Calling You Out, Brian Sloan And “The Arizona DUI Team”

As much as I value the information they can provide and respect many of my colleagues who participate in them, I don’t belong to any of the local lawyer listservs. I quickly tire of people bragging about wins, and I find that the ones who brag the most tend to paint less than complete pictures of what really happened. There are occasionally other sorts of misinformation too. Plus, I hate needless drama. It’s exhausting.

Earlier today, someone brought to my attention a perfect example of why I’m not involved in listservs. Here it is, a message to a DUI lawyer listserv from lawyer Brian Sloan, who apparently leads “The Arizona DUI Team” (make sure you capitalize the “The,” apparently), trying to “call out” an excellent lawyer whom I shall refer to as [Kickass Lawyer]:*

SUBJECT: Calling you out [Kickass Lawyer]…

So, Mr. [Kickass Lawyer]…

I hear that after a client signed a contract with me for legal representation on a Misdemeanor DUI case, and after I asked that my client give you a courtesy call to let you know that he would not be making your meeting, rather than simply failing to show up, you decided to take that opportunity to badmouth me and The Arizona DUI Team.

My understanding is that upon my client telling you that I was going to be representing him, you not only still attempted to meet with him, but told him that you would highly suggest going with another attorney, even going so far as to repeat yourself, and accentuate the word highly. I also hear that you told my client that unlike me, you go and fight for your cases, while I have other people representing my clients and other people handling the case.

Maybe you simply have not kept up to date on the latest accomplishments of me and The Arizona DUI Team.

Allow me to update you:

Of the last four Aggravated DUI cases that I have personally represented:
I had a client charged with 2 Class 4 Aggravated DUIs, who was sentenced to an Endangerment Misdemeanor and a Misdemeanor DUI with 90 days in jail – that was after filing 10 extensive, substantive motions;
I had a client charged with four counts of Aggravated DUI, who was previously represented by another private attorney, and that private attorney had been pushing for 7 months that the client plead guilty to a Designated Felony with 4 months jail; yet upon my taking over the case, within 10 days, I got the client a plea to a Class 1 Misdemeanor with 30 days in jail;
I went to trial on a client with 4 counts of Aggravated DUI, and successfully convinced the jury to find him Not Guilty on 2 counts of Aggravated DUI – 3rd DUI within 7 years;
And then there was the lady who was facing 6 to 15 years in prison, the plea agreement with the Public Defender was 7 years in prison, and I got the case completely dismissed.

On the Misdemeanor side of things, while I have been able to negotiate numerous beneficial plea agreements for my clients, including a Reckless Driving plea agreement, in Mesa Municipal Court, for a client driving with high amounts of meth in his system; and I just got a complete acquittal at a jury trial yesterday on a .177 BAC; I think one of the biggest recent accomplishment occurred when I teamed up with my associates on The Arizona DUI Team, and together we were able to represent a woman with 5 pending DUI cases all across the valley.

Together we were able to handle all 5 of those DUI cases as one Case Dismissed, one Reckless Driving, two 1st Time DUIs, and one 2nd Time DUI… all Misdemeanor convictions.

Then there was the homeless girl that The Team and I came together on to represent pro bono, where we were not only able to avoid the Admin Per Se Suspension, but we were able to negotiate an Extreme DUI charge – in Phoenix Municipal Court – down to a Minor in Consumption of Alcohol plea agreement.

As for my Arizona DUI Team members, this year they have probably gotten 10 DUI cases completely dismissed, and within the last month, one of my Team members got two separate DUI clients completely acquitted at trial.

While myself, and my Arizona DUI Team associates, continue to receive accolades and awards – not ones that are solicited from organizations, or are the result of asking that fellow attorneys vote for them in order to receive an award – we also continue to receive real testimonials from people whose lives we have really changed.

So, just so you are updated, I do represent my own clients, I work 7 days a week to help my clients, I give each of them a 5 to 10 page email explaining to them my thoughts on their case, and I get results due to my hard work and experience.

Feel free to let me know what accomplishments you have achieved lately, if any, so I can let potential clients know the most updated information about you.

If you hold a personal grudge against me, that is fine, but keep it to yourself. Don’t disparage me, or The DUI Team. You have already broken the unwritten rule of going after another Attorney’s client that did not seek you out for advice.

I don’t think you want me going after your clients, because we all know what the result of that would be.

Attorney Brian Sloan

For all I know, Brian is a fine lawyer. I really have no clue. What I do know, however, is that he and The Arizona DUI Team (remember, the “The” is capitalized and Very important) are about the most aggressive online marketers out there. I also see their billboards frequently. Now, I also know that Brian seems to have some serious impulse control problems.

First, I doubt [Kickass Lawyer] did what the client said. For whatever reason, prospective clients and even existing clients can say strange and sometimes untrue things. To publicly attack a colleague over something a client says is not only stupid and indicative of poor judgment, but also strangely naive and trusting. On top of that, even if [Kickass Lawyer] did every single thing the client said, inviting [Kickass Lawyer] to coffee or sending him a private message seems to me like a lot more effective way to resolve the conflict.

I was astonished to see the message veer off into a list of his and The Arizona DUI Team’s (capital “T” in “The,” as you know) amazing accomplishments. “Maybe you simply have not kept up to date on the latest accomplishments of me and The Arizona DUI Team?” (big “The,” of course) Did he really write that? With a straight face? If so, how could he not realize that none of the dedicated, competent lawyers on the listserv are going to be even the slightest bit impressed? They all probably have just as many accomplishments. Many probably have more. The fact he would even for a second think that a laundry list of wins could sway anyone to take his side makes me seriously doubt his persuasive abilities.

The most amusing part of his message is the part where he takes a jab at [Kickass Lawyer] by suggesting [Kickass Lawyer]’s accolades are solicited from organizations or the result of asking that fellow attorneys vote for him. Does Brian realize both his website and The Arizona DUI Team’s (capital “T” dammit!) websites prominently tout him being on the cover of Attorney at Law magazine? That’s nothing more than expensive, lawyer-marketing vanity press, and it’s something I’ve criticized before here on this blog. Basically, Brian paid to have an effusive article written about himself. His Avvo profile probably cost a pretty penny too. And he’s criticizing the authenticity of someone else’s accolades?

One thing is for sure, and that’s that Brian does not lack a sense of drama. Accordingly, the end of his rant and his threat to start stealing clients is probably the best of all, though [Kickass Lawyer] is probably not so worried about the result of Brian going after his clients. Like I said before, for all I know, Brian might do a great job. Maybe he really does care about his clients. After reading his ridiculous missive, though, I’m guessing we all know a little something about Brian’s personality and can all probably figure out the result of Brian trying to poach [Kickass Lawyer]’s clients. It’s just probably not the result Brian seems to expect.

* – I’ll put up [Kickass Lawyer]’s name only if he wants, as he hasn’t responded to any of this yet. Brian’s decision to be public about his grievances, on the other hand, makes him fair game as far as I’m concerned. Plus, I wasn’t going to write this at all were it not for the fact that, after another lawyer came to [Kickass Lawyer]’s defense and the moderator chimed in to stop the ridiculous thread, Brian put his letter up again. He basically begged for a blog post.

UPDATE: According to Brian, he did not post the entry twice.