Joseph Michael Borsberry

Borsberry Law did a terrible job with my case. They allowed apposing counsel to run circles around them and treated my case like an administrative exercise. During court appearances apposing counsel dominated proceedings and appeared to simply overwhelm the Borsberry Law team. At some court appearanc...es the lawyer from Brosberry Law seemed more concerned about making the local bar association meeting on time (I believe he is the president) than making maximum use of time with the judge! The Borsberry team also worked in a sort of Black box fashion, keeping me in the dark, not adequately preparing me or explaining what the potential outcomes might be/ what they would mean. The lawyer would often print/scan the legal code and share it with me as if I am a lawyer and would be able to interpret what things meant in the larger context of the law on my own. I am not a lawyer. The Borsberry team also showed little empathy or concern about gender bias and race prejudice. They team seemed blind to and unaware of the volume of published on segregated schools and housing, disparities in Black and White income/wealth in the city of Peoria and surrounding county. The Borsberry team was reluctant and discouraged making use of those factors in-front of the judge because, they said, the court wouldn't be "sympathetic" to them. For my particular case these factors were relevant, and they are really issues in Peoria. You'd probably be served better elsewhere, especially if you are a Black person/person of color given their lack of knowledge, empathy and deniial of race bias. In my opinion they’re not equipped to advocate well where issues about race bias are a factor. This may not be intentional or unique to The Borsberry Law team, as segregation and poor education and economic outcomes for Black people is the norm that many in Peoria may simply be blind to. Things have changed dramatically for the better since I retained a new lawyer. I clearly see how poorly the Borsberry Law team handled my case.

I should've know on my consultation what I was dealing with when I asked him what my payment options were as I have never hired an attorney. "We are not a bank." He told me that my wife could not take my daughter away and he would have rights for me with in 24 hours. When it was time to file, he... told me to go into court house to submit for a order of protection on my daughters mother. That was denied. I had to hound him for information on details on how our case would go, length of time, next court dates etc. He gave me very vague answers and after asking ask me to let him do his job; when all I was doing was asking about my case and proceedings. He told me should have to pay half of bills and that he could get that enforced as she was not helping me with any of our bills. I had to sell some items and fall behind on payments on my mortgage and other bills due to this. He then made a mockery and joke of my situation saying that I was playing a game with my wife on who was going to pay bills. When all I was trying to do was stay afloat. Went to first court hearing and turns out my wife put a order of protection on me and Joe says that they tried to reach out to me. Later finding out this being an email with an attachment on things I don't understand because I am an IT guy and I overlooked. That order of protection was to take my cars and kick me out of my house with no visitation to my daughter( Shouldn't have been a phone call for a response before the court date? hahahhaha Then he argued with me that they did call me and they never did. In addition, my wife's attorney sat down with her and chatted politely. Joe came into court house looked at me and went to another client. Then after court hearing, my wife's attorney sat with her again. Joe didn't even come out to talk, he took another client in. Retainer fee of 2300 and end bill of an additional 500 for a few phone calls and one day at court. Turns out my wife has only paid 1200 so far and she was in regular contact with her attorney. Borsberry office will nickel and dime you to death. This guy is the epitome of an attorney you do not want to hire. Only facts here...I can't believe I hired this guy. Make your own decision.

Joseph M. Borsberry made promises in my preliminary consultation which he did not have any intention of keeping. I had paperwork to show that my arresting officer in my DUI case was dishonest and he agreed, I told him that he cussed and went down a hill to urinate on video. The officer gave a roadsid...e test on a hill. Borsberrry said that he would go to trial with that information. For that reason. I gave him his retainer fee of $2500.00. After a month and receiving emails with the wrong dates on them, I requested a meeting to discuss the police video which Mr. Borsberry refused to view in the preliminary consultation. Again, he would not view the police video of the officer going down a hill to urinate. The video also contained the voice of police officers using profanities. I also had paperwork proving that the officer gave five DUI’s in a two-week period. Joseph Borsberry had the paralegal look at the video on computer, across from me as she described the wrong location during the meeting. The 65-minute video was not played beyond the first two minutes. During that meeting Mr. Borsberry said that he and the expert witness do not want to go after the officer who gave me a Standardized Field Sobriety Test on a hill. Which was easily proven with a cue ball rolling down the hill and also using a six-foot level. I had two witnesses on video rolling a cue ball up the hill and it rolled back down on its volition. They also employed a six-foot level. They were approved by the judge and ready to testify. He said, "I will have them testify if I feel like it." I then left the meeting and began to send Mr. Borsberry emails to discuss my case further. He sent back emails that made no sense. When I sent emails to rectify my meaning he sent more nonsensical emails and charged me for every nonsensical email. In this way, and with Motions which made no sense, he burned up over $2100. 00 of the retainer and left me to go to trial on my own, as my own attorney, Pro Se.