Joshua Reed Saunders

I was falsely accused of sexual assault. I had previously never interacted with the criminal justice system and all of a sudden, I found myself sifting through online reviews of criminal defense attorneys. After significant research, I hired what I thought was the best representation I could hope to ...obtain but quickly discovered that I needed so much more than just great reviews or fancy websites with promising case results. I needed rigorous pro-activeness, compassion, reassurance and someone to champion my innocence. Enter Joshua Saunders and the Marshall Defense Firm. After a few interactions with my previous lawyer, I chose to reach out to the Marshall Defense Firm for a consultation. Their focus on special assault defense cases highly appealed to me. Right away, Josh began collecting details relating to my situation and providing me with some clarity, guidance and what I could likely expect. He was able to immediately pick up on the strengths, merits of my case and suggest what we could do pro-actively as a team. Above all, Josh's interpersonal skills - especially his compassion, instantly resonated with me and I decided to retain the Marshall Defense Firm. Josh and the team got to work right away and Josh was always, always able to make time for me! We began with a preliminary in-person meeting to fully walk through the various details of my case, then began developing strategies. I had so many questions and received satisfactory answers to all of them. We were always thinking 10 steps ahead which is exactly what I wanted - some sense of control. Josh was able to diligently work with investigators and prosectors - relaying information, highlighting the merits of my account and inconsistencies in the accusation while always keeping me looped in on communications and updates. I always had full visibility into developments and Josh was always readily available when I had additional information or thoughts to share. Really, despite his caseload, Josh always made me feel like I was his only client and priority. We executed on all of our pro-active measures and ultimately, no charges were filed. Here's the thing - we were working this during the COVID-19 pandemic and in a time of historic backlog in the processing of cases. However, we were able to obtain a favorable disposition nonetheless, and fairly quickly. I was definitely not a passive client. I needed to know what we were doing/trying to do every week, even when sometimes, all you can do is wait. However, Josh's excellent communication skills and well timed circle backs ensured positive responses and acknowledgements from investigators and prosecutors. Josh is also incredibly competent at coordinating and following up with multiple parties, agencies and determining next steps, responding timely with relevant information as well as providing a preliminary qualitative assessment of various case details. No doubt, he's a highly professional and competent lawyer and I have no doubt that his future clients will be incredibly satisfied to have retained him...but what makes Josh amongst the BEST is all the non-lawyer-y aspects: those micro-interactions on phone calls when there were no updates, no positive news or only neutral news. His remarkable ability to see me as a human coping with the looming possibility of a charge, seeing me carrying the burden of it, reassuring me with the facts but never overpromising or departing for reality, reminding me that I was innocent, reminding me of all the great work we had done so far, going that extra mile for me even though it would have been sufficient to just sit back and wait, ultimately calling me one day to tell me that it was behind me and so much more! Those are all the things that make Josh a phenomenal lawyer and amongst the best and why you should retain him. Also, a shout out to the entire team - David Marshall (who advised on case), Tracey and Malea. You are all lovely and I'm so grateful to have worked with you all.