I have only the highest praise for Mary Frances. She is a no nonsense, determined, dogged, and reliable lawyer. My life in the business world has necessitated that I hire several lawyers in the past decade. Unfortunately, this is the first time I needed a lawyer for my personal issues. Originally..., when I was released from jail, I received a good number of letters from what seemed to be absolutely desperate lawyers soliciting my business, and making all sorts of promises about what they could do for me and how amazing they were. That conjured up the sickening pictorial of the snake oil salesman the ambulance chaser. Two even had a coupon attached if I hurried up and acted "NOW!." I suppose these desperate lawyers (and I say "desperate" because as a business person I know no one would engage in the seemingly embarrassingly desperate tactics unless they were indeed desperate). One encouraged me to hire him because he had "low, easy payments." Since I wasn't looking for a lawyer to be on "lay away", but one who was going to have to do some heavy work up front, I wasn't interested in the cheap guy, or the lay away guy. But I guess the fear of not having an attorney "NOW!" coupled with the prospect of a discount, appeals to the least educated. I suspect down the line they got what they paid for. I needed a "go get'em tiger" lawyer. And that's what I got. Mary Frances met with me, and immediately began pursuing the information I provided to her. Let's just say this was a domestic violence case with a very angry ex girlfriend who didn't w ant to go away. By the time Mary Frances and her investigator had completed the investigation and met with the DA, she had mapped out a case that showed I was completely guilt free, and that my ex was essentially off her rocker. Yes, I did not hire the "cheap, easy payment" lawyer. I did not hire the one who mailed me a discount coupon. I hired the attorney with credentials who I paid up front ad who won my case. It was the best money ever spent. My arraignment was not for a month, so I had the luxery of doing some research.

Mary came referred to me from a friend who had needed her services about 4 years ago, and who was satisfied with the result. Having no knowledge whatsoever of the criminal justice system, I decided it was best to go with a known quantity. First, she is quick and to the points. She does not suffer... long winded emotional diatribes. I know, she let me know immediately that it was her job to save me from myself, not babysit me or counsel me. Fine, no problem. Second, she seems to know everyone in the courthouse. She seemed to have a good relationship with court staff, bailiffs, even the judge. That made me feel good. Third, she did a superior job of negotiating my case. We had to continue the felony readiness because the prosecutor's discovery came late, and was quite lengthy. No problem. But before we went back to court, she went to the "special DA' assigned to my case, pointed out to him issues where his case was deficient, and also pleaded my personal case to him. All in all, the result we obtained in the negotiated plea bargain was excellent. I am glad that my friend referred me to Mary. She is tough as nails, knows the courtrooms like the back of her hand, and is a real force. She didn't always call me back as quickly as I would have liked. But I guess when you hire a sought after attorney with a great reputation, you can't expect instant gratification. Given her ability to secure a deal for me that I didn't think I could get, I'll take a little less instant gratification. I would recommend her to anyone. She re ally is a fine lawyer.

I was arrested for domestic violence, resisting arrest and battery on an officer. I cannot tell you how ridiculous this was. My wife went crazy because she thought I was spying on her. She threw a cabbage at me, and hit me on the back. I picked up up, threw it back at her, and hit her arm. She call...ed the police. They came, and since I asked them questions about why they were taking me instead of either; 1) letting it go, or; 2) taking both of us cabbage throwing idiots away, they charged me with resisting or "delaying" an officer. I tripped when they hauled me out, and added a battery case on top of it because when I fell, I kicked on of the cops in the leg. I'm a medical professional. This was ridiculous. What is even more ridiculous, is that when the city prosecutors got it, they didn't throw it out. They went along with the police. My wife got contacted by a victim's advocate who harassed her because she did not want me prosecuted. They called her a battered woman who needed help. Remember, we were throwing a cabbage at each other. The city domestic violence advocate wouldn't let up. What a nut. Ms. Prevost had a polygraph done on both of us by the former police department chief polygraph examiner. It confirmed out positions on this case: that we had each thrown a cabbage at each other. It didn't impact the city prosecutors. Ms. Prevost did a police misconduct motion on the officers at the scene who falsely charged me with resisting/delaying and battery. it wasn't their first foray into lying on police reports, we learned. Ultimately, the case was dismissed. But it cost me a lot of money, and 8 long months of agony. The city prosecutor was a complete numbskull. I now have no faith in the legal system. But I do have faith in Mary Prevost. What caused me to hire her in the first place was not so much the AVVO client reviews, but the reviews from attorneys all over the country who apparently know her and know her work, and are comfortable providing glowing reviews. If other lawyers would use her, than I decided so would I. I did the right thing. She worked long and hard to get me out of this ridiculous mess.

What can I say? I was charged with DUI with injury. I spoke to a number of lawyers. Funny how some young lawyers with less experience will try to sell you and charge larger fees like the more experienced lawyers. Interesting how some of the more experienced lawyers charge more fair fees. Anyway, I ...went with Mary because of her credentials AND she didn't try to railroad me into hiring her on the spot, like everyone else did. Boy, did I make the right choice. At the end of the day, there was a light at the end of that bleak tunnel. She got me a wet reckless, when I was charged with a DUI with injury. It was hard to keep the faith during the eight months this case took to resolve. But it was worth it.

My ex GF thought I was cheating, and so she went crazy. She called the cops and made up statements that I hit her. It didn't happen. She actually attacked me. I hired Mary to defend me in criminal court. Mary had her investigator go out and interview my ex, and interview her sister and two friends,... and she got different statements from each of them about what my ex said to the cops. Nothing matched up. I told Mary I was re fusing to take an offer for an infraction because I didn't do anything wrong and I'd rather pay for a trial than plead to anything. On the day of trial, the prosecutor dismissed the charges!!!!! Mary was really strong throughout and aggressive with the prosecutors. I'm thrilled with my result. I've since been told by friends who have had problems in the court system that their attorneys practically forced deals on them. Not Mary. She was raring to go to trial. And I think that confidence shook the prosecutor up enough for her to dismiss the case.