Brown Hay & Stephens — Local services in Springfield

This review is an edit from my original one. My original review was a simple one sentence and based off my initial consultation with the firm.

I was referred to Brown, Hay & Stephens by a reputable attorney with whom I had an existing relationship with who does not offer criminal defense. I was told they were very good, "impressive to see in action" were this person's exact words. So I took their advice and got in contact with Brown, Hay & Stephens. My attorney was Dan Fultz, and when we met for the first time he explained part of what his approach would be. He said he would get some of my charges dropped on the basis of technicalities. He also assured me in that first meeting that I was not going to be looking at jail time. He took my case and even agreed to a payment plan to make it easier for me. So, my spirits lifted, I was EAGER to sign on the dotted line and agree to his proposal. As a little back story, the first attorney I tried to hire before learning of this firm, had "unofficially" agreed to take my case. During this time I had a first hearing which I thought that other attorney just mentioned would be present to represent me. But since he and I did not have an agreement in place, I did technically "no show." Well I told Dan about this and he contacted the state's attorney to see if I had a warrant issued. He said that he would let me know later that day if there was a warrant. I did not hear from him later that day. I had to call his office again to get a clear answer, and I was told "no, there are no warrants for you." Dan then said he would submit an entry (or whatever) to my case as my counsel and speak with state's attorney about any missed hearings. Well I don't know what happened or where the screw up was, but later that week I was pulled over and arrested for failure to appear. I called Dan before the cop cuffed me and left him a message. He called right back and said he didn't know why this had happened but would talk with State's attorney. So later that day when I posted bond and called Dan again, he said they had told him it must have been a miscommunication somewhere....yeah, right. But okay, whatever, ultimately I'm the one who was responsible for making sure me or my lawyer was there at that hearing, so I should be the one to pay the price.

After that little snafu, he and I didn't speak for many months.

Then we had the Corona virus hit and close courthouses across the nation, so there couldn't be any progress for anyone. Fast forward about a year and Dan and I have another phone call. In this call he informed me that the state wants me to do jail time. I was shocked, because of his overly confident tone about me not seeing any jail time, which is what convinced me to hire this firm. He didn't explain anything about whether or not he viewed body camera footage. Did not say anything about those technicalities that were supposed to get some charges dropped. In fact, he didn't have any suggestions for how we might counter offer, or ANY kind of defensive maneuvering. He basically listened to my reaction and said he could get a continuance.

So here I've paid literally thousands of dollars for a glorified, extremely expensive public defender.

The thing is my crime did not hurt anyone, and it wasn't against any other person. I have intentionally been vague and not given any identifying information here because I fear retaliation. Most people know that these lawyers all have social relationships where they bump elbows, and trade a loss here for a win there. My crimes were wrought of a serious addiction problem, an overly eager prescription writing doctor, and I have dealt with that and made tremendous personal progress.

Do I deserve to just walk away scott-free, no I do not. Is it Dan's fault that the state wants to see me, the Big Bad Wolf, locked up? I imagine not. But for a professional on this level to make promises they cannot keep, just to suck a prospective client in, is partially the reason why lawyers get a bad wrap.

Do yourself a favor and steer clear...

My original lawyer was Erica Riplinger. She was professional, and in my opion an exceptional lawyer. She will fight for you and what you wanted. Communication is through emails, which is a little strange but it gets the job done. Erica went on maternity leave and I was assigned Roland R Cross. This was the worst thing that ever happened. Mr. Cross is very unprofessional and will agree with other lawyer, and is very arrogant. He will not fight for you and if something doesn't go his way, he will withdraw from your case. This is my story. My middle son called his mom while with me for the weekend to ask if he could stay longer. She said no. He left her a mean message because he wasn't happen he couldn't stay. My ex than sent the message to her lawyer and she emailed my lawyer. Mr Cross did not contact me first to ask what my side of the story was. He just agreed with other lawyer that I "coached" my son into saying what he did. This was wrong and I did not "coach" him in any way. I emailed Mr Cross telling him I did not do such a thing. He than emailed me back and said "I still think it is coach". Let me tell you, I lost all faith in him at that time. I emailed him letting him know I was not happy with his services and wanted Erica back. Postpone my hearing until she gets back, I asked. He spoke on Erica's behalf and said Erica could not handle my case now. He withdraw. I evern said in an email, If you are willing to fight for me, I have no problem with you as my lawyer. I just want someone to fight as if it were there own case. This would have NEVER happened if Erica was not on maternity leave. This should tell all of you to STAY away from Roland R Cross. I would even stay away from this law firm. It is not worth it guys. In my opion, he should be disbared and should never be in...

I would not recommend Attorney Dan Fultz for anything. He is very arrogant. He constantly belittle his clients and after he got received his payment he made a very small effort in putting up any type of defense for his client.He never made any schedule court appearances instead he would send his assistance with very little experience to argue and fill in for him. At one time as one of his client I asked him to put me in for a bond reduction because I had an excessive bond based on my charges & background and he simply refused to do what I hired him to do and his belief was I probably wouldn't get it or I didn't have the money to post it if I did get one so after begging and pleading with him for months I eventually had to relieve him off my case and was appointed a public defender and the public defender put me in for a bond reduction and I was granted one and immediately posted bond and bonded out so with that being said Dan Fultz would rather his client sit in jail for many months rather than trying to secure his freedom through bond and then prepare for an adequate defense on their behalf. The experience I encountered with Dan Fultz was so dramatic that I nearly lost everything due to him allowing me to just sit in jail for nearly 15 months without ever addressing any constitutional concerns pertaining to secure my freedom through or through pretrial motions. After first retaining him he passed my case off and put in a very minimal effort in the case therefore I would not recommend him for anyone who wants to put up a fight or had their constitutional...