Underdog Blog – Fairfax Criminal Defense Lawyer | Virginia DUI Attorney

In the abstract, much in the law world is unexciting, mind-numbing and sometimes maddening, but when practiced on the side of the angels and for people in true need, is exciting.

Stagefright interferes tremendously with performers, persuaders and salespeople from benefiting from the gift of an audience. A live audience provides the actor with instant feedback that is not available to a musician in a studio, a politician in front of a camera in his or...

Virginia's Supreme Court affirmed a felony theft conviction by a jury, accompanied by a five-year prison sentence, despite defense counsel's protestations that the defendant was in in the courtroom in jail clothes and a jail identification bracelet.

I am cognizant about judges' tough jobs, while also knowing that judges need to know about the above realities of their jobs before accepting the job as a judge. Some judges take the job with a paycut, truly wanting to serve. Others take the job...

Nobody ever said that trial lawyering would be an easy profession. As I have said time and time again, this work is filled with proverbial projectile vomiting, projectile diarrhea, underhandedness by too many prosecutors and police, unfairness by too many judges, and shoveling sh*t.

What is the most exhilarating part of being a criminal defense lawyer? Trials. Trials must be well-prepared and well fought; that is a given. Those meant for trial work will feel invigorated rather than exhausted by the battle.

Virginia has a sad state of affairs that allows magistrates -- who are not required to be law school graduates unless they are a chief magistrate -- to review and approve search warrant applications. Virginia non-chief magistrates only need to have bachelors degrees.

Keys to happiness and satisfaction with work and life are service, generosity and gratitude, which all focus outward rather than towards one's ego and selfishness. It also helps to love what you do and do what you love. Ego and selfishness are dualistic and about...

It was bad enough that 2000 federal highway legislation shoved mandatory criminalization of driving with a 0.08 blood alcohol level down the states’ throats under the penalty of otherwise losing federal highway funding. Now we have a slippery slope of governments trying to criminalize threshold...

Virginia's Supreme Court has affirmed a drug conviction resulting from a traffic stop by a police officer misunderstanding the state's law against dangling objects that obstruct the driver's view