Had a lot of questions from friends as to whether they should settle the insurance claim themselves without a lawyer. I would recommend against that. There’s some real misconceptions about the role of an insurance company. They’re not your friends. If you have an adverse ...
In law school I studied international law and got to understand the nuances, the differences in various legal systems. And that becomes really important. For example, a notary on Nvidia in Mexico is a license to attorney. And that doesn’t communicate too well in the United ...
Once I had a client who had a felony DWI that was found in a ditch. So I did the best DWI I could. In fact, somebody came forward and claimed that they were the drivers. Trial was a risky thing so she didn’t decided to go to trial against my urging. Sometimes clients’ best ...
A lot of people might be wondering whether they have the money to afford an attorney. Now, I personally offer payment plans and there’s methods of dealing with these issues. But what people should be thinking about, I think is can they afford not to have an attorney because ...
If a cop shows up at your door, first thing you need to ask is whether he has a warrant. If he does not have a warrant, you have a right to not let him in the door. Cops, usually are a little aggressive and the first thing they’ll ask is if they can come […]
It happens a lot where somebody is arrested and you have substance in there, let’s just say, it’s marijuana. It’s found in a bag in the car and the officer arrests both the passenger and the driver. Happens a lot. I’ve handled cases and gotten dismisses on this type of case. ...
The cop will ask you to take a breath specimen right then and there. The result of that little machine is inadmissible in a court of law, which means they can’t use it. They’re using it to build probable cause to arrest you but that’s inadmissible when we get to court. The ...
There’s been a recent change in the law of the Supreme Court decision that decided I believe in late 2013 that declared statutes that required blood sample after an accident; if the cop suspected the individual of being intoxicated. It was actually regardless of whether you ...
Representing an undocumented person in this country in a criminal case can be really tricky. The immigrant needs to know of the consequences to pleading guilty because that opens lawyer up to an ineffective assistance of counsel claim. My clients, a lot of them are ...
The usual beginning of a DWI is that a cop walks up to your door, and asks you whether you’ve been drinking. And to that point, they have no evidence on you. They claim to smell an odor of alcohol. They claim that your eyes are bloodshot, but that will not suffice to be ...
In the state of Texas, you have a Class A, Class B, and Class C misdemeanor. It’s unlike grade school. You want to get the C, you don’t want to get the A. Because a C entails– well the range of punishment for a Class C misdemeanor is up to a $500 fine, no jail […]
When a cop shines a light in your eye, what they’re looking for, actually what they’re doing is, they’re performing a field sobriety test, called the horizontal gaze nystagmus. And that test, studies suggest that when you’ve had alcohol to drink, your eye will twitch at ...
What is the difference between a private attorney that you hire and retain versus a public defender. There’s– at least in Cameron County, there is a pretty big misconception that the private attorney will do a better job than the court-appointed attorney. ...
A lot of people walk in the door and ask me whether they can appeal a case that they plead guilty to 15, 20 years ago. Or whether they can get an expunction or somehow get it off their record or reopen the case. The quick answer to that, unfortunately, is no. That’s ...
There is a common misconception about Miranda rights. Miranda rights attach when you are under interrogation and not necessarily when you are arrested. That’s why it’s important when you’re talking to a cop to ask him whether you are free to leave. Because ...
One thing that I think is extremely important down here in Brownsville and any border city really is a whole lot of criminal defendants who aren’t here legally. They’re undocumented. And it becomes a race to get a bond sometimes before the ICE immigration people ...
If you’re arrested after an illegal search– now, that’s hard to declare. It just– as an illegal search, you usually need to be arrested. And a lawyer needs to evaluate whether there was enough evidence to support probable cause. But it happens. If ...
My process is quite simple. I’ll ask you to come down to my office immediately. There are real consequences for not showing up to these hearings. If it’s a criminal case, an arrest warrant, a bench warrant will be sent out. And it could be a month or two down the ...