James Gary Sullivan

My little brother was charged with a juvenile sex crime in Galveston County in February 2014 because he allegedly touched this girl indecently on a school bus in November 2013. When we found out this was going to court, we panicked as any parent can imagine. We talked with friends to recommend a good... lawyer because this was the first time we’ve had any problems with the law and did not know any lawyers. To our misfortune, we ended up hiring and then firing the first two lawyers because it was clear that they did not know what they were doing. We should have known especially when they charged very little, like they say you get what you pay for. I spoke with my brother and he told me he had spoken with a judge but what the lawyer said was not to worry because the cops had better things to deal with, basically he was finished with the case according to him. I am no expert, but I do know that once you speak with a judge you need to have a good lawyer by your side. The second lawyer even said that at the next setting the judge will decide if my brother would have to stay in jail for 10 days while the judge decides what to do with the case. Any person would freak out--especially a 14 year old boy--with this kind of news. That is when I decided to do my own research and I found Mr. Sullivan. After learning that he was board certified in juvenile law with an excellent reputation and a long history of winning cases at trial, I decided to hire him to defend my little brother. Mr. Sullivan agreed to meet with my family on a Saturday afternoon so that my father could attend. During the initial consultation, he listened patiently, asked many detailed questions and even reenacted the scene with my brother to see if it was even possible what he was accused of, something that the previous lawyers did not take the time to do and probably did not even know how to do. I knew that Mr. Sullivan was a trial lawyer and it was obvious that he genuinely cared about my brother. When we left his office, he never guaranteed he could help my brother to not have a charge on his record, but he did say he would try to get it lowered from a felony to a misdemeanor. He also said that if the district attorney did not agree to do that then he believed that he could win the case at a jury trial. I appreciated that he didn't give us false hope like the other lawyers who I also later learned had both been disciplined by the State Bar of Texas. After two months of working on the case, Mr. Sullivan was able to work out a deal with the district attorney so that my brother can get his case dismissed! A HUGE weight had been lifted off our shoulders. You never expect this type of thing to happen to a family, but my family and I are grateful to have met Mr. Sullivan and are very thankful for all he has done for my brother. I highly recommend him to any family that wants their child to get the best representation in juvenile court.

I am truly blessed to have found Attorney James Sullivan. In March of 2014 our world was turned upside down and our experience with the juvenile justice system in Montgomery County would be one that would change our lives forever. Our 13 year old son was accused of Indecency with a Child by his 5 yr ...old niece, a case we were certain he was innocent of. Sullivan answered my phone call when I initially called and talked with me on the phone calming my nerves, ensuring me that everything would be okay. After meeting with Sullivan later that day, we were assured we were in good hands. Sullivan is professional, proficient, and an expert in juvenile law. Sullivan treated our son like the good person we know he is and not as a sex offender that the juvenile justice system had “already” labeled him. Sullivan responded to our e-mails and phone calls in a timely fashion, even calling us after business hours to answer questions we had to ease our anxiety. Sullivan took the time to review the evidence in our son’s case seeking out the true facts and found many weaknesses in state’s case. Sullivan was able to persuade the prosecutor to dismiss the case before our very first court setting! Our son did not even have to meet with the juvenile probation department. The fact that our son never had to be fingerprinted nor have his mug shot taken was a blessing to us as we did not want him to experience a situation like that for a crime he did not commit. Sullivan is very educated in the area of juvenile defense and sought justice for our son to have his name cleared of an erroneous crime. Sullivan cares for his clients and seeking just and fair representation for each person he represents. He is committed to seeing that children receive the support and counsel they need to ensure they have a voice speaking on their behalf during difficult times. I can never thank Sullivan for all that he has done for our son and family. Sullivan even educated us on things we could do to protect our son from being accused of a crime of this nature in the future. I would recommend Sullivan to anyone who is going through an ordeal in juvenile court so you can have peace of mind knowing that you and your family are being taken care of by someone who is committed to seeking justice on your behalf. Sullivan is a true blessing to everyone he comes in contact with and we are forever grateful for everything he has done for our family. T.R & M.R - Porter, Texas

Upon being side swiped with an assault family violence charge from the district attorney in Montgomery County, I immediately took action. First of all let me state that the charges were bogus and secondly I am a very busy and well respected business owner who would definitely feel an impact in time, ...money and reputation if I were convicted. I went to my first court appearance thinking it would get dismissed because I was innocent. Of course, not being a regular of the criminal “justice” system, I was dead wrong; and, in fact, I was completely beside myself with the offer I was handed by the prosecutor! It was absolutely crazy. I did not take this lightly as I am sure, and would hope, most innocent people would not. I wanted the best representation I could have; and, after being in court that first time and being approached in person by various court-appointed attorneys, various floating other counsel (or cronies as I would so frankly put it), I knew right then and there that I wanted an attorney I could trust. I was not a number or a case to be shoved through the highly packed court room! I was not an income opportunity for those in there offering me aid! Anyhow, I entered a not guilty plea and immediately started sifting through defense attorneys I found online. I have always been a good judge of character and I follow my instincts to a tee. Of the three attorneys I had decided to go talk with, James Sullivan was #1 on my list. People let me tell you, I have unfortunately been in this position only one other time in the last 20 years where I needed a high quality professional to defend myself against the government, and learned my lesson the first time. Just like anything else in life, you get what you pay for. If you find yourself in a position where you need an expert, believe me that going the plea route or least costly for the moment will come right back around in a hurry and make you regret not taking the time to defend yourself with the highest quality defense you can muster. I am not saying Sullivan is expensive; in fact, his fees are comparable in cost with other defense attorneys I researched. What I am saying is that Sullivan is a man of his word and has character and clout in his profession, and I felt like I had made the right decision with my choice in hiring him throughout the entire process. He prepared well for my second court setting and stood strong for me. As he explained, Montgomery County has a “rocket docket”, meaning that cases are automatically set for trial after the second setting if they are not worked out. That trial setting is exactly two weeks later. In other words, from the first court setting to a trial is only one month. Imagine finding and hiring a good trial lawyer that quickly. Fortunately, I did just that. Unlike other attorneys in court who were negotiating plea deals for their clients, Sullivan was adamant that if the State did not dismiss the charges then he did not want to waste any further time and to just set it for a jury trial. Sullivan was not bluffing, however I preferred to resolve the case without having a criminal record and without the public spectacle of a trial, and I also did not want to participate in the BIPP program because I certainly was not a batterer. Ultimately, Sullivan forced the prosecutor to back down and got them to agree to dismiss the case after I attended 18 couples counseling sessions with my girlfriend. As we were planning to begin counseling anyway, that was not even a problem or an inconvenience. Six months later, the State dismissed the charges. It is sometimes easy to get into a position that could seriously affect you for a very long period of time. It is much more difficult to reverse the impact of events afterwards. Keep your head up, hire Attorney Sullivan and complete your goal of not becoming part of the system. Thank you so much Mr. Sullivan for your effort and care with my case. ~Satisfied Client and Business Owner, Montgomery Count

