I have been a Michigan Attorney for over 20 years. There have been many changes in the law and how it is practiced during that time. I go to courts throughout S.E. Michigan including those in Wayne County, Oakland, Macomb, Monroe, Washtenaw and Livingston counties. The types of cases that I usually handle include:

Divorce and family law. Important considerations include how long the parties have been married (in a short term marriage you usually walk out with what you walked in with vs. a long term marriage in which you usually divide the assets equally). Disparity in income determines whether or not alimony would be appropriate. Usually the bill paying and responsibilities should continue as before, and if not, the court needs to enter orders to compel that the status quo be maintained.
Child Custody battles have been greatly minimized since the courts now focus in on how many overnight stays the child(ren) spend with each party. Support is based on these overnight stays – along with the incomes of the parties. If disputes arise regarding sharing the child(ren) then the parties are usually referred to a mediator. Other issues that come up from time-to-time include grandparent rights; paternity and permission to leave the state with the child(ren).

A Michigan Attorney Handling Criminal Defense

Criminal defense. The local district courts handle misdemeanors – those with a potential sentence of less than 93 days in jail. Typical misdemeanors that I handle include drunk driving; domestic violence; driving offenses; indecent exposure and shop lifting. The county circuit courts handle felonies. Typical felonies that I handle include a third drunk driving; possession/manufacture/distribution of drugs; assaults; theft/embezzlement and sex crimes. The juvenile courts handle felonies and misdemeanors when they are committed by children. Failure to comply with terms of your probation results in a show cause hearing – which I also frequently handle. If you have had only one misdemeanor or felony in your life, I can get it expunged after five years.

Personal Injury. The last several years has witnessed almost the death of personal injury actions. Michigan no fault law has always required a “serious” injury before you had the right to sue. That used to mean a couple of trips to the chiropractor. Now even broken bones are not considered “serious” enough! Previously landowners had a duty to keep their land in repair and to remove accumulations of ice & snow. Now, if your fall was caused by anything that can be seen by the naked eye – you don’t have a case. Michigan abolished the right to sue for defective and dangerous medications, severely restricted medical malpractice and other defective product cases.

Needless to say, you need an attorney who can navigate the pitfalls that stand in your way after you have been injured. I have won millions for my injured clients – from a $2,000,000 medical malpractice claim down to a $10,000 sprained ankle. Other types of cases that I have handled include Worker’s Comp and Social Security Disability claims.

Driver’s License Restoration Michigan Attorney

Driver’s license restorations. If you get two drunk driving convictions you loose your driver’s license. You can petition the Secretary of State to restore it – but they are very, very tough in granting this. I have been to hundreds of these hearings and I know what they want. I conduct the hearing and if I do my job right they will ask few follow-up questions. This means you will have heard all the questions that will be asked – AND I will have liked all your answeres. If I don’t like what you are saying – we have the opportunity to “polish you up” so that you will be the best you can be at the hearing. If you want to learn more about driver responsibility, go here.

Being a Michigan Attorney, I can appreciate how the law works. Fairness and commitment to my clients that’s what I’m about.

Function
As an attorney I have obligation to my clients to be ethical in my duties to them as I represent their best interest. These duties are fundamentally ethical and professional and should be adhered to by all attorney’s in the relationship they have with their client. It’s also the function of an attorney keep a client reasonably informed about his representation.

Identification
Within the Rules of Professional Responsibility for Attorneys one can find and determine what an attorney’s ethical duties are. These rules are better known as the code of conduct. Although the code of conduct applies to all attorneys every state in the uniion has it’s own version that it has adopted.

Effects
If an attorney violates the ethical duties that he or she has vowed to adhere to they can be sanctioned, including being disbarred and their client has the option of filing a malpractice lawsuit against them as well.

Privacy
Attorneys have an obligation and duty to protect and maintain their clients privacy and confidentialilty no matter what. It is unethical for a lawyer to break any aspect of confidentiality or trust with his or her client. Whatever it is that a client says to his attorney is covered by the attorney/client privilege. That privilege means that an attorney cannot be compelled to testify regarding anything said to him by his client.However, an attorney’s duty of confidentiality is much broader. An attorney may not reveal information relating to his client’s representation unless the client gives his consent, except in certain very limited situations, such as preventing a client from committing a crime or to prevent reasonably certain death or bodily harm, among others. This duty is broad, and must be scrupulously observed by all attorneys.

It is important that the attorney is not doing anything that can be seen as causing a conlict of interest. Serving the clients interest is most important and if the attorney sees that his representation of that client will legally harm their client then they cannot represent them. Clients may wave some conflicts of interest but not in all situations. Conflicts of interest are serious and is something the attorney has to know exist or not. Then they must be forthright and honest with their client if it’s an issue.

Self Dealing
Here’s a definition of self-dealing “The conduct of a trustee, an attorney, or other fiduciary that consists of taking advantage of his or her position in a transaction and acting for his or her own interests rather than for the interests of the beneficiaries of the trust or the interests of his or her clients.” This means the misuse of a clients assets to his benefit by an attorney is a violation and is prohibited.

Zealous Advocacy
According to ehow.com, a lawyer has the obligation to represent their client’s interest to the full extent of the law. The must be a zealous advocate for the people they represent, it’s considered among all a primary ethical obligation. Zealous Advocacy requires attorneys to vigorously and strenuously advance their clients interests. It is also noted that attorneys cannot engage in any illegal or unethical behavior on their clients’ behalf, but must pursue all legal and ethical options for obtaining satisfaction for their clients.

