Criminal defense is undoubtedly the most important area of law: a surreal, zero-sum game in which your freedom is brokered by third party strangers as you watch bewildered from the sidelines.
When the government comes gunning for you in that way — and make no mistake, seeking a protracted prison ...sentence for you is nothing less than the ultimate predation by an oppressive state that doesn't respect individual liberty — the choice you make in hiring a criminal defense attorney will be one of the most important decisions that you ever make outside of mate selection.
I was familiar with Evan Nappen's name because I am an avid firearms enthusiast and he is well known within that community for being an indefatigable champion of second amendment rights. Given that the majority of the charges I faced were firearm related, and the "gun nut" stereotype was being used to color the entire affair in the media, I felt strongly that I needed an attorney both well versed in firearm laws and sympathetic to the situation in which I found myself.
After a phone consultation, I was certain that I needed Evan's firm on my side, and he worked with me to make that happen despite the fact that I did not have the kind of money this sort of case normally required. Whereas other attorneys only saw a sketchy defendant with scary firearms charges (more than one of them told me to prepare myself to do prison time, and simply did not believe me with regard to certain facts of the case), Evan saw a law-abiding citizen whose rights were being abused and whose liberty was being maliciously imperiled. He took my case and placed my file in the competent hands of his brother, Louis.
My case dragged on for over a year, with one incessantly boring and pointless status hearing update after the other. No real progress was being made by the state, but Lou was slowing chipping away at their case by filing the appropriate motions and making very clear to them that they had a fight on their hands; we would not go gentle into that good night!
My confidence in Lou's legal acumen helped to allay my fear of worst-case scenarios from the start. He also seemed to be Johnny on the spot when it came to citing legal precedence on the matters pertinent to my case — often quoting chapter and verse from memory, or flipping open a law book to find the necessary information in the form of a highlighted paragraph. His affable manner was very reassuring as I was put through the paces of these seemingly endless, Kafkaesque court appearances.
The only thing that really matters, of course, is the dispensation of the case; and with that, I could not have been happier. I went into this mess facing more than a decade of incarceration for crimes that I truly did not commit. When Lou was done with them, the only question to be settled was the return of my property.
I have no criminal history whatsoever and I did not fare very well for the couple of days I spent in jail; I honestly don't think I would have survived years in prison. Lou literally saved my life, safeguarded my liberty, and helped preserve my sanity. To say that I am grateful is a profound understatement, so I figured the least I could do is write him an honest review. Thank you, sir!