James Gary Sullivan

I stumbled across James's reviews here on Avvo after my son was being charged with felony assault on a public servant for being one of many students throwing notebook paper the last day of school. I contacted James via phone and he was in court but was able to answer his phone and discuss my son's ca...se. I immediately felt at ease. He was able to get my son out of the detention center within a half hour maximum after I hired him which was about 10 minutes into our phone call. During this horrible process he helped our family tremendously. When we went to court he was able to get the charges non-suited with just a few requirements that my son had to do. My son fulfilled the requirements and the case was closed non-suited- without us having to go to trial. Mr. Sullivan really takes the time to get to know his clients and goes the extra mile to get things done quickly( which is uncommon for criminal court). He knew my son was not guilty of assaulting a teacher with notebook paper and he did not stop until the case was non-suited. I would highly recommend him to anyone that finds themselves in need of a criminal attorney. He will go above and beyond for his clients.

Last year our teenage son got into serious trouble and we needed representation for him. We initially hired a different attorney but after seeing Jim Sullivan’s demeanor in court representing someone else, we switched to him immediately. Our son was being held in juvenile detention and was charged wi...th terroristic threat and criminal mischief. Out of jealousy, he had texted threats to his then girlfriend when he learned she was with another guy. Our son is not a violent person and would not have harmed the girl, but words do have meaning and his impulsive act got him in trouble. Jim Sullivan was able to get our son released back to us under strict rules of supervision. He had to stay at home and under our supervision when he was not in school. As it happened, this court order was a blessing in disguise because it helped clear him from more serious false charges. A few weeks later our son was falsely accused of assault against a prior ex-girlfriend at a time when he was at home with us. At about the same time, another girl claimed our son had sent her threatening text messages at school. We later learned she had been misled by a boy at school. Despite our insistence to the officer that our son was innocent, he was re-arrested on new charges of assault and terroristic threat. Our son was devastated. We didn’t think we could get him out of detention again. Jim Sullivan told us he had never heard of a child being released on PAT Team supervision for a second time after picking up new charges, but he would do his best. Jim did tell us about a previous case that he had quickly taken to a jury trial and won for a client after the same judge wouldn’t release his client from detention. In hindsight, it was Our son was visibly distraught when he was brought before the judge. Jim told the judge he could prove our son’s innocence and that if the DA did not dismiss the new charges then he would be asking for the earliest possible jury trial. Jim asked the judge to release our son with an ankle monitor, and incredibly the judge did so. Jim’s earnestness, experience and reputation made the difference. After Jim Sullivan the offense report of the assault charge, he said it was clear our son was set up and that the girls all knew each other. The girl who was assaulted didn’t even report it. Instead, it was our son’s recent girlfriend who first had him arrested that did so. I mean, what are the odds? We believe the girl was assaulted by her then boyfriend and was pressured by him to blame our son instead. The girl’s story was so incredulous, the details so over the top that it belonged in a soap opera. Jim referred to these girls as the Pretty Little Liars after the Netflix show. Jim Sullivan worked for nine months on our son’s cases. He hired investigators to interview witnesses and subpoena records. He combed through witness statements and phone records, identifying discrepancies in them. He arranged for our son to take a polygraph test which he passed. Jim came to court ready to fight for our son. He said if the prosecutor did not dismiss the two new charges that he was ready to fight them at a jury trial. In the end, the prosecutor backed down and agreed to dismiss them. Our son received probation at home for the first two cases. At age 18 our son can get all of his juvenile records sealed. Jim Sullivan has an extensive list of contacts within the juvenile system that enabled him to get things done quickly and correctly. He gave us very good advice and made excellent decisions regarding the handling of our son’s cases. His knowledge of the law is impressive, and he has an established reputation within the Harris county juvenile system as an honest and capable attorney. Most importantly, Jim helped our son. He spent a lot of time with him, comforted him in very difficult times, and made us all feel optimistic in some rather distressing situations.