These ethical duties apply for all attorneys but I’m a Michigan Attorney so I speak from that point of view. I’ve been practicing law for over twenty five years as a Wayne County Attorney handling divorce, criminal, family law and drivers license restoration so I speak from vast experience.

Bo

Michigan uses the date of separation as the essential date for determining property interests; property acquired by a spouse after the date of separation is considered to be that spouse’s separate property, while property acquired before the date of separation is community property.

For your initial visit with an attorney they will probably ask about your date of separation, which may or may not be that easy to determine. This is because it’s not always clear when exactly it “happened.” It’s also common for the other spouse to disagree on the separation date.

If you or your spouse can’t determine a date or just outright disagree, the court will look at two different tests to determine separation date: an objective test and a subjective test.

Objective Test
To answer the objective test, the court will determine when you started living apart from each other. That usually happens when one of you moves out of the family home. In today’s tough economic times, however, that is no longer an option for some, because it often is too expensive to maintain two separate residences. Even if spouses are still living in the same home, there are ways to ensure physical separation.

As the Michigan Courts put it, “Our conclusion does not necessarily rule out the possibility of some spouses living apart physically while still occupying the same dwelling. In such cases, however, the evidence would need to demonstrate unambiguous, objectively ascertainable conduct amounting to a physical separation under the same roof.”

Subjective Test
Physical separation is not enough to show that you separated. Some people are living separate from each other for extended periods, but do not intend to end their marriage. That intent is the subjective part the court will consider.

At what point did one or both of you think that the marriage was over? When did you decide you no longer wanted to stay married? The court will look at your conduct toward each other to see when the marriage “ended.”

Remember as a Michigan Attorney I can tell you, it does not matter if you are a resident of Wayne County, which is where most of my divorce as well as criminal and family law is practiced or the surrounding counties and Michigan as a whole, what I have just explained applies everywhere in the state.

I’ll help you get your license restored by putting you through a training that will prepare you for your hearing.  My success rate is well over 95%.  I know what I’m doing.

Losing your license means you lose your freedom, as well as your ability to do the activities that are important in life, i.e get back and forth to work, make doctors appointments, meetings, etc.  It’s about getting the proper assistance you need to get your life back on track.  Call me at 734-282-0200.

This device is basically something for the drivers license restorations. When you are successful at that hearing then for the first year and thereafter they will require that you have installed in your vehicle and ignition interlock device. And that means that anybody that operates that vehicle must blow in it first before the engine actually starts and then sometimes people will have a work vehicle. That also means that any co worker that starts this work vehicle also must blow.

So you’ve got to be able to trust your co workers in regards to that. It’s not that rare of a situation where it’s workmen that have work trucks and the likes.

I’ve been in business for a longtime, twenty five plus years and I can tell you that integrity and trust between attorney and client is key. I’ll give you a brief example. When someone comes to me to get their drivers license restored, the restoration of their license is going to be based on how they show up in front of the judge. When they come to me for help, they are putting their trust in me that I will make sure they are prepared. Set up a role playing scenario that helps them practice what they will need to say, act and think. When were done they go in the court with confidence.

I have a 90%+ success rate for clients seeking to restore their drivers license. They trust me to do the best by them and I deliver.

Also, there’s a Driver’s License Appeal Manual as well which is a good information piece. http://www.michigan.gov/documents/2000_with_links_19846_7.pdf . Now remember, this is one of the things that sets me a part from any other attorney is that I help prepare you for you day in court to get your license back.

For a Michigan Divorce we have what’s called a statutory waiting period.  The statutory waiting period can be waived.  Now there are about half of the judges in downtown Detroit that will not waive the statutory waiting period under just about any circumstance, but half will.  So occasionally we can go in early. We have to say some magic words on the record and half the judges will waive that time period.

So yes it’s possible that we could significantly shorten it.  But,  for instance if the divorce is without children there’s a sixty day waiting period, but there’s a twenty-one day period wherein  the opponent has the opportunity to file an answer.  So I really couldn’t get a judgment on divorce in those twenty-one days anyway.  So it’s rare that somebody comes to me and says hey I need to get divorced right away.  I did have one client that was moving to England and they needed to speed it up.  So we were able to draft up all the paperwork ahead of time and get testimony from the other side. So there are ways that we can accommodate people if they had such a situation.

Occasionally I’ll get service people that are home for the holidays but are going back to Afganistan let’s say at the first of the year.  Well obviously they can’t wait around for the sixty-days or the six months to be up.  So  in that situation I can go to the judge and ask could you please preserve testimony.  We’ll come in early, say the magic words early but not have them be effective until after the waiting periods over with and most judges will probably be accommodating of that situation.

That’s how it works.

Now the cost of going from a suspended license to restored for my clients is $1200.  I know with the economy here in Michigan some people are working and some are not, but for my track record and experience and compared to what my counter part are charging in places such as Oakland County, that’s a fair rate.

Keep this in mind as well.  In the process of getting your license back and driving privilege restored my advice is to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meeting or some program that is similar.  This shows the courts that you understand your mistake and are showing initiative to correct you drinking issues.

Looking for a reputable drivers license restoration attorney in Michigan?  Call me for a FREE consultation 734-282-0200.

Plenty of factors are involved such as child custody, alimony, financial issues and the like.  If you live in southeast Michigan,i.e Dearborn, Detroit, Canton and Westland and would like a free consultation don’t hesitate to call me at 734-282-0200.