Who Are the Best/Worst Attorneys In Tipton County?

[Todd]

I have got a buddy having some legal problems and was curious who some of the better attorneys are in Covington and Tipton County? I don't know much about it.

[Brandie]

I now live in Washington, but I have family in West Tennessee. I am actually from Dyersburg, but I briefly lived in Ripley and Covington. I always liked Covington. As far as attorneys go, I know that Mike Whitaker and Houston Gordan are really good but you are going to pay a lot of money.

[Tcounty]

I think the freemason system is still alive and well in Tcounty.Ive heard a lot of good stuff about Whitaker concerning Divorce and childsupport.What kind of problems does your buddy have Divorce,Custody,Drugs,Driving. I ask this question for several reason's.If it's kind of a messed up situation with drugs they kind of have a scam going his best bet may be not to waste his money he might wanna speak to David Stockton at least that man will fight for whats right.

[Tcounty]

Whatever he does tell him dont piss off that prosecuting attorney Ive seen that man at work in the courtroom and he aint right.

[Stephanie]

I have a friend who used to be a paralegal and go by what friends have told me so I will give you my own personal opinion. As TCounty said it has a lot to do with the type of case you are talking about. The biggest thing, and some of you aren't going to like this answer, is most of the Tipton County attorneys are more or less friends. This is a small county and they "battle" in court quite often on a weekly basis. To me, the thing that is most annoying is the slowness of how the legal system works. Anyway:

As some of you have said Mike Whitaker and Houston Gordon are top notch. They would probably be who your friend wants if it something criminal like a robbery or serious drug charge. They are expensive but if it is a serious matter, they have an excellent shot at winning.

Beth Ziarko is another excellent attorney in this area. Tom Caldwell out of Ripley is good too. He is an older guy but he is tough in court.

Now if it is just a case of a driving problem like DUI's, speeding tickets, etc then I would go for a less expensive attorney (people like Houston Gordon normally don't even take those cases)

There are a few attorneys in Tipton County that I would avoid at all costs, but I don't want to slander anyone's name.

[Cindi]

The problem in Tipton County is all of the attorneys are buddies with one another. They care more about taking your money than do anything to help you. Remember when you hire an attorney they work for you meaning they should return your calls and tell you their plan of action. You should be kept informed. What we need to do in this county is start holding attorneys accountable but for what they are supposed to do. I know too many attorneys who have screwed people over in this county.

[Tcounty]

yes I watched my attorney leave and go to lunch with my ex's attorney.I found it very disrepectful.

[Bob]

I agree with what everyone said. Not to mention any names but there are one or two out of the Munford area, that are pretty much money stealers.

[Chris]

TD Forrester is a really solid attorney. The biggest problem is all of them take their sweet time getting anything into court. Not sure what your friends charge is but my advice based on what they did is to figure out something "they would accept" and try to settle out of court. It will save a ton of money.

[Carla]

I actually know a lot about this topic. One of my best friends works in a law office, plus I have friends who have needed lawyers in T-County for things like divorces, property, etc. Here are the ones I am familiar with and I hope it helps if your friend still needs legal services. As someone stated it really depends on what it is for but based on the limited information you got, I am going to assume it is a criminal type of case.

Beth Ziarko-she is a very powerful woman in this state. She is really good for stuff like child custody issues, etc

Barney Whiterington-He is a likable guy but I am told he doesn't meet with his client much. He is still pretty young and I hear he does a pretty good job representing males.

Frank Deslauries-There are two ways to look at it. He is mainly hired by women and seems to love to stick it to males which is strange to me. He is always quick to tell people how honest he is (in fact there was a writeup in the paper the other day in Best of Tipton) but I am told he will tell some fat ones in court. I would say if your friend is a male look elsewhere.

Danny Goulder-out of Munford. I hear good things about him.

Cyburn Sullivan-I would avoid using Sullivan. I hear he often doesn't know the facts about the cases he is trying.He is fairly cheap as far as attorneys go there, but his preparation often lacks a little something to be desired.

Jeffrey Stimpson-Definitely a mixed bag. He is pretty tough in court but can be very rude. I know a lot of his clients complain about how he talks to them. I hear he is extremely slow in filing stuff and getting his cases heard. He is good in court though. I would say if it is a criminal case, he might be worth checking out but your case is going to take forever and you better be thick skinned. I also hear he will claim he is going to file something and then not do it for months at a time.

Mike Whitaker-This guy is awesome in court and with be someone I would consider in a difficult case. He is expensive but he is tough to beat. If you have a big time case, he would be a consideration.

Houston Gordon-He is a great attorney but he tends to handle the bigtime stuff and you need bigtime money to use his firm. He will definitely fight for you and he is a very nice man to boot. He is tough in court but sympathetic to his clients and does a good job of informing them.

Julie Byrd-Not a fan. She is one of the costliest attorneys in this area and tends to be very antimated in court. That might work on television but I hear the local judges aren't always fond of her antics.

Those are the ones I know about and there are some others out there. If it is criminal I hear Paul Lewis out of Millington is good and I hear Linda Waddell is really good if there is a child custody issue. Raliegh and Laura Sanford are great on bankruptcy issues and are in the area. Tom Caldwell out of Ripley is an older attorney but a bulldog in court. I would definitely consider using him as well since Ripley is close. Remember all of these are strictly opinions

[Carla]

Oh I meant to say good luck to your friend. I live in Dyersburg now but I love T-County and have fond memories there.