After an episode in May 2013, I faced 3rd degree felony charges for domestic violence by impending breathing. Initially, I hired another attorney but he did not perform as I expected and that is why I met with Jim Sullivan. Reviews on AVVO were very positive which gave me a good feeling. After the fi...rst meeting, I knew that he was the right choice. He pointed several mistakes my previous attorney made, and he assured me that he would do his best to firstly control the damage and then he would do his best to get a positive outcome from my case. We talked in his office for several hours. Not only did he ask specific questions about the episode, but he also sought to understand the problems that led to it. It became clear to him that I had a drinking problem after I talked about how my heavy drinking began during the Yugoslav wars and continued for years afterwards. I am originally from Macedonia where it is customary for the men to drink a lot. Sullivan encouraged me to join A.A., to stop drinking and to attend the BIPP program. After he met with my wife to hear her side of the story, Sullivan convinced me that I had to quit drinking to save my marriage. I took his advice. I met my American born wife in Qatar and married her in Texas, but I was here on a visa. I was planning to become a U.S. citizen, but Sullivan told me that a felony probation or even a misdemeanor family violence conviction would result in my deportation. His goal was to persuade the prosecutor to get my case reduced to a misdemeanor in such a way that I could still stay in the United States. Finally, after 8 months, Sullivan got my felony charge reduced to a misdemeanor reckless assault. Instead of 2 to 10 years in prison, I got one year of deferred adjudication probation. There were tough moments when I was depressed and wanted to give up fighting the case, but Sullivan always stood up and helped me both as a professional and as a good friend. I highly recommend Jim Sullivan. He is a caring, reliable and determined attorney who always pulls maximum for his clients. I wish him all the best in his future endeavors. ~Alek

I never thought I would have to face working with an attorney for anything, but after searching through the vast number of attorneys, I chose Mr. Jim Sullivan. Reading the homepage of his website I started to feel like I would be in good hands given the information he provides about his history of t...he successful outcome of cases he has handled. He has represented my son both as a juvenile and an adult. At the age of 16, my son was charged with burglary of a habitation. Mr. Sullivan was determined to prove my son’s innocence and after a few court visits and his expert knowledge, he was able to have the charge dismissed, showing that there was no credible evidence linking my son to the felony. At the age of 18, on New Year’s Eve 2013, my son was arrested for DWI. Again we called on Mr. Sullivan and without hesitation he immediately went to work. Coincidentally, this occurred between the administrations of outgoing DA Pat Lykos and incoming DA Mike Anderson. As a result, the DWI Pretrial Intervention program was no longer available, leaving us with little hope for any kind of leniency. However, Mr. Sullivan assured us that a similar program would be available in the foreseeable future. As a result, Mr. Sullivan encouraged us to stay the course even though it meant many more resets in order to get that result. When the new program started, Mr. Sullivan learned that any prior arrests, even as a juvenile, disqualified a person from the program. Needless to say, I was worried that my son’s previous false charge might come back to haunt him. Initially, the prosecutor turned my son down, however Mr. Sullivan was able to persuade him to keep an open mind, especially as he said, a false charge ought not exempt my son from the program. First, Mr. Sullivan obtained the dismissal order from the juvenile district clerk, but it did not state the reason for the dismissal, so Mr. Sullivan went even further and persuaded the chief prosecutor to get their old file on my son’s burglary charge from storage to verify that my son was not involved in the burglary. Finally, after 7½ months of court visits, he was able to get my son qualified for the new intervention program. This was great news for us. As I write this today, my son is doing well on the program. He has completed 4 months of the one year program. If he successfully completes it, then the DA will dismiss the charges and in two more years my son can get his record expunged. I am most grateful to Mr. Sullivan as he has been so easy to work with, stayed in contact with us, is honest and worked with us tirelessly through the entire process. There are good people everywhere, Mr. Sullivan is one of them and I’m glad we had the privilege of working with him. He also has some interesting stories to share and maybe you’ll be lucky enough to hear one. I’ve said it before, but I can’t say it enough, thank you Mr. Sullivan and we are so appreciative of your kindness and hard work! – DR/DF, Spring, TX