Melanie Marie Laboy

I hired Melanie to handle a second offense DUI. I paid almost 9,000 for her representation. I was so hopeful after my consultation after their over-the-phone-hypeman reassured me that "Anything less than a dismissal, we consider as a loss" "We are known to have some of the most aggressive DUI attorn...eys in the state, one (Melanie) was previously a judge and has a lot of recourses.." "You will have 3 lawyers working together to get you the best possible outcome" "Our goal is to avoid jail time completely" I can't put into words how disappointed I am with the quality of representation I received. Melanie consistently missed our telephonic meetings (as a commercial fisherman out of California, my time in cell reception, as well as free time, was minimal). It came to the point where I would only communicate with her via email so that I could have documentation of everything. Her emails, additionally, were extremely illiterate. She is unethical. She once sent me an email, intended be sent to the district attorney, with another clients full name, case number, and personal information. On numerous occasions I requested Melanie to speak with the DA about allowing me to do house arrest, didn't happen. She was not present for my sentencing and never made a single court appearance with me or on my behalf. I am a resident of the state of Alaska, and I was given a day and a half of notice that I needed to be physically present for my sentencing. I made it happen. However, my attorney bailed and sent an "Associate" on her behalf. An associate who was not only late, but completely unfamiliar with my case. Before entering my plea we had agreed to ask the judge to allow ankle monitoring, this was very important to me. Even her associate failed to do that. He said "I slipped the paperwork in, hopefully he doesn't notice and just puts it through. Follow up with the DOC in Alaska in two weeks." Unfortunately, as I've found out the hard way, it doesn't work like that.. The one and only time I have spoke to or received a response from her since then, she advised me that "It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. Set up the house arrest and we'll submit it to the court and fight it from there. That or I can submit a request, but that could be denied." From there, I attempted to arrange house arrest, but never heard from her again. The officer who wanted to supervise my house arrest reached out with questions, he never received a response either. I had no idea what to do or how to make arrangements for my jail time, or any of the other conditions of my agreement (alcohol screenings, DUI "counseling", etc), and neither did she. I am now hiring another attorney to clean up all of her loose ends. On the other hand, her firms billing department is VERY on-top of their business. It becomes infuriating when your lawyer doesn't respond to you, doesn't make her own scheduled appointments, and basically abandons you.. but will happily take your money anyways. A well known attorney in the state of Arizona informed me that this firm has a very poor reputation and is known for client abandonment and recommended filing a complaint with the State Bar. That being said, I would recommend this attorney to nobody. A public defender could've done as much or more, and I could have saved an enormous amount of money. Keep scrolling for a reliable attorney, you won't find one here.