In July 2017, my then 16 year old stepson was accused of a sex crime involving a young half-sister in a different county. CPS got involved and then law enforcement. Our son denied the allegations. CPS closed their file in August with no finding, but in February we received word that we had to appear ...in court the next week. We were shocked and unprepared. After searching online, we decided to hire James Sullivan as our son’s attorney. Sullivan is board certified in juvenile law and has defended more than 100 juveniles and adults charged with sex crimes. He understands the complexities of these cases. We met with him on Friday of that week which left him only one business day to prepare. My wife spoke with Mr. Sullivan over the phone and described our son’s family history. My wife divorced her first husband, the biological father, less than a year after our son was born. The biological father himself was sexually abused by his own father as a child. During custody visits, he was not allowed to leave our son in his father’s care unsupervised, but he did so anyway. Our son has no memory of being abused by his paternal grandfather, but he may have been. When we met with Mr. Sullivan, he explained the urgency in making a decision as our son was already 17. If we fought the case at trial and won the nightmare would be over, but if we lost the consequences would be a disaster for our son’s future. At a minimum, the DA’s office would seek a determinate sentence which would lead to a public record of an adult probation or even prison sentence that could never be sealed. Mr. Sullivan would do whatever our son wanted, but he said he could probably persuade the DA to let our son have probation until age 18 and our son would have to finish the sex offender treatment program. After our son described what happened when he visited his half-sister and her outcry the next morning, Mr. Sullivan said the specific details, the immediate outcry and his family history made the allegations seem credible. He asked our son if he would be willing to take a polygraph test. As fortune would have it, he was able to schedule a polygraph that same afternoon. Unfortunately, our son failed the polygraph and then came clean about what he did. We met back with Mr. Sullivan and our son said he wanted to try and get probation. We only had to go to court twice. Mr. Sullivan worked out a great deal with the DA. Our son will be on probation for less than 9 months and will have to finish the treatment program. If he does so, he will not have to register as a sex offender and will be able to get his record sealed. Mr. Sullivan took a genuine, vested interest in our son as a person and a young man facing an incredible ordeal. We couldn’t have asked for any better representation nor do I think we would have gotten it. This wasn’t about a win in court, this was about making sure that the rest of my son’s life would not be defined by one terrible moment. Mr. Sullivan is everything one needs a lawyer to be. His expertise is time and money well invested. If you or your family need representation, I highly recommend that you put your faith in Mr. Sullivan as my wife, son, and I did.

I'm in the process of hiring him now. After countless other attorneys so called consultations, he was the ONLY one who took the time to answer my questions, and actually took the time to listen to our concerns. He also advised me on things I wasn't even aware of. I honestly felt he genuinely cared. ... I am confident that I am making the absolute best decision.

I have had epilepsy since 2010. In July 2017 I had a seizure and while in a postictal statefollowing the seizure I lit a gasoline fire on the garage’s concrete floor of a rental house.It was an irrational attempt to defend my wife from a former friend and tenant who wasattacking her. During the attac...k, he accidentally knocked over a gas can that spilled gas.The fire stopped the attack but also spread to the gas can, which my wife immediatelythrew into the front yard and was extinguished by the police that arrived a few momentslater. My wife had called the police a few minutes before because the former friend hadthreatened to get his gun. He is also a drug user and violent, but his father is a policeofficer. As a result, even though my wife’s parents witnessed what happened, I was theone arrested by the police and charged with arson after the fire marshal’s office gotinvolved.Attorney Jim Sullivan was highly recommended to me by an associate that works at a lawfirm in Houston. I gave Mr. Sullivan a call that day and spoke with his associate NancyBotts, who took thorough notes on the case, and passed the word onto Jim who thenreturned my call within hours. We spoke about 45 minutes about my incident and what alltook place. He agreed to accept my first degree felony case that day for a very reasonableamount of money. Shortly after that we all met in person for a few hours to discuss theentire story, my medical problem and the erratic behavior that took place. After askingmy wife and her parents detailed questions about their observations that day and the next,he believed that my condition played a role in the event. He believed strongly from dayone that the charges were wrong and unjust. Jim always represented himself to beconfident in our ability to have my case dismissed from court, long before ever having togo to trial. Jim said that it is exceedingly rare for an epilepsy defense to work, but he wasconfident he could do it.Hurricane Harvey caused a delay in my case due to the courthouse flooding. Jim Sullivanalways represented me in timely, professional, and caring fashion. He spent immenseamounts of time researching epilepsy, learning what it is, the various types of seizure,how it affects a person, along with tons of man hours putting together an incredibledefense packet to present to the grand jury. He also asked my neurologist detailedquestions about whether a simple partial seizure could explain my erratic behavior, mymemory recall two hours later when I was questioned by the police and other pertinentdetails of the case. The neurologist agreed that a simple partial seizure was entirelyplausible and possible, that my behavior would have been non-volitional and agreed towrite a letter explaining why. Once the grand jury read over the lengthy defense packet,the week after Thanksgiving, my case was no billed.Throughout this entire process, I had two brain surgeries and am now seizure free. JimSullivan and his practice were amazing and I would highly recommend him to friends,family, and everyone. Lord forbid if I am ever again in a situation that would involve hisexpertise, I will certainly call Jim Sullivan and seek his counsel before ever trying anyoneelse