My Lawyer is Not Fighting For Me….

January 7, 2021

By Collin County Criminal Defense Lawyer Jeremy Rosenthal

(972) 369-0577

www.texasdefensefirm.com

Your lawyer is fighting for you.  At least I hope they are.

What Your Lawyers Job Is – and Isn’t

A lawyer has a duty to zealously advocate for their client.  A lawyer cannot, though, just go bananas for the sake of going bananas.  Lawyers have other duties which often compete with their duty to zealously advocate for their client.

Here is a relevant passage in the Preamble Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct:

2. As a representative of clients, a lawyer performs various functions. As advisor, a lawyer provides a client with an informed understanding of the client’s legal rights and obligations and explains their practical implications. As advocate, a lawyer zealously asserts the client’s position under the rules of the adversary system. As negotiator, a lawyer seeks a result advantageous to the client but consistent with requirements of honest dealing with others. As intermediary between clients, a lawyer seeks to reconcile their divergent interests as an advisor and, to a limited extent, as a spokesperson for each client. A lawyer acts as evaluator by examining a client’s affairs and reporting about them to the client or to others.

Note zealous advocacy is sandwiched between other roles of the attorney.  The lawyer also has to give the client an informed understanding of their rights and obligations.  The lawyer must seek advantageous results consistent with the honest dealing with others.

Fighting for and advocating for a client is only a fraction of the lawyer’s job.  Much of the lawyers role is informing, educating, and advising clients.  Also, much of a lawyers job hinges on ethical obligations to judges and other lawyers… our system wouldn’t work if everyone got to go berserk.

A lawyer’s job isn’t to tell you everything you want to hear, either.  Many times folks will understandably want to shoot the messenger.

Giving Your Lawyer the Benefit of the Doubt

I’ve had many clients over the years who like seeing or thinking I’m being aggressive.  But not every situation calls for aggressiveness…. and just because the client thinks I’m not being assertive, zealous, or aggressive doesn’t mean I’m not either.

Often folks looking to switch lawyers will visit with me – and I always make an effort to try and see the situation their lawyer’s way.  That lawyer usually knows much more about the case than I do to that point and it’s arrogant of me to think otherwise.

When You Should Worry About Your Lawyer’s Efforts

First – you should be comfortable with direction of your representation.  If you can’t sleep at night worried sick about your lawyer and nothing they do or say helps then by all means find another lawyer whose representation you’re more at ease with.  Again, though, it’s not your lawyers job to tell you only news you like or that you want to hear.  It’s probably a worse mistake to shop, and shop, and shop for a lawyer until you find someone who magically agrees with everything you say.

Some lawyers can be intimidated by certain cases.  Is your lawyer constantly looking for reasons to back down?  When your lawyer does shy away from a difficult hearing, trial or other proceeding – do they have a detailed reason which makes sense?  In criminal cases – how often does your lawyer go to trial?  If it’s not on a regular basis then maybe that is a red flag.

*Jeremy Rosenthal is certified in criminal law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.  He is recognized as a Texas Super Lawyer by Thomson Reuters.

 

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Will a DWI Ruin My Life?

January 6, 2021

By McKinney Criminal Defense Lawyer Jeremy Rosenthal

(972) 369-0577

www.texasdefensefirm.com

Driving while intoxicated convictions are very intensive with consequences that are far ranging.  Most of the consequences are what lawyers and courts refer to as “direct” consequences.  This means we know what those consequences are and we can see them coming.

Indirect consequences are much more difficult to calculate.  An example of a direct consequence of a drunk driving conviction is the potential for probation or an interlock device on a car.  The law requires it.

An indirect consequence, on the other hand, is what will your boss think.  That’s the hard part to know.

Common Direct Consequences of a DWI Conviction

The punishment for a Driving While Intoxicated Offense in Texas is This:

  • Up to 2 years probation for misdemeanors (DWI 1st or 2nd);
  • Up to 180 days jail for DWI 1st with blood alcohol under (BAC) 0.15;
  • Up to 1 year of jail for DWI 1st with BAC 0.15 or greater;
  • Up to 1 year of jail for DWI 2nd;

Other requirements for DWI probation (direct consequences) are the inability to terminate probation early, the requirement for interlock devices for DWI 2nd or more or if the BAC is greater than 0.15.  There is a new “superfine” the legislature requires if a person is sentenced to jail on a driving under the influence case of $6,000.

Indirect Consequences Which Can Be Harmful to a Career

There are certain professions where a DWI affects you and some where they don’t.  If you drive a school bus then a DWI is bad news.  If you are law enforcement or a first responder, then again – it will cause you problems.  Pilots obviously have major headaches with DWI arrests with the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”).

But what if you’re a doctor or a registered nurse?  You could have licensing issues because the boards which regulate physicians and/or nurses in Austin will want to make sure there aren’t underlying substance issues.

