Howard R Gaines

I have utilized Howard Gaines on 2 occasions (both involving speeding tickets). The 1st ticket was a Criminal Speeding Ticket which was reduced to a regular speeding & then we were able to get empathy from the judge as the reason I was speeding was that my daughter was stranded & the weather was incl...ement. The judge also has a daughter & that helped in the end result, but Howard was precise on the timing in approaching the bench & was not overly aggressive with the judge which allowed my Criminal Speeding Ticket to go to a regular speeding ticket & then further reduced to allow me to waive the ticket by going to defensive driving school (which is usually unheard of when you receive a criminal speeding ticket). My 2nd speeding ticket was a regular ticket & I was not so lucky on that court appearance as the Motorcycle Cop was very good in his responses & I could have done a better job with specific evidence from the intersection in question, so not really Howard's fault for the loss. I see a lot of negative reviews & I must say that I too experienced initial doubts in dealing with Howard as he would seem to be too busy to let me say everything that was on my mind, & we did get off on a 'rocky start', but once we understood each others personalities, the bottom line is that Howard did his job that he was hired to do, & did it well. I do think that Howard could be a little more patient with letting his clients speak freely or even the people doing an initial consultation. I think Howard probably has too much on his plate at times & that may be why he seems 'short' with some people. As for the remark someone else made about his dress & appearance, I always thought Howard was dressed appropriately for the hot Phoenix climate & when we went to court he was all business with a nice suit.