James G. Sullivan & Associates
Board Certified Juvenile Defense
12345 Jones Rd., Suite 288, Houston, TX 77070
Houston Juvenile Defense Lawyers Fighting for Children, Getting Cases Dismissed
James (Jim) Sullivan is a board certified juvenile defense attorney. Since 1994, Sullivan has successfully fought the government in jury trials on behalf of clients in criminal and juvenile courts. Sullivan has also fought to get hundreds of serious criminal and juvenile cases dismissed. Sullivan has a proven record of defending people from all walks of life, faiths and countries at the Harris County Criminal and Juvenile Courthouses in downtown Houston.
James Sullivan graduated from Baylor University in 1990 with a degree in Journalism, the ideal degree for investigating, discovering and telling winning stories in court. In 1993, Sullivan graduated from South Texas College of Law, which is nationally recognized as the top law school for trial advocacy.
James Sullivan later graduated from Gerry Spence’s Trial Lawyers College in Wyoming. Founded in 1994, it is the most selective and prestigious trial advocacy program in America. The methods taught at TLC are not taught anywhere else. The TLC graduates form an extremely unique community of the most accomplished trial lawyers in the United States.
If you are looking to hire a defense lawyer to represent you, your child or a loved one, call James Sullivan at (281) 546-6428 for a free phone consultation.
Reputation
James Sullivan has a good reputation in the legal community. Sullivan is is very grateful for the for the fine lawyers who endorse him on AVVO and the many clients who write reviews on his behalf.
The law practice of James Sullivan is devoted solely to criminal and juvenile defense. Sullivan has tried to a jury many cases in the Harris county criminal and juvenile courts. He has won felony jury trials in all three juvenile district courts.
Board Certified in Juvenile Law
Houston Juvenile Attorney James Sullivan is Board Certified in Juvenile Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 2004. There are only a few such lawyers in private practice in Texas, and only board certified lawyers are considered experts or specialists. Juvenile law is different than criminal law.
James Sullivan’s path through life has given him a unique understanding of the injustices that happen to many juveniles, many of which are far beyond their control. Because of his own difficult teen years, Sullivan connects with teenagers in ways that other attorneys simply cannot and has been instrumental in leading juveniles to have a successful future.
Personalized, Professional, and Client Centered Defense
James Sullivan chose to become a defense lawyer. It was not by accident. Fighting the government and defending people come natural to him—he was born into a diverse, dynamic family of conservative Christians and liberal social activists. Unlike many colleagues who practice criminal law, Sullivan has never prosecuted anyone and never will. That is not him. His entire career is devoted to defending people accused of crimes and delinquencies.
Proven Results
James Sullivan gets proven results. For over 25 years, Sullivan has defended more than 3,000 people charged with every kind of criminal and juvenile case, including theft, assault, family violence, drug crimes, robbery and murder.
Felony Defense, Getting Cases Dismissed by the Grand Jury
If you are charged with a felony offense in criminal court, James Sullivan may be able to get your case no billed (dismissed) by the grand jury, but you need to hire him before or soon after your first court setting. If your felony case is dismissed by the grand jury, you may have the right to get your criminal record expunged immediately. Many of Sullivan’s clients have been able to do this within a few months of being arrested. Incredibly, Sullivan has worked to get more than 50 felony cases dismissed by the grand jury since 2008, and hundreds more dismissed by the prosecutors since 1994. These felony cases span the criminal law spectrum.
Philosophy
James Sullivan practices defense law with a simple philosophy. If a client says he is not guilty, and if the prosecutor will not dismiss the charge, then Sullivan advises his client that they should fight the case at a jury trial. Unlike many other attorneys, Sullivan does not try to convince an innocent person to plead guilty. Instead, Sullivan fights for his clients’ freedom and reputation.
Legal Services for a Reasonable Fee
James Sullivan offers a full range of legal services in his criminal and juvenile defense law practice. Sullivan charges separate fees on trial and non-trial cases and offers payment plans, however he does not represent people for free. If you cannot afford to hire an attorney, you should ask the judge to appoint an attorney to represent you.
Cares About His Clients
James Sullivan cares about his juvenile and adult clients and is concerned about their future. He initially counsels with clients at his office for an hour or more. In subsequent consultations in person or by phone, he is known to spend many more hours. He invests the necessary time to get to know them as a person, their full back story, the actual facts and how it applies to their legal problem. Ultimately, a good trial lawyer knows that if you do not invest the time to discover the true story of the case then you cannot tell the winning story to a jury at trial or by way of a defense packet to the grand jury. The attorneys trained at the Trial Lawyers College understand this.
Even if a client is not fighting his case at trial, it is important to understand the client’s story fully in order to get the best result. Trial lawyers generally get the best results because lawyers who never fight for clients at trial have little or no leverage against prosecutors.
Call to arrange an appointment. We do not take walk-ins.
Contact Attorney James Sullivan
If you are under investigation or have been charged with a crime, call Houston criminal defense attorney James Sullivan to discuss your case. Sullivan generally tries to answer his own phone so that you can speak to an attorney directly. He wants to hear from you and to help you. Call him right now. Don’t go to court alone. Call Sullivan at (281) 546-6428 for a free phone consultation for prospective clients only on criminal and juvenile cases.
Bilingual
James Sullivan speaks Spanish, having studied Latin American Studies (and Asian Studies) at Baylor University and at UNAM in Mexico City in 1990 prior to entering law school. Among his many life experiences, Sullivan went in the summer of 1988 on a Christian mission trip to a refugee camp in the war zone area of northern Nicaragua. That experience of witnessing firsthand the suffering of civilian families, especially badly maimed children, led him to study Spanish and to live in Mexico. While at Baylor, Sullivan was also a member of the Waco Peace and Justice Alliance. He and his wife Araceli have been married over 30 years and have two children. They worship in a local Catholic church. Sullivan is also an Eagle Scout.
