Blog post about Albany District Attorney

The Democracy in Albany blog has a short post about Albany DA David Soares. The post prompted a lively set of comments on that entry.

Good blog on DWI

Just noticed a good blog by a DWI defense lawyer from California. Here's an an example of a good post..

The prosecutor mentality

One of my minor pet peeves is the attitude of many prosecutors, and going along with that, a common public attitude toward defense lawyers. I should mention right at the beginning that there are many exceptions to this, and that I don't see this at all when it comes to traffic & DWI cases.So anyway, it comes to this -- many prosecutors can't accept that they have a bad case. Sometimes the

Malpractice & volume business

I was retained to handle a malpractice case lately. That case, along with some of my other cases and other things in life prompted the following thoughts about volume businesses. It seems like certain areas of life have become volume businesses. Walmart is the obvious example. You can't get any service in the store. The prices are low, but the shopping experience stinks and product quality is not

Drug war blogs

I was just on a drug-war related topic recently, and so I was reading some related blogs. A couple of good ones are the Drug Policy Alliance blog, and the Drug War Rant on Salon.com. For example, both covered a recent article on Citizens Against Government Waste and its report on wasteful spending by ONDCP (aka the Drug Czar). Click the following for DPA's post and the Rant's post.

Law student blogs

Interesting to see that law students are almost pervasive in the world of law blogs (sometimes called blawgs). Students bring a fresh perspective. This one discusses George Lucas, Star Wars, Republicans and Democrats.

"Interests of Justice"

There are two provisions in the Criminal Procedure Law allowing a motion to dismiss "in the interests of justice". The provisions (I think it's 170.40 for dismissing an information or complaint, and 210.40 for dismissing indictments) include a laundry list of factors the judge "must" consider if raised and relevant.A few years ago I wrote an article aimed for law reviews, titled: A Substantive

Interesting blog article on car accident cases

The "New York Civil Law" blog discusses a recent Court decision dealing with the "serious injury" requirement in car accident cases. For non-lawyers and lawyers who are not experienced with this issue, NY law says you can't get money in a car accident case unless you can show a "serious injury". There are a number of categories that qualify. The easy category is a fracture. If you have a broken

Marijuana Laws

Today I noticed a blog mentioned marijuana enforcement in a posting 26 Million Joints". I've been a critic for many years of the the War on Drugs. Now as a lawyer I frequently represent defendants on marijuana charges. The most common in New York is "Unlawful Possession of Marijuana" (UPM). It is a very low level offense. The fine and surcharge is usually about $200.The most common way this comes

Learning more about blogging

As I get into blogging, I'm learning about other blogs out there. Saw an interesting one by "Ernie the Attorney", talking about people finding his site through Google (which is how I found his site). I have worked pretty hard on my firm website to make it do well on Google searches, so I thought that was interesting to see. He talks about the search terms that bring people to his blog. Mine come

Tough DWI case

Potential new client called last night, ~ 10 pm. My answering serviced texted me and I called and spoke with the father.The kid had rear-ended someone and blew a 0.20 BAC on the breathalyzer. That's pretty high. To make things worse, the kid had a DWAI 3 years ago. Short story - his license will be revoked for 6 months minimum. They're having a lot of trouble accepting the reality of this.DWI

Open Container

Finally resolved a case today for a client charged with "open container" in Albany City Court. Client was caught with a can of Bud Light on the street outside a bar (Mardi Gras). He had been to City Court several times but couldn't get the case resolved, so he hired me. The first time I appeared, the ADA (Assistant District Attorney) offered to "ACOD" (adjourn in contemplation of dismissal -

Handling speeding tickets

The strongest part of my website, in terms of what seems to draw clients, is the traffic and speeding section. A lot of the clients I get are from out of the area. They're driving from downstate to Vermont, or Boston to Buffalo, or something like that. They get a ticket in Albany, Schenectady, Rotterdam, etc. If you think about it, how are they going to find a lawyer here?If a local person gets a

First Entry - Getting started

Thought I'd try out blogging. Seems like everyone is talking about it.I'm a lawyer in Albany and thought there might be a place for a blog about Albany lawyers, law, life in Albany (NY), etc.Click for my website.