3 /5 James Mills: He seems to be very knowledgeable on DWIs, but honestly it didnt really seem like he did a whole lot for me. While it is nice to have someone experienced in these matters to do the paperwork and correspondence with the court, beyond that there really was not a lot that he did. I thought the communication could have been better during pre court. There were things that I had brought up to him that he wanted me to look into even though this is exactly what I am paying him for... I was told I had court just a couple of days before the court date, and before this time there was no communication as to what the prosecution is offering. I was just told a couple of days before my court date what my options were and he was not real clear on the terms of the probation, and there was no talk after our initial visit of possibly taking my case to trial. It was just here is what they offered, and this is when your court date is. He comes off like he is really going to fight hard for you, but the plea deal I got is basically the standard DWI plea deal that I probably could have got with a court appointed lawyer and therefore I would have saved $6k! Also there were things on my probation that I was not even aware of until the day of my court date. Of course at this point you basically dont have much of a choice but to just go along with it and sign it. Im not saying that hes not a good DWI lawyer, but he definitely is not worth his $6k retainer fee if all you are going to do is take a plea deal. If youre taking a plea deal you might as well just save your money and go with a court appointed lawyer. Now if you want to take your case to trial then this may be where the money would be worth it, but be prepared to pay an additional $8k if you want to take your case to trial!
