March 2010

Attempted Murder Charges After Northern Virginia Road Rage Incident

March 31, 2010 Other Criminal Offenses

We don’t know who started it, and we probably never will know for sure. But somewhere along Interstate 95 in Northern Virginia, the drivers of a dump truck and a Jaguar got mad at each other and began a roadway melee that ended up with the driver of the dump truck smashing his vehicle into [...]

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On Status Symbols and Client Relations

March 29, 2010 Law Marketing/Networking

A couple of the lawyers who came to play poker at my house last week have “virtual offices” in D.C., and we were talking about whether clients care about the quality of our office space. Two of the lawyers who do immigration said that their clients couldn’t care less about this type of thing. And [...]

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Juvenile Court Forever

March 26, 2010 Juveniles

You are sitting with your client in the basement of the Family Court building. The two of you are in a little cubicle set off from the main room by some makeshift walls. The door is warped and won’t close properly, and your client is distracted by the other kids in their ill-fitting jumpsuits, milling [...]

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On Mirriam Seddiq and the “Not Guilty No Way” Blog

March 25, 2010 Criminal Law Bloggers

There are two fairly new criminal law blogs that have recently been given a lot of attention in the blawgosphere: Liberty and Justice for Y’All and Affirmative Links. In both cases the attention is deserved. Each blog is written by a group of criminal defense attorneys. And each blog is able to maintain a consistent [...]

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Lessons from the Gilbert Arenas Cover-Up

March 24, 2010 Firearms/Weapons

“Ur new story.  U were n the training rm when u got out there were 3 guns on ur chair with a note.  That said pick one.  Send to javaris ill take the Blame. He didn’t have a gun he didn’t do anything.  Ill come up with the story.  But that all he needs to [...]

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DWI/DUI: What NHTSA Does Not Tell Us About the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) Test

March 23, 2010 DUI and Driving Offenses

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the horizontal gaze nystagmus (HGN) test is a proven and scientific method for determining whether or not a person is intoxicated. NHTSA therefore included the HGN as one of three components within the Standardized Field Sobriety Test for use by police officers in deciding whether to [...]

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“. . . steeples, come to nothing, shape the sky”

March 22, 2010 Miscellaneous

This weekend I will be attending a poetry reading at the Renaissance Center in Amherst, Massachusetts in honor of my father, who turns 95 this month. Forty people will be reading from one of my father’s poetry collections. In helping to prepare for the reading, I came across one of my father’s lesser known poems, [...]

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“Hamilton Burger” At The Bus Stop

March 22, 2010 Law Practice

Regular readers of this blog know that I look for any occasion to tell a story.  The recent re-appearance on this site of the elusive “Hamilton Burger” has reminded me of a story he once told me. Once upon a time, before he became the coddled trial lawyer he is today, Mr. Burger was a [...]

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OAG Sends Out Form Letter on D.C. Intoxilyzer Problems

March 20, 2010 DUI and Driving Offenses

The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has been notifying defense lawyers in many cases in which D.C. police used the Intoxilyzer 5000EN that the prosecution will not introduce breath test results into evidence. The form letter informs counsel that “there MAY have been a past calibration issue with the Intoxilyzer utilized by the Metropolitan [...]

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On Gullibility and Unpaid Legal Fees

March 19, 2010 Law Practice

I used to think my mother was the most gullible person in the world. My siblings and I could do whatever we wanted to in high school, and she would automatically believe any explanation we could possibly give, no matter how preposterous the explanation might seem. Years later I began to rethink this. It occurred [...]

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