Houston Criminal Lawyers Fight for the People. Get Your Case Dismissed.

James Sullivan is an experienced Houston criminal attorney. Since 1994, Sullivan has successfully fought the government in jury trials on behalf of clients in criminal and juvenile courts. Sullivan has fought to get over a thousand 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 has practiced criminal law and won jury trials longer than many of the prosecutors in Harris County and Fort Bend County have even been alive.  Experience and having a winning trial record matter.

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 one of the top law schools for trial advocacy.

James Sullivan later graduated from Trial Lawyers College in Wyoming. Founded by Gerry Spence 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 across the United States.

If you need to hire a defense lawyer to represent you or a loved one, call James Sullivan at (281) 546-6428 for a free consultation for prospective clients. We only practice criminal and juvenile law.

Note: We will not cold text you nor mail you to solicit your business. We do not believe it is ethical to send unsolicited texts to someone who was just released from jail. Individuals who have just been released from jail are often in an emotionally fragile state, grappling with anxiety, fear, and confusion. Receiving unsolicited texts from defense attorneys in this state can be perceived as manipulative and predatory, taking advantage of people during their most trying times.

Reputation

James Sullivan has a good reputation in the legal community. Sullivan is is very grateful 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 won many jury trials in Harris County. About 80 percent of his cases involve criminal charges and the other 20 percent involve juvenile charges. The majority of his defense involves violent crimes and, of those, mostly domestic or family violence.

Houston Felony Lawyer, Getting Cases Dismissed

If you are charged with a felony offense in Harris Count 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 almost 100 felony cases dismissed by the grand jury just since November 2008 when he first began keeping track. These felony cases span the criminal law spectrum.

Personalized, Professional, Client Centered Defense

James Sullivan chose to become a criminal lawyer. It was not by accident, it was a calling. Fighting the government and defending people come natural to him—he was born into a diverse, dynamic family of conservative Baptists 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 almost 30 years, Sullivan has defended more than 3,000 people charged with almost every kind of criminal and juvenile case, including theft, assault, family violence, drug crimes, robbery and murder.

Philosophy

James Sullivan practices criminal 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 Fair 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. 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 adult and juvenile clients and is concerned about their future. He initially counsels with clients at his office near Cypress for an hour. In subsequent consultations in person or by phone, he is known to spend even more time. He invests the necessary time to get to know them as a person, their full back story, the actual facts and analyze how the law applies to them and their unique 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 2,000+ 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 to no leverage against prosecutors. Also, any attorney can take a case to trial, but only a small percentage of talented defense attorneys such as Sullivan have a winning record at trial.

James Sullivan also understands trauma (PTSD), mental illness, and substance abuse. For some people, these are often at the root causes of being arrested. Unfortunately, many people prefer to self medicate with alcohol or drugs to numb and forget instead of joining AA and also participating in therapy for trauma to transform their lives.

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 Harris County criminal lawyer James Sullivan to discuss your case. Sullivan generally tries to answer his own phone so that you can speak to an attorney directly. If we miss your call, leave a detailed message and we will call you back. Sullivan wants to hear from you and to help you. Call him today. Don’t go to court alone. Call Sullivan at (281) 546-6428 for a free consultation for prospective clients only on criminal and juvenile cases in Harris County.

Board Certified Expert in Juvenile Law

Houston Juvenile Attorney James Sullivan is also Board Certified in Juvenile Law since 2004. Only a board certified attorney can advertise as an expert or specialist in that particular area of law.

James Sullivan’s path through life gives him a unique understanding of the injustices that happen to many juveniles, many of which are far beyond their control. Because of his own experiences, Sullivan connects with teenagers in ways that other attorneys simply cannot and has been instrumental in leading juveniles to have a successful future.

Bilingual

James Sullivan speaks conversational Spanish, having studied Latin American Studies and Journalism at Baylor University and at UNAM in Mexico City in 1990 prior to entering law school. He and his wife Araceli have been married over 30 years and have two adult children. They worship at 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, Botts’ main interest is in the areas of search and seizure law and drug defense, although she too defends clients charged with almost every type of criminal offense. 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.

Update: Since Covid, James Sullivan and Nancy Botts are only working in Harris County and Fort Bend County.