[its a joke]

Well now as far as the honest without naming names I'll just say this when a person has to say trust me DONT.When you are an adult who is in a position of looking after a childs interests and they tell you some illegal stuff one of thier parents had them do you dont say thats okay and brush it off as small stuff.Obviously this parent dont have any sense.You are a lawyer and your a telling a kid that its okay to break the law.Huh,you were appointed to represent the kid no it does not mean you have to have morals,but shouldnt you?
As far as Stimpson I'll just flat out tell you he kicked my booty in court.My ex would go months without seeing or paying for his kids and then the holiday's would roll around and I'd be taken to court What What dude wants to see his kids all he has to do is pick up a phone.This happened every year.The last year Something happened that was veryvery bad and DHS told me until my ex showed up to talk to them to make sure he didnt ever let my kids around these bad people again not to let him see the kids.I called him and told him look you need to go talk to them (he wasnt the one that did the bad thing)they want to make sure you dont let the kids go over there no more and well he didnt go never called me back never asked to see the kids how they doing nothing.Next thing I know I'm back in court.Now I never told him he couldnt see his kids all I did was relay what DHS said.Dhs comes to court the judge pretty much told me DHS is full of it as far as their control over bad situations.He acted like I kept the kids from my ex kinda went off on me.Needless to say this was like the 4'th or 5'th time he hauled me into court.80 dollars a week child support for four kids and i think all them years I got maybe a thousand.This man made anywhere from 800 to 1500 a week.I went up there one day to look at the records and they told me no so I got this reporter dude from Nashville on the phone who was telling me in my ear what laws to quote on open records.That biddy took me back there and there where receipts in the record for clothes and shoes that were accepted as child support.As God is my witness all those receipts were bogus I guess they had friends and family saving thier receipts when they went to the store. What Tcounty and both lawyer's I had are bogus.Stimpson told me that my ex would by me a car if I gave him custody of two of the kids.Sorry Piece of.Going in a courtroom making up lies If I am so unfit wouldnt you think you would want all your kids away from me.You would actually pick and choose which children to leave with a horrible person.Dont make no sense to me.Oh yeah when we got divorced I got full custody of all four kids he got the house and the car.I quote the court "He has to have a house and car where he can support his kid's" I aint complaining cause I'm not gonna beg nobody to support their kids.They are mine I had them I love them I'll take care of them but geeez does this help shed any kind of light on the system over there.

[Wowsie Wowsie Woo Woo]

Almost all the attorneys in Tipton County are buddies with one another. A few of you have mentioned Jeffrey Stimpson, he is actually a great attorney because he is no nonsense and doesn't kiss up to anyone. He can come across stern but he is just straight to the point and does great in court. Danny Goulder is another really good one you should consider, and in time I think Jeff Ward could make some noise as well.

Elizabeth Ziarko is another one that gets good results. Frank Deslauries gets a ton of cases mainly by women but is too much of an ambulance chaser for my liking but he definitely gets his share of cases.

The smartest thing is to communicate with one another and try to reach your own agreement if you can. It's like wowsie, wowsie, woo, woo.

[It all depends]

In order to recommend an attorney, I'd have to know what the issues are. Different attorneys are better at different things. Beth Ziarko is a fabulous attorney in custody, child support, divorce, etc., but wouldn't be the one I would call for a criminal matter. Likewise, Barney Witherington is a great criminal lawyer, but wouldn't be who I would call in a family case.

[Todd]

Thanks everyone it involves a domestic violence charge. What happened was my buddy's wife who is bipolar attacker him and hit him with a skillet and a few other things. He went to call the police and she started attacking him again so he punched her. I don't condone violence to women but I think if a woman keeps attacking a man especially using weapons at one time, he has a right to defend himself. He hit her one time and of course she called the police on him claiming he had beaten her up. My buddy had several bruises, cuts from the beating he received, yet he is the one having to defend himself. I am sorry, and mean no disrespect to the women who read this site but I am sick of this crap. Women claim they want equal rights but when it is to their advantage they want to play the victim role. Domestic violence can occur both ways. I get sick of crap like that even though I haven't been through it and I get sick of the way fathers get treated on custody issues.

At first he was going to go about it without an attorney but it has gotten more messy. I don't mean any disrespect to one of the attorneys mentioned on this site, Frank Deslauries, but I keeep hearing most of his clients are women and he loves nailing men.

[Michelle]

Elizabeth Ziarko is a really good attorney for divorce and business issues. Based on what you said your friend has an assault situation going on (I am assuming it is still ongoing. LOL-Probably so because Tipton County is incapable of hearing a case quickly). Based on what you said, I would say TD Forrester would be a good one to use.

Stimpson is actually pretty good in court, but his arrogance always annoyed me. Deslauries is well liked by the judges which makes him viable, but he has no problem lying through his teeth in court. Forrester would be my pick, but Stimpson and Deslauriers are okay as well. Whitaker is great too and a nice guy but costly.

[angela]

deslaures is a great attorney it really just depends on how much you want to pay and what kind of case it is

[charles]

I agree with that frank deslauries is very good no matter what kind of case it is!!!!!!!!!!

[Tom]

And I will respectfully disagree on Frank Deslauries. He has a lot of experience and is relatively cheap compared to other attorneys in this area. However, his caseload is so big, he doesn't always seem to spend much time on a case. That can be bad for the client. I prefer using someone who can focus on my case a little bit more. Danny Goulder is a really good attorney. TD Forrester is really good but charges a lot.

[Stephanie]

Stimpson is a great attorney. I can understand how many people would find him gruff but he is a no nonsense kind of guy. When he agrees to take a case, it is because he believes in the client and their case. Therefore, it means he is not one to take a plea bargain, etc which does rile up other attorneys. If he thinks you are innocent, he is going to fight with all he has. If he thinks you are being set up or taken advantage of, he will nail the other side in a heartbeat. I recommend him big time.