Fairfax Criminal Lawyer • Virginia DUI Lawyer

Fairfax criminal lawyer / Virginia DUI attorney Jonathan L. Katz knows that Virginia has a harsh criminal justice system that fortunately is seeing some turnaround in terms of a chief prosecutor in Fairfax and other parts of the commonwealth who recognize the need to be more enlightened about the rights and plights of criminal defendants, and a state legislature that is bringing Virginia further from the criminal justice dark ages. Nonetheless, prosecutors have their own prosecution agenda and legislators serve their constituencies. One's criminal defense lawyer is a criminal defendant's only true friend in the courthouse.

A Virginia criminal or DUI conviction (under Va. Code § 18.2-266) risks not only penalties in state court, but also damage to one's reputation, career, security clearance, health care licensing, and immigration status. Fairfax criminal defense lawyer Jon Katz finds out what is most important to you for your defense and pursues your best possible defense while also pushing against the foregoing adverse collateral consequences from a conviction and against adverse sentences.

On the one hand, Fairfax criminal defense lawyer Jon Katz believes strongly in having his work relieve stress and pressure off his clients' shoulders so that they may carry on with their daily personal and professional lives. On the other hand, successful Virginia criminal defense calls for strong teamwork between the lawyer and client, which calls for the criminal defendant to provide his or her lawyer with essential information that is not available elsewhere, and to engage in self improvement steps recommended by the defendant's lawyer. The defendant should be responsive to his or her lawyer's communications and efforts to have the client fully prepared for each stage of the defense and for every court date.

When you hire Jon Katz as your Virginia criminal lawyer, he will formulate with you -- and keep updating -- a defense action plan, including contingency plans, for pursuing the best possible outcome in your case. When prosecutors, police, judges and jurors see the united front presented by the defense, the results can be very beneficial for the defendant. The prosecutor and police are a team, and the criminal defendant-defense lawyer team can offset and reverse the power of the opposition. The prosecutor and police have their own concerns about the weaknesses of their case, and about how well or not the police will present on the witness stand. Jon Katz fully exercises his skill in using cross examination to blunt and reverse their direct examination testimony, and Jon's ability to weave in the evidence and law to successfully argue objections, motions, acquittal, closing argument, and all other critical aspects of the case.

Virginia criminal defense is in many ways like being in a hospital emergency room, sometimes with figurative bodily fluids flying left and right with some prosecutors and police throwing proverbial dirt towards the criminal defense lawyer's eyes, while the ideal Virginia criminal defense lawyer remains focused on balancing an imbalanced situation, and never gets distracted, sidetracked nor angered by opponents' efforts to throw off the defense nor by any judge's apparent failure to sufficiently enforce the governing rules; and always remembers that the fight is for the defendant and not about the lawyer.

It is ideal for criminal defendants to start early in obtaining a qualified Virginia criminal lawyer in preparing their criminal or DUI defense.  The police and prosecution should be expected to be prepared at the trial date, and it is important for the defense not only to level the playing field but to reverse the battlefield in favor of the defense.

Nothing beats successful Northern Virginia criminal lawyer experience defending in criminal and DUI court. The battle in Fairfax and the rest of Virginia for those accused of crimes and DUI can get messy and filled with booby traps. The right Virginia criminal defense lawyer will skillfully navigate the path to the best defense, working as a united front with his client, and will always be ready to go to trial with you. Any negotiations are from a position of battle-ready strength. Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan L. Katz focuses on disintegrating the obstacles and finding and building on the hidden and more apparent strengths in your criminal defense.

Even the most basic-seeming Virginia criminal or DUI case calls for a tailor-made plan and strategy that get constantly updated just as one must do in any battlefield. Starting with your first meeting with Fairfax criminal lawyer Jon Katz, he will formulate and articulate a Virginia defense action plan for you and him as a team to pursue the best possible results in your case, whether you are charged with a misdemeanor, first-time Virginia DUI, drug offense, sex offense, assault, theft,  felony, murder, or any other crime. Fairfax criminal lawyer Jon will keep you informed about your case, fight skillfully and doggedly for you every step of the way, and listen closely to and respond well to your questions, thoughts, and concerns.

Your best defense against a Virginia criminal or DUI prosecution starts with asserting your Fifth Amendment right to remain silent with the police, Fourth Amendment right to decline searches and, in Virginia DUI cases, knowing your right to decline field sobriety tests and handheld roadside preliminary breath testing (PBT). As a battle-tested Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan L. Katz gets right to work for your best possible defense like a dog to raw meat.

