Michigan Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

As a Michigan Driver's License Restoration Lawyer, a significant part of my job is explaining the License Restoration process to Clients and callers alike. In that regard, I often have to address misconceptions and myths about License Appeals. In this article, I will examine and hopefully dispel the longstanding myth that "you cannot win your License back the first time." To begin, I should point out that not only is that notion dead wrong, but that I make most of my income winning License Restoration Appeals the first time, and I back that up with a Guarantee.

Curiously, I am most often confronted with this misconception by the most unlikely of sources; People who are involved in AA. This is really ironic because, of all the people for whom I could rather easily win a License Appeal the first time, those who are really and truly Sober, and actually sit at the tables, are at front of the class. In fact, the inspiration for this article was a recent meeting with a new Client who had been referred to me and wasn't even aware of this blog. Let's examine her story a bit...

This Client was given a very enthusiastic referral to my Office by someone for whom, I had, as usual, won a License Appeal the first time. She had already seen a few other Lawyers, and figured that I'd just be another of the bunch. Before beginning her quest to get back on the road, she had repeatedly heard from her fellow AA members that everyone gets Denied on a License Appeal their first time around, and that she should just assume she'll have to go back a second time to win.

She said her whole reason for coming to see me was the unqualified and glowing referral to me that she had been provided. While I was flattered, the fact that she had not read any of my Driver's License Restoration articles meant that she had no real insight about the process. Even though she had met with some other Lawyers, the plain fact of the matter is that I have no doubt written more about License Restorations than all these other Lawyers have ever written about everything in their combined careers. Beyond that, I'm quite confident that I have won more License Restoration cases in the last few years than all these Lawyers, combined, have ever handled in their careers. Despite having sat with a few Lawyers who told her that they "did" License Restorations, I was rather sure she had been told nothing useful or worthwhile about what was involved. And as if on cue, at the end of our 3-hour meeting, she told me that, in fact, no one had gone into anything even close to the detail I had.

She was, understandably, a bit skeptical when I told her that I'd win her Appeal the first time around. In fact, she said that she had come prepared to hire me, but also to request that I do the absolute minimum so that we could just get what she expected to be her first and inevitable loss out of the way, thus paving the way for next year's Appeal.

Continue reading "WInning a Michigan Driver's License Restoration Appeal the First TIme, Every TIme" »

This article will detail a change, or, more particularly, a clarification (and kind of extension) of my Guarantee to win any Driver's License Restoration Appeal that I accept. In a previous article, I announced that I Guarantee I will win any License Appeal I accept, "or the next one is free." For someone who prides himself on the precision of the language he uses, and given that this blog has more highly detailed, informational articles about Driver's License Restoration that can be found on every other website out there combined, I have to admit that I missed the mark and did not properly explain my Guarantee very well. I assumed (and remember, one should NEVER assume) that everyone would understand that to mean that I simply guaranteed, in exchange for my Fee, that I would get the Client back on the road. At least, that's what I meant...

To clarify, then:

I GUARANTEE THAT I WILL WIN ANY DRIVER'S LICENSE APPEAL I ACCEPT THE FIRST TIME. IF NOT, I WILL HANDLE ANY SUBSEQUENT SECRETARY OF STATE LICENSE APPEAL WITHOUT ADDITIONAL FEES UNTIL THE CLIENT DOES WIN.

In other words, you pay me once, and if that Appeal is Denied (as of this writing, by the way, I have won 184 out of the last 186 Appeals I have filed since I began keeping track back in June of 2009, giving me a first time " win rate" of 98.92%, meaning that I don't have very much experience NOT winning the first time), I will go back to the Michigan Secretary of State's Driver Assessment and Appeal Division (DAAD) until we win.

This really involves no risk for me, but does provide assurance to the Client that I'm not about to just accept a Fee and not be able to deliver what they're hiring me for.

Of course, there are limitations. If, for example, the Client has some kind of "meltdown" at the Hearing, and starts testifying about a drug use pattern that they previously failed to disclose, or if they admit to having taken a few hits off of a joint a few months ago, then the Guarantee does not apply.