Nancy Botts
Associate Attorney Nancy Botts has been licensed since 1988 and obtained her law degree from the University of Houston. As a criminal defense attorney, Nancy Botts’ main interest is in the areas of search and seizure law and drug defense. She has good results in drug defense cases. Other Houston criminal lawyers have consulted her for years about these subjects. She aggressively defends all felony and misdemeanor drug possession and drug delivery cases. She has successfully fought possession and delivery of controlled substance cases for amounts ranging from less than one gram to several kilograms. She also has a strong commitment to offering each client the best possible representation.
I issue my highest recommendation to Attorney Jim Sullivan, who proved to be an honest, hard-working professional that thoroughly defended my ex-husband and friend, Johnny, when he found himself in bleak circumstances. Johnny was charged with aggravated assault nine days after he shot a man in self-defense when the man broke into his home.
On March 16, 2016, Johnny visited me, and told me that he was very concerned that a former friend and neighbor he had allowed to stay at his house for a few days was acting erratic and hostile, and that household items were missing. He said he only allowed Kyle to stay at his house to keep him from being arrested following a family argument. Due to his concerns, Johnny said that morning he repeatedly asked Kyle to leave, then told him to leave by 5:00 pm, but Kyle was still there when Johnny went home after work. I suggested he tell the man to leave one more time, and then to call the police if he refused to go.
Around 10:00 p.m. that night Johnny dialed the police after Kyle verbally threatened him and again refused to leave. Once the police were called, Kyle did exit the house, and Johnny locked all the doors. Witnesses outside the house verified that Kyle returned minutes later, beat on the front door, yelled threats, and then entered the house through the garage and then doggie door. Kyle had apparently disabled the garage door lock. Johnny, 53, was disabled from a duty-related accident that left one leg slightly crooked and held together with titanium rods. In addition, a motorcycle accident the previous year left him unable to form a complete fist on his writing hand and he had a titanium elbow. The bottom line was that Johnny could not run and he could not defend himself. Therefore, in self-defense, he shot Kyle in the upper chest when he got within a foot of him, fists up and yelling. Police came, Kyle was taken for treatment, and initially Kyle told the police that he was at fault and did not want to press charges.
However, nine days later Kyle pressed charges and my friend, who was a former Air Force K-9 Security Officer and a member of the Patriot Guard, was arrested. After Johnny posted a bond, he missed his first court date because he wasn’t notified of it. He then contacted Mr. Sullivan, who took his case even though he could not pay him right away and managed to get his bond re-instated. Sadly, the day before the new court date Johnny was on his way to get a loan on his motorcycle to pay the attorney when he was involved in another motorcycle accident. Mr. Sullivan kept working on Johnny’s case even though Johnny was hospitalized for 23 days and consequently lost his job.
Johnny remarked on how much time and effort Mr. Sullivan took to gather witness statements and to write a persuasive defense packet for the grand jury. He visited Johnny multiple times at the hospital and at his home, and took photographs of the house to give the grand jury a clear idea of how events unfolded. He gave Johnny hope that things would get better. As a direct result of Mr. Sullivan’s efforts, Johnny’s aggravated assault case was no billed.
Although his health worsened and Johnny passed away a few weeks ago, he was vindicated in defending himself in his own home. Johnny died at home in his own bed, a free man.
I fully recommend Mr. Sullivan as a fair, thorough attorney for anyone who finds themselves in a difficult situation, and needs help and hope. Thank you Jim for helping my friend.
In late May of 2016 my 15 year old son was arrested and taken to the juvenile detention center for a felony crime he did not commit, Deadly Conduct. After being falsely accused and wrongfully admitted to the Harris County Juvenile Detention Center, I met with and hired Mr. Sullivan. He walked us through the process and helped my family and son better understand what needed to be done. The day of the detention hearing in court, we had all of the proof and evidence to help get my son out of detention. The judge of the court was completely unjust. After refusing to consider the video evidence that proved my innocent or to even hear from my family members who were willing to supervise my son at all times if released, the judge quickly ruled to keep my innocent son detained.
Mr. Sullivan was furious at the system that caused my son to be arrested and held for a crime he did not commit while at the same time the adult who actually committed the crime was only charged with a misdemeanor and spent just a few days in jail. Mr. Sullivan immediately requested a trial by jury. We were able to get a trial setting in the next 3 weeks, which was amazing considering the fact that most cases take 3-6 months or longer to get to a trial. Mr. Sullivan explained that court-appointed attorneys such as the one first appointed to my son’s case never take cases to a jury trial, but instead only have bench trials where the judges make the final decision. If the court-appointed attorney had stayed on the case, my son would still be in detention and I believe he would probably have been found guilty by the judge.
Instead, thanks to Mr. Sullivan my son was found innocent by a unanimous vote from the jury. Mr. Sullivan stopped at nothing to help our son and prove him innocent. My son walked out of detention just 7 weeks after his arrest with no record. Mr. Sullivan’s knowledge of the criminal and juvenile justice systems helped in so many ways. Mr. Sullivan was not pushy, arrogant, or air-headed like most attorneys. Instead, he kept a down-to-earth low-profile, encouraged my son as if he were his own and won our case successfully and peacefully.
Thank you so much Mr. Sullivan for helping my family and my son!