Efrain Sain

This is my first trouble with the law ever that resulted from a stupid argument that got out of hand. My stepkids, one 13 year old boy and one 19 year old daughter, got physically involved in the argument and had some bruising on their arms from me grabbing their arms to prevent them from hitting me.... My Colombian wife, thinking that it was like Colombia and the police would only have a chat with me and not do anything in family violence cases, went to the police two days later to see if there was anything the police could do to save our marriage. She and the stepkids went with the spirit that I was a great husband, a great father -- they did this without knowing that I had already scheduled marriage counseling. The police took the statements of the kids and my wife (except for my stepson's -- important detail) and called me a day later. Never having been in trouble with the law, I voluntary recounted what had happened to the officer on the phone (bad idea -- I basically confessed to grabbing the kids, regardless if it was for self-defense). He charged me over the phone, asked me to turn myself in, and just like that, I was an accused criminal -- one Felony charge for assault with family violence with bodily injury for the 13-year old, and another Misdemeanor A charge for assault with family violence with bodily injury for the 19-year old. This was in Denton county. Now, as you may or may not know, family violence cases on your record will never go away. There is no option to expunge a family violence case. As a project manager with two Master's degrees and a decent career, this was hell for me -- basically everything I worked for over the years went poof! Gone due to bad decisions made one night. After turning myself in and being arrested and arraigned (an experience in itself), I immediately looked for a lawyer. I found Avvo, and from there, had initial consultations with about 6 lawyers. All of them charged exorbitant fees and all of them were hourly and none of them gave me the confidence that they would truly work for me and my interests -- except for one: Mr. Efrain Sain. After meeting him, I saw how dedicated he was and I immediately went to the car for my checkbook and wrote him a check that afternoon. That was the best decision I made for this case. It was a grueling 12 months until the close of these two cases (from August 2015 to May 2016). The Felony case was the most serious. Mr. Sain reviewed the evidence from the District Attorney (DA) and my stepson was willing to make an affidavit to say that the police did not ask for his statement and that his bruising caused no pain (apparently for "bodily injury," the victim has to experience some kind of pain -- another testimony to Mr. Sain's legal expertise). Mr. Sain submitted this affidavit to the DA, kept in touch with me through his secretary, and I received a call him later informing me that the jury decided not to proceed with the case. It was a no bill! For the Misdemeanor, it was several months of going back and forth in the court, but Mr. Sain was able to negotiate with the DA for a court dismissal with the condition I took counseling. This was in Denton County, which previously did not have this program. Mr. Sain got me into the program, told me to go to counseling early, so I was able to shop around for the best price. A couple of anger management classes and an all-day parenting class later, and the case was dismissed as part of the plea! No court fees or anything. The whole thing is finally over and there is an option to expunge my record after the statute of limitations. In the end, my wife and I are still together and the counseling improved our marriage greatly. We see this as a blessing more than anything. I highly recommend Efrain. The only thing I suggest is to EMPATHIZE with him -- he's a busy guy, working feverishly on your case. Be patient and trust in his expertise; it will pay off.

It was the worst moment of my life when I got put to a legal mess by a person who I loved so much and I cared so much about. I was charged with domestic violence (DV) and it is one of the worse cases for non-immigrants like me. I hired a lawyer with 25 years of experience thinking that he was the rig...ht one to solve my case. However, I had to pay him more money that was beyond the contract. I felt like he was favoring my ex-girlfriend more than me when he asked her if she wanted to file for child support. He even explained how to get free apartment as a victim of DV according to my ex-girlfriend. Still I didn't give up on him thinking that he would fight for me to dismiss my case. However, he called me and told me they didn't want to dismiss my case. According to him, they wanted to convict me with Domestic Violence class C misdemeanor and he told me to accept it and "get over" with it. For non-immigrants, it doesn't matter what class of DV you get convicted with - you are subject to deportation and he knew that very well. I finally realize that he wasn't the right attorney for me. I started looking for one who could handle my case aggressively. I found Efrain Sain on AVVO. When I talked to him first time on the phone, I felt like he was the right one. And then, I met him personally and discussed about the situation. He considered very well on his fee since I had already spent too much money paying my previous attorney. Besides, he explained how my case can be dismissed and how it can go worse. He guided me and reminded me time to time to avoid certain things that would make my case worse. It was first court date with him when he got conditional dismissal from the judge. And that's when I felt my hope turned into reality. I finished my 12-week anger management class and my case is completely dismissed. I thank a lot to attorney Sain.