This is part III of IV STRATEGIES Ah, strategies. I believe it to be a known fact that your average public defender has a much greater caseload than your average private defense attorney. I think that’s true, isn’t it? Especially in this economy when the various governments are having to clamp down on hiring. **That** is a fact. The public defenders offices have been dealing with hiring issues for some time now. And guess what? The number of cases coming through the system hasn’t...[read more]...

PART II OF IV EXPERTISE Public defenders – are they really that bad? Absolutely not. And sometimes, yeah, they are – but private attorneys aren’t all Johnnie Cochran or Matlock, either! When a lawyer gets out of law school, getting a job is almost always the first challenge. Usually the choices are (1) private practice – big law firms, corporate law and (2) public services – prosecutors, public defenders, lawyers for government. The simple fact is that lawyers who...[read more]...

PART I OF IV THE BASICS You or a loved one is charged with a crime. Money and credit are tough – especially in this economy. What do you do for an attorney? Quite often, the answer to that question is you’ll have to go with the “dreaded” Public Defender. (I say “dreaded” because I feel that is the general perception of public defenders. The truth is that for the most part they are a very talented and dedicated group of attorneys working difficult and hard...[read more]...

PARKING TICKET So I was in Scottsdale City Court yesterday taking care of a parking ticket for my grandfather-in-law. The poor guy. So sue him – yes, he forgot to put his handicapped placard on his rear-view mirror! With all due respect, this great man can barely move. It didn’t matter. It was a civil violation, not criminal, and it was what we in the law call “strict liability.” In other words, no matter how well-intentioned you are, if you don’t do x or y, you’re...[read more]...

That’s right, I took my with me to a change of plea hearing in Flagstaff.  Thanks to life, I don’t get to spend as time with my mom as I’d like and this was going to be a long ride up and back to Flagstaff. From a court perspective, it was cut and dried. My clients were charged with things that some might not be too crazy about. My mom asked me, “what did the prosecutor think?” Well, it’s not that complicated, I had worked out a very favorable deal for my...[read more]...

So.  Today I was covering court for a friend of mine.  She was in Hawaii – nice! Anyhow, her client shows up, a 50-something year old woman who’s never even had a speeding ticket but now she’s charged with an extreme DUI.  And she starts asking me about her case.  Questions like – “will I have to do any jail time?  I can do probation, fines, community service, but I can’t do any jail time.  I’m a hundred years old, for one thing, and for another, I’ll...[read more]...

Unfortunately, for us adults, “spring break” doesn’t have the same magic anymore.  For me it means, how am I going to juggle all of Max’s free time with my work, appointments, and court appearances?  I wish I could take him with me to court.  That would be a trip!

My “webmaster” called this one “Hello World,” and who am I to argue? Keep an eye here for blogs about everything under the sun but most importantly my courtroom escapades.