Underdog Blog – Fairfax Criminal Defense Lawyer | Virginia DUI Attorney

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 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...

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...

Few battles and wars are won singlehandedly. An exception is the fictitious ronin

I loved my first tie-dye shirt. I wore it proudly at my summer day camp and beyond during the 1971 summer before third grade. I guess I had not read the t-shirt closely enough before, in response to my annoying a camp counselor about his...

Criminal defense work does not suit just anyone. Those who thrive on being part of the “in-crowd” since high school on up, right to college fraternities and to country clubs, might feel like fish out of water doing criminal defense. Former prosecutors, former cops, and...

A while back, a prosecutor interrupted my argument — as many prosecutors have a penchant to do — near the very beginning of the hearing that I had scheduled on my own motion. I let my irritation get the better of me  — with irritation...

During the Vietnam War, the United States government drafted a slew of people not long past high school age who were ill-prepared to go to war. Plenty had little real-world experience. Plenty had never been on a plane, let alone one to halfway around the world. Plenty...

Repeatedly in my initial discussions with them, clients and witnesses recount the events leading to my client’s arrest not only with descriptive words but with conclusions, opinions, and the occasional (usually with younger witnesses, which seems to be a generational way of speaking) "so I was...

Virginia legal practice is full of formality, starting with the overformality of requiring bar exam takers to wear courtroom attire, offset by requiring shoe soles that do not go clippity-clop on floors, thus permitting the silly clash of athletic shoes against dark suits. How does...