Criminal Defense

Whenever a criminal defendant faces sentencing on multiple counts, the defense lawyer should argue for concurrent, not consecutive, sentences. Congratulations to Charles Jefferson, Jr., for his appellate victory against the prosecution’s assertion that Virginia law does not allow concurrent — rather than consecutive — mandatory minimum...

Slews of people feel as emboldened to challenge a criminal defense lawyer's line of work as they do to challenge an elected politician, anytime, anywhere, and even as confrontationally as they wish. For me, this is an opportunity to get the word out on how...

"Don’t you know that litigation causes many lawyers heart attacks?", an experienced federal regulatory agency lawyer asked me when early on in law school I expressed an interest in a litigation career, including to fight for civil liberties. I suppose that heart attack risk might be higher...

Day in and day out, the vast majority of prosecutors, police and judges whom I see seem to treat court cases in a routine fashion. I say "seem", because that is how it looks from observation, even when they continually recognize inside themselves the grave consequences...

At first blush, the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution looks like something slipped past legislators by skilled ACLU lobbyists slipping mickeys into legislators’ cocktails: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and...

In criminal trials, the prosecutor has the burden of proof. Often the defense puts on no witnesses and fights for victory through arguing suppression, acquittal for insufficient evidence to prove a crime, and reasonable doubt. Just as the pause can be as important in a...

To sufficiently protect free expression, we always must err on the side of overprotecting free expression than underprotecting it, even with such socially unhelpful expression as that of Xavier Alvarez. Alvarez was not satisfied enough with having become a regional water board member. Instead, at...

My work is never dull. Criminal defense, for me, is blissful battle on the side of the angels, no matter how rough and tumble the battles get. It is a constant opportunity for me to hone being calm in the eye of the storm. The extra...

A criminal defense lawyer at once needs abundant compassion, empathy, and a cast-iron stomach. Even with that ongoing goal, I am still retching over yesterday’s Virginia appellate case opinion concerning the following allegations proven against a woman — and apparently admitted to by her trial testimony —...

One day I had breakfast with a local top-notch veteran medical malpractice lawyer who seems to deeply care about his clients and the quality of his work. To this day, he has not found a way to save time by limiting his potential client meetings...