Timothy Brian Rien

I hired Tim for defense in very serious criminal charges I was accused of. Tim worked tirelessly on my behalf. He was thorough, always available and understood that there was a huge amount of emotion involved in my case and handled that part of it with sensitivity. Tim met with me on weekends and h...olidays. Tim also met my family with me and separately for me to gently tell them things that I did not have the courage to admit myself. I felt humiliated at times and Tim never waivered in his support for me and when all of the investigation on both sides was over and there was no way around it, he sat me down and told me the truth: the accident was simply my fault. Although hard to here it was true. Tim could have and offered to go forward to trial which would have cost tens of thousands of dollars. He told me he would give me the best criminal defense that he could but was honest with me. Although this was a hard pill to swallow it turned out to be the best outcome for me. He was able to negotiate a plea deal in which I served no time in jail and had minimal fines. Going to trial would have cost me thousands of dollars and probably my home. Tim's honesty saved me not just money though. Tim was able to see that my emotion was in the way of the best decision for my case. He was right. It's been about 10 years. The conviction has been expunged from my record. Hindsight they say is 20/20. Tim led me in the right direction and my life would still be negatively impacted if he hadn't. Thank you Tim.

I enlisted the Law Offices of Timothy Rien to help a friend of mine that was facing criminal charges. Our initial meeting was with Tim, and he was very non-judgmental and helpful -- explaining the process, the cost, and the likely outcome. I really felt like we had an advocate on our side as his of...fice made multiple court appearances and worked with the District Attorney to hammer out a plea bargain. In the end, felony charges were avoided. Although we initially met with Tim, most of our interaction was with Melissa and Joe. I was very pleased with their prompt email updates on court proceedings, and with quick answers to all of our questions.

In 2011 I was referred to Tim Rien and quickly knew I wanted him to represent me in what would be a 4 ½ year case that just recently settled. Tim and his law office team were so helpful and supportive. From the first phone call interaction with Tim I knew I would be in good hands. After hearing my... situation, he wanted to meet with me immediately and made time in his schedule for that same day. I was going through a great deal of stress and was very emotional but Tim made me feel relaxed and comfortable. He communicated in layman’s terms so that I clearly understood what was going on and what to expect moving forward. He made me feel like he cared about finding justice with my case. He would give me advice and often encouraged me to be strong and hold my head high which meant a lot during a very difficult time. From the first meeting I knew Tim was the best choice to represent me. He thoroughly explained every detail of the legal documents, which can be very daunting and confusing. As my situation continued and there were long waiting periods, Tim would check in with me via phone calls and follow my case directly and completely kept me in the loop about everything. That again reassured me that I was in good hands. There was one day when I needed him immediately on the phone to know how to handle some people that had come to my home. I called the office and spoke with Melissa Adams who assured me in a calming voice that Tim was in court, and as soon as he was out, he would be calling me. She advised me in the meantime, how to handle the current situation until Tim was out of court. I received a call from him less than an hour later. On another occasion when I needed to visit the office immediately, to review something that was in my file. I called the office and spoke with Joseph who told me to come in as soon as possible. I always felt like a priority and not just another client. This gave me such peace of mind during the most difficult time in my life. I want people to know that Tim Rien is one the most upstanding people I have ever met. He is professional, honest, dependable, tough, organized and most importantly experienced. He assured me that this would all be over soon and that he would be with me every step of the way…, which he was. Thank you Tim Rien and your professional law team for everything you have done for me during this 4 ½ year ordeal. I look forward to spreading the word and referring people to you who are in need of a professional and caring legal team that goes above and beyond.

I had a very similar experience with Tim as the last reviewer did. When I first met with Tim, he appeared to have a lot of sympathy for me and indignation on my behalf in regards to my wrongful arrest. This changed quickly after I paid my retainer. Once my money was safely in his hands, his optimism... and enthusiasm for defending me subsided dramatically. He didn't come to my court dates, was difficult to reach via phone or email, discouraged me from getting legal advice from anyone else, and generally behaved as if my case wasn't a high priority. I was very unhappy with his work, both the outcome of my case and the way he handled our communication. I am disappointed that he responded to the last reviewer saying he would not "at this time" reveal the client's name or private information on this website, perhaps implying he might at another time (though the review seemed to me quite fair and very familiar to my own experience with Tim). I believe this statement is a greater testament to Tim's character and feeings toward to his clients than any review is.

I had a really bad experience with Tim as my attorney. I was accused of a crime and hired him after my arraignment. I chose him because he quoted me at about half the price of any other lawyer I spoke with. A few days later, he explained that this was a "pre-charging" rate (what you would charge a cl...ient who was being investigated but not yet formally charged) and that I actually owed him twice the initial rate he quoted. While I probably could have had him better clarify what he was asking for in the beginning, it seems dishonest and manipulative to give me a pre-charging rate after arraignment, since a pre-charging rate would be irrelevant for what I was hiring him for. Tim also encouraged me also to pay $4,000 to a private investigator he knew to help with my defense. I was skeptical but Tim insisted it was a good idea. In the end, none of the information he collected was used in my defense. Tim didn't appear at a single of my court appearances, but sent other less experienced lawyers in his place (and this was for a serious felony charge). He had me waive my right to appear in court, claiming that judges subconsciously would come to associate my face with criminality if I came to my court dates. Another lawyer suggested that Tim actually probably didn't want to draw my attention to the fact that he didn't personally intend to come to court for me at all. On one occasion, the lawyer he sent arrived two hours late with no communication. On another, his office sent me a notice of my next court date saying I should not come in person and they would represent me as usual. I went out of state for a business trip and emailed the night before to ask if I could get an update after court. Then they told me I actually was supposed to appear in the morning so I could accept the DA's plea bargain (which I already told them I didn't want to accept). I was confused and terrified because it would have been impossible for me to return on time, and because I wondered why no one had remembered or understood I didn't want to take the plea. Tim wrote me a rather diplomatic email apologizing for the office's poor communication. That was literally the last time I ever heard from him during my case. I thanked him for the email but asked again what had gone wrong exactly, and he had Melissa Adams (another lawyer from the firm) write me a email saying that communication error had actually been my fault because I was supposed to contact them again in the meantime (which no one had ever told me). I asked for clarification and she ignored my email. I believe it was basically a good cop/bad cop routine Tim put together to try to hide how disorganized they were. I often had to wait several days to a week to get answers to questions I had. The crime I was accused of was supposedly caught on a surveillance video. The footage would have completely exonerated me, but someone from the prosecution's side destroyed it. Even with this, Tim's firm wasn't able to neogtiate my case effectively, and I did end up taking the plea bargain in the end out of frustration. Now I have a criminal record. I really regret not going with a public defender because I know they could not have done any worse and I wouldn't have spent $14,000. Had I decided to push forward, I definitely would have hired someone else for trial. I frankly felt as at odds with Tim as I did with the police and prosecutor. I felt like they already saw me as a criminal and didn't believe or care about what had actually happened. Even if the outcome had been the same, I wish I had gone with a lawyer who had better communication skills and appeared to actually care about my case. I would not recommend him for these reasons.