Underdog Blog – Fairfax Criminal Defense Lawyer | Virginia DUI Attorney
Fairfax Criminal Lawyer / Virginia DUI Attorney- Highly-Rated
Pursuing Your Best Defense Since 1991
Does your judge or jury want to be in the courtroom? What can you do to change that?
A colleague who has known many local judges since childhood and through the old boy/girl network recently told me that half the judges he knows in a particular county do the work out of a sense of public service, with numerous of the remainder dreading...
Finding the magic to great speaking and writing
So many people are afraid of public speaking, seeing the audience as a potential source of judgment, criticism, ridicule and shaming, rather than as connected to the speaker or as akin to the speaker’s closest friends. Many people write in stilted fashion, reaching constantly for...
Seizing the crossroads moment as an opportunity, not as a crisis
“You do not care about me or my case! I am going to get another criminal defense lawyer!” The foregoing question is a crossroads statement. A defensive and indignant lawyer might reply: “You ingrate! I have been working my fingers to the bone for you, even...
“Help, lawyer. A conviction will deep-six my life and career!”
All my clients are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. However, that does not mean that all my clients come to me with clean hands. Behind the seemingly picture-perfect lives of plenty of people who seem to have reached many...
Prosecutors: Sleep more soundly by giving police reports to the defense
“That was nice of the prosecutor,” replied a colleague — a criminal defense lawyer whom I respect very much — after I told him that during his direct examination of a police officer, a Virginia prosecutor strolled over to the defense table to show me...
Jimmy Carter’s first drug czar on the shift from treating to criminalizing drugs
Thanks to my colleague who posted this fascinating 2000 interview with Jimmy Carter’s first drug czar, Peter Bourne, who claims: – With Reagan came a major federal law shift — supported by people at the DEA — from heavily focusing on treatment for illegal drugs...
When prosecutors or law enforcement issue you a records subpoena, consult a lawyer
When police, law enforcement, or a government agency issue you a subpoena for documents or other tangible evidence, it is wisest to consult with a qualified lawyer well in advance of the subpoena’s evidence production deadline. A qualified lawyer will help determine whether you are...
Arrogance and obstruction have no place when it comes to exculpatory evidence
Arrogance afflicts all but a handful of people. In the criminal courtroom, prosecutors are at risk of all the more arrogance because of their privilege, power, and excessive deference they receive from too many judges and other courthouse personnel. I still remember the day around...
Federal judge keeps teeth in SCOTUS’s McNeely blood draw case
Last April, the Supreme Court generally limited blood draws of criminal suspects to those obtained by consent of the suspect or by a valid search warrant, absent exigent circumstances. Missouri v. McNeely, 133 S.Ct. 1552 (2013). Criminal defense lawyers need to challenge all three with...
The necessity of teamwork between lawyer and client
Few battles and wars are won singlehandedly. An exception is the fictitious ronin
