James John Velasco

Jim Velasco had my interest as his focus. He carefully explained the issues and the available alternatives to me. He took the time to make sure that in critical times, I made the right choices. The times were difficult but I knew I had Jim Velasco in my corner and that made a significant differe...nce.

When my brother was walking across the street and was hit by a car resulting in very severe injuries, our family hired Jim Velasco to protect my brother’s legal interests and to shepherd us through the difficult days ahead as we waited to see whether he would survive and emerge from a coma. Fortun...ately, after some weeks, he did “wake up,” though he did not know his name, or the name of common objects (keys, a book). He had a ventilator to help him breathe and, despite, several surgeries, he remained unable to walk or talk until nearly six months later. Jim guided me through the various steps as I had to go to court to become my brother’s legal guardian . He was respectful and caring of my brother and my elderly parents, understanding the tremendous emotional pain it caused my parents to see my brother in this condition. He visited the hospital frequently, documenting my brother’s slow progress in order to fairly and assertively represent him.

Velasco & Rickard are only concerned about how much money they can get from their clients. I do not believe they remotely listened or were concerned about my needs. I felt they tried to shamelessly drag on as many billable hours as they could. Then, when the client is most vulnerable, they deliver... an additional unexpected bill (very high) before your dispute is resolved. This is especially vile when dealing with family issues like divorce or child custody. They demonstrated a basic level of competence (nothing exceptional), but you don't want to feel raped by your lawyer when dealing with family issues. I truly felt the only things James Velasco and Danielle Rickard wanted was to see how much money they could get out of me, especially when the case was so far along there was no other options left. I strongly recommend you use different attorneys.