There are some professions which simply don’t have much of an intersection with DWI arrests.  If you are a CPA, a hairdresser, or even an attorney – a misdemeanor DWI shouldn’t do you much professional harm.

But remember a criminal conviction is permission for someone to discriminate.  Is it possible you could lose a job working at a bank because of a DWI arrest or conviction?  I would hope not – but if your boss was a victim of a drunk driver then potentially it could happen.

*Jeremy Rosenthal is certified in criminal law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.  He is recognized as a Texas Super Lawyer by Thomson Reuters.

 

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Posted by niftybrady

Collin County Deferred Prosecution Program — Update (1/31/11)

January 31, 2011

By Dallas and Collin County Criminal Defense Lawyer Jeremy Rosenthal

(972) 562-7549

texasdefensefirm.com

Many changes have and are taking effect under new Criminal District Attorney Greg Willis.

Amongst those changes are changes to Collin County’s Deferred Prosecution Program.  That program was originally instituted by former District Attorney John R. Roach, Sr. and allowed youthful “offenders” the opportunity to avoid having their cases be filed formally in exchange for a less-formal probation under the supervision of the Collin County Community Supervision department (probation).

There were many complaints about how Mr. Roach’s administration ran the program.  For example, there were formal guidelines set in place that were inflexible and could be somewhat arbitrary.  For example, people were refused entry into the program because they did not reply within the narrow time frame given to them regardless of the reason.

Also, the method in which people were contacted was suspect.  First, the person would receive direct notification of the program via an unsigned letter bearing the letter-head of the probation department.  The letter would invite the offender and his/her parents to come and confess to the crime — and that they would then be considered for admission into Deferred Prosecution Program (the letters did not come from the DA’s office).  Lawyers in Texas cannot directly contact persons they know to be represented by counsel in opposing matters.

The new Collin County DA’s policy towards the Deferred Prosecution Program takes a far more common-sense approach.  It appears as though they are evaluating the program on a case-by-case basis and they are willing to review cases submitted to them for review.  It’s guesswork at this point as to how exactly the old-guidelines will play into the new decision making, but the Defense lawyer community is hopeful that the program will be more fair and available to people deserving a second chance.

Obviously, the DA’s office has to draw the line somewhere with allowing people into the Deferred Prosecution Program — which means that not everyone will get what they want.  At least everyone will be heard.  And that’s a huge change.

Ask your lawyer about the Deferred Prosecution Program in Collin County if you think it’s an option for your case or your child’s case.

*Jeremy Rosenthal is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and licensed by the Supreme Court of Texas. Nothing in this article is intended to be legal advice.  For legal advice for any specific situation, you should directly consult with an attorney.

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Posted by Jeremy Rosenthal, Esq.

Proposed DWI Deferred Will Only Feel Better for 1st Timers

January 18, 2011

By Dallas and Collin County Criminal Defense Lawyer Jeremy Rosenthal

(972) 562-7549

texasdefensefirm.com

The 2011 Texas Legislature has a bill before it that would give 1st time DWI offenders the opportunity to get Deferred Adjudication according to this Dallas Morning News article. What can a first-time DWI arrestee expect in this bill crafted by Texas Prosecutors and MADD in exchange for pleading guilty?  Not much.

Remember, Deferred is where someone pleads guilty but the Court defers the finding of guilt while the person completes probation.  If the person completes probation successfully, then the charges are “dismissed” without a final conviction ever being attained.  I put the term dismissed in quotes because even though that’s the term used by the statute, the legislature gave it a special definition that most people speaking English would derive from it’s use — it’s really only a document confirming probation is over.

When someone completes deferred and their case is “dismissed,” then the person’s arrest record, court records, and probation records stay completely in tact and are routinely sold to private companies for public uses on job search applications, housing applications, or loan applications (etc.).  Only when someone applies for a petition for non-disclosure two years after the “dismissal” AND a Judge determines it is in the best interests of justice can the person’s file not be sold by the State.  But law enforcement, of course, gets to keep it and share it with practically any other entity that is affiliated with the State such as school boards and professional licensing agencies.

And according to the Dallas Morning News Article, the DWI Deferred proposal has even less benefit than a normal deferred.  For this program, if you plead guilty and get deferred it counts as a conviction for the purposes of enhancement.  Also there seems to be no other lessening of punishment in any way as far as interlock devices or sur-charges.

Prosecutors and MADD miss the point with this deferred proposal.  The reason deferred would help clear the dockets is that it would give an accused something to actually lose by contesting the charges.  About the only benefit with this proposed law is that someone can say they’ve never been convicted of DWI.  I guess that’s something, but it doesn’t do much more than make someone feel a little less guilty if they accept responsibility for a DWI that they’re guilty of.

*Jeremy Rosenthal is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and licensed by the Supreme Court of Texas. Nothing in this article is intended to be legal advice.  For legal advice about any situation you should contact an attorney directly.

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Posted by Jeremy Rosenthal, Esq.