Extremely unprofessional and gives terrible advice.
I was arrested for an OVI/DUI charge and hired Mr. Prephan. From the moment I met him, he dismissed my questions and made me feel like a pest for asking them. His only response was "Don't worry, that's my job." But the only thing he was "worried" about
was closing the case and walking away with my money.
I take a couple medication's, including one for ADHD. From the moment I showed him my medication list, he treated me like some sort of drug addict. He never missed an opportunity to comment on how he thought I was taking a load of medicines. Some of that must've rubbed off in his negotiations with Prosecutor, because in the second pretrial hearing, he came back with a plea deal that he was convinced I should agree to. This was in spite of the fact that there was nothing in my system, but my ADHD medication. I would have had to go to a drug rehabilitation center and lost my license for six months, not to mention that the charge would be on my record for the rest of my life. But Mr. Prephan was convinced that there was no way I could succeed in a trial, and that I needed to take the deal. Furthermore, he said that the cost of a trial would be $5000 for a bench hearing or $30,000 for a jury trial, neither of which I could afford. But it's not like he had any confidence that he could win the case anyway.
Shockingly, after I got a public defender, the same case that Mr. Prephan thought would be unwinnable was dismissed a few weeks later. Which shows how much effort he put into actually researching my case.
This is only one person's experience, but my personal view is that Mr. Prephan simply takes people's money and tries to get them to agree to any plea deal he gets.
