor. She wanted to continue to speak with me. She would not take no for an answer. To avoid any ethical concerns I ended the conversation. I never hung up on her.

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