"If I could give a negative rating, I would. Sam was my husbands defense lawyer from 2021 to August…read more2023 when the case closed. He lost the case, on many fronts and my husband ended up with a much harsher sentence than he deserved. When we interviewed Sam before retaining him, he was kind, patient, and answered all of our questions. The moment, I sent him the retainer, this all changed. He charged us over $50,000 and to this day I do not have an invoice to explain what this money was used for. He convinced us that he had enough to fight the charge should we chose to do so. We decided to go to trial to fight my husbands charge. For the year leading up to the trial, Sam spoke to my husband briefly, and gave only 2 options for defense. One was not a viable option, and the other was simply to accept guilt. At no point did he explain his defense strategy (which I now know was a pathetic attempt to provide a defense). If we asked questions about his strategy, he would say "do you trust me?", and avoid answering our questions. We decided to trust him and move forward. At my husbands trial, he submitted a statement of facts and spoke for less than 3 min (I timed it). That was it!!!!!!! 3 min!!!!!!!!. Because he didn't prep us for trial, and asked us to "trust him", we had no idea what he was going to say at trial or in this case, NOT going to say. The defense was a joke. The crown ate him up. My husband was found guilty weeks later, and was sentenced to 3 years in prison.
Prior to the verdict on Jan 26, 2023 Sam spoke to my husband on the phone a total of 6 times from Dec 14, 2022 - Jan 5, 2023. 5 of those calls were 5min or less. The 6th call was 12min. There was no in person meeting. We met him in person ONCE in the last 2 years.
When we called to try and book a meeting prior to the trial, prior to the verdict, and prior to the sentence, he said on multiple occasions, that he'll "talk to us later". He repeatedly, on numerous occasions, brushed us off of the phone by saying that "I only have a few minutes". He told me that it doesn't matter if I meet with you 3 days before the sentence, as "it doesn't matter".
5 weeks before the sentencing date, we had asked him 3 times for a face-to-face meeting, he brushed us off every time. We sent emails asking for basic information that we were entitled to know like:
What is the crown asking for in terms of a sentence?
What are we asking for in terms of a sentence?
How many people can speak at the sentencing?
What are the ways in which we can present husband before the court to have the best chance of a lower sentence?
What mitigating factors are you presenting?
What aggravating factors are there?
What credit is husband entitled to for pre-sentence custody?
What credit is husband entitled to for harsh custodial conditions?
What collateral consequences are you planning to present on behalf of husband?
He did NOT answer even one of these questions.
Sam did NOT provide adequate council. He did NOT communicate with us in a timely or sufficient manner, and when he did communicate with us, he would say verbatim that "I only have a few minutes". He consistently rushed us off of the phone and would either ignore or blatantly not answer any of our questions. I begged and pleaded with him and sent him numerous emails and text messages to answer my questions. We were left in the dark the whole time. He did not answer my questions. He was the sole cause my stress and anxiety leading up to sentencing that I ended up taking a 3 month leave of absence from work. Sam did not care.
Finally, at sentencing, which was all we had left to get a lower sentence, Sam did not guide us AT all. I did my own independent research and spoke to 5 other criminal lawyers, John Howard society, probation officers, anyone that I could think of to help us. Sam told us to get a "few character" references. He never requested a pre-sentence report, which is very common especially for first-time offenders and was probably my husband's best shot at getting a lighter sentence. I asked him multiple times to order a pre-sentence report and he never answered my email once. When I asked him over the phone, he said that he would do a better job at giving background information about my husband than what the presentence report could do. On the day of sentencing, his "background" information consisted of my husbands name (which he mispronounced), his age, stated that he was a first time offender and has a child. He mentioned that he had 3 step-siblings to which the JUDGE HERSELF had to correct him that they are his half-siblings and stating my name which he also got wrong. A pre-sentence report is pages and pages long that go into who the offender actually is, a probation officer would have interviewed me and his family and friends to get a full picture as to my husband is, his upbringing, his character, etc. Sam totally f**ked us! Stay away from this bastard!
