I have had an issue with a lawyer that the United Defense Group provided that did not provide satisfactory service. Background: On 29 April my son was arrested in Williamson County Texas for minor possession of marijuana. It was late at night so we did a search on the internet and found the United Defense Group. When we contacted them they said that for $3,500 they would provide us a local lawyer that would handle our case. We paid the money and the United Defense Group assigned Mr. Sidney Allen Lyle Jr. Mr. Lyle contacted my son and informed him since this was his first arrest and that his overall record was clean that he would work at getting the charges dismissed with a pretrial deferment. My son followed the instructions given to him by Mr. Lyle. My son stayed in constant contact with Mr. Lyle to ensure that he did not miss anything.in every conversation Mr. Lyle informed my son that things where fine but just moving slow.in May (two years after the incident) I contacted United Defense Group to ask if the process was suppose to be taking this long. I was told that they would research it and get back with me. The United Defense Group never returned my call. I called them back again in June and received the same response. Again they never returned my call. On June 27 my son was pulled over for doing 50 mph in a 45 mph zone. The officer gave him a warning and let him go. Before my son pulled away the Officer came back over to him and informed him that he was going to have to arrest him since there was a bond warrant out for him. My son called Mr. Lyle to inform him but could not get in touch with him. I called the United Defense Group and asked for assistance but all they would tell me is that they would have to get back with me once they talked to Mr. Lyle. I never heard from the United Defense Group or Mr. Lyle. Since we were not receiving help for the either United Defense Group or Mr. Lyle we sought out a new lawyer. The new lawyer cost us $3,000 dollars and we had to pay $655 to a bails bond agency to get my son out. The new lawyer informed us that the bond warrant was issued because my son or his lawyer missed a court date in September. My son was never informed of the court date. He even talked to Mr. Lyle several times after September and Mr. Lyle never told him a thing. Once my son was released Mr. Lyle contacted him and informed him that the courts made a mistake and should have never issued the bond warrant. He informed Derek that he would have a local lawyer contact him to help him out. Derek has not heard from Mr. Lyle or anyone else.in two weeks from hiring the new lawyer he worked the case and had it dismissed. My son did make a mistake and was willing to correct it.in the two years waiting for the lawyer to work the case my son graduated for the University Technical Institute, Graduated from the Volvo program in Phoenix Arizona and was offered a job in Billings Montana.
Each of these events required my son to take multiple drug test that he successfully passed.in fact when my son was pulled over and arrested he was on his way to Montana to start work. My son ensured that Sid Lyle knew all about of these events and was told to continue on. Not once did Mr. Lyle tell him that there was a problem. Then we found out for the last two years Sid Lyle has been under probation and has had other issues that prevents him from practicing law. We were never informed of any of this by either United Defense Group or Mr. Lyle. I believe that this should have been a requirement or at least be provided a new lawyer at no cost to us.
My son could have paid the price for the inadequate service that United Defense Group and Sid Lyle provided. We had to pay twice the money required just to get the issued resolved. Why is it that hard working people have to be penalized for the mistakes of others. What penalty does United Defense Group or Sid Lyle have to pay?
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