Choosing a Virginia criminal defense lawyer or Fairfax DUI lawyer involves finding the lawyer that is right for you and your particular case. Those who urge hiring a former prosecutor are promoting a fallacy, in that it is better to address such factors as the Virginia criminal defense lawyer's experience, ability, instincts, and cunning; enjoyment of and devotion to criminal defense and the plight of criminal defendants; commitment to working as a team with his criminal defense clients; and fighting like hell for criminal defendants.

A Virginia criminal lawyer who has always been on the defense side is accustomed to panning for gold, going against the united front of police and prosecutors, dealing with the many unfair aspects of the criminal justice system that lopsidedly favor the prosecution, and often finding the cards and rules stacked against the defense, thereby forcing a proverbial gladiator fight. A prosecutor who switches to the defense side is like an organ transplant recipient; the transplant may or may not be rejected by the host. Questions to one's potential Virginia criminal defense lawyer can include how well the lawyer deals with and transcends such obstacles, and ethically and successfully pushes the envelope for the best possible defense for his or her accused clients.

Northern Virginia criminal lawyer Jon Katz has successfully defended thousands of clients charged with criminal and DUI offenses, starting with five years as a public defender lawyer advocating for indigent defendants, and continuing into his present law firm that for years has devoted nearly 100% of Jon's practice to defending people charged with felony, misdemeanor and DUI offenses. Jon is among only 8% of lawyers nationwide to hold a Martindale-Hubbell peer-reviewed AV preeminent lawyer rating. He also is AVVO lawyer-rated at 10.0/10.0.

From the very start of his criminal defense career, Jon became active with the premier National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and a few years later being among the small percentage of applicants selected for (and attending) the unparalleled two-week Trial Practice Institute of the National Criminal Defense College (also known as Macon, for its location in Georgia) and the intensive four-week Trial Lawyers College at legendary trial lawyer Gerry Spence's western Wyoming ranch. For Virginia DUI defense, Jon's commitment to the best possible Virginia DUI defense is demonstrated by his being among the small percentage of Virginia criminal defense lawyers who are members of the National College of DUI  Defense, whose great DWI defenders nationwide share their insights for winning such cases.

Jon Katz is a battle-tested Fairfax criminal defense lawyer , fighting as a winning team with you at every turn. Your political views, job, and favorite sports teams matter little to Jon. All that matters is that you need a first-rate Virginia criminal lawyer.

The longer you wait to hire your criminal lawyer is the longer the prosecutor and police are the only ones ready to prepare for every court date. Yes, a criminal defendant should invest sufficient time in finding the right lawyer, and may need some time to invest the funds for paying a lawyer. While considering all of that, the defendant should consider the advantages and disadvantages of obtaining a qualified lawyer soon. Deadlines apply to such items as issuing subpoenas for witnesses and documentation essential to the criminal defense; obtaining discovery orders; and filing requests for a copy of the certificate of blood alcohol analysis and any alleged drugs seized.

Because no criminal defense nor DUI defense is one size fits all, the actions, analyses, and thought process of each qualified criminal defense lawyer will adjust based on the case involved, case developments, the defendant's goals, and the skills and experience of the lawyer. At minimum, it is vital for the criminal defense lawyer and his or her client to remain in close contact with each other and to respond timely to each other, and for the criminal defendant never to knowingly provide false information nor incorrect documentation to his or her lawyer.

As much as it can be scary and uncomfortable to reveal information from even the darkest corners of one's person and experience, Jon Katz can only provide the best possible defense to his criminal defense clients when they only provide him true information. Moreover, the governing law bars criminal defendants from providing the court with false information, and the lawyers professional conduct rules bar a lawyer from knowingly providing the tribunal or opposing counsel with false information.

That is not to say that Jon Katz wants his clients to present him with all information all at once, particularly when acknowledging that it can be uncomfortable for some criminal defendants to bare their souls to their lawyer early on in the attorney-client relationship. As more information is obtained about the case, Jon continues to fine-tune his defense for his clients, and communicates in depth with his clients about the information obtained in the case, including police reports, incident videos and other important discovery.

Jon Katz never judges his clients, and only fully defends them. He maintains strict confidentiality over his criminal defense clients' information. Opportunities need to be sought in every strong and seemingly weak situation. When his clients are fully honest with Jon, he is able to provide his full firepower on their behalf.