To put this in perspective, I promise that if a person comes to me and has, indeed, been Sober for what I determine to be long enough, and is committed to remaining Sober, and I take their case, then they can count on me to get their License back. If there is something defective within the evidence submitted as part of their Appeal, then I think its only fair that I would go back next time to rectify something that, by all accounts, I must have missed.

But I don't miss things. This is my job, and my passion.

Continue reading "Guaranteed Win in a Michigan Driver's License Restoration Appeal" »

Within the numerous articles in the Driver's License Restoration section of this blog, I have attempted to answer many of the questions I am asked about this subject, explain the process in detail, and micro-analyze some of the more important parts of that process. This rather long article will be a bit different in that, while it is an attempt to answer a question I am sometimes asked, it will answer questions about me, and why anyone looking to retain a Driver's License Restoration Lawyer should hire me.

This question typically comes up as people ask why they should pay $3000 for my services when there are other Lawyers who will "do" a License Restoration case for less. Of course, there are also Lawyers who charge more than I do, but this article isn't about them.

This is a fair and honest question, and it deserves an equally honest answer.

To begin, it is important to note that for all the endorsements I am about ready to heap upon myself, I back them up with a guarantee that I will win any License Appeal that I accept, or the next Hearing is free. Given that, in the last 2 years or so, I have won 168 out of the 170 License Appeals I have filed (that's a win rate of about 98.4%), I have every reason to back up my words.

I start with this because every Lawyer out there boasts about having "experience." Experience is great, but it needs to be winning experience to be worth anything. A boxer with a 36-39 record has the same experience as one with a 73-2 record, but wouldn't you rather bet your money on the guy with the 73-2 record?

Next, I think it is important to assess the Lawyer's experience and understanding of the License Restoration process. Anyone can write a web page or two and give some generalizations about their "experience" and the License Restoration process, but if you're about to invest your money in a License Appeal knowing that, if you lose, you cannot Appeal again for another whole year, then you need to make sure that any Lawyer you're considering will get you back on the road the first time. All the money saved in going "low bidder" will only be a huge regret if you get stuck bumming rides for the next 12 months.

Continue reading "Michigan Driver's License Restoration Lawyer - Why Should You Hire Me?" »

As a Driver's License Restoration Lawyer, I have probably put out more information on this very subject than can be found, cumulatively, anywhere else. I have proudly proclaimed that in 2010, I won 100% of the more than 70 cases I filed. I have pointed out that, overall, my win percentage is in the high 90's. I have, in short, tried to convince a potential Client that I'm good at what I do, and I have a proven track record of succeeding at it.

Then I had one of the "a-ha" moments. If I'm really, nearly as good at this as I expect you to believe, why would I ask you to risk your money without a bit more than just my self-description of success? What could I do to put MY money (as opposed to yours) where MY mouth is?

The answer hit me like a ton of bricks. How about backing up my claims with a guarantee? After all, if I'm as good as I claim, it really wouldn't be much of a risk for me to prove that, would it?

So here is my guarantee in Driver's License Restoration cases:

If I take your case, and I do not win your first License Appeal, the next one is absolutely FREE.

For all that talk about how much time I spend with my Clients (usually 3 hours at our first meeting) and how well my staff and I inspect everything to make sure I submit a rock-solid Appeal, why not back it up?

Now, before we go popping the corks on the non-alcoholic sparkling grape juice here, you've got to know there will be some limitations and exclusions.

My guarantee of a free second Appeal if the first one is not successful will not cover any case where the Client goes into some kind of "meltdown" at the Hearing, and starts revealing things that I should have been told beforehand. If, for example,a person begins this process, claiming Sobriety for a year, or two, or however many, but then shows up at the Hearing and admits to having had a sip of champagne last New Year, or having smoked a joint a few months before, that's not covered. Likewise, suddenly revealing a previously undisclosed drug use pattern, or any such thing as would have been relevant in our extensive discussions about Sobriety and Recovery, will void this guarantee.

In other words, my Guarantee is limited to my services. It protects the Client in case I somehow miss something.

So, in the interests of self-promoting, I can now boast not only having, far and away, the most information about License Restoration to be found anywhere, but being the first Lawyer I've ever heard of to guarantee the quality and outcome of a License Appeal.

The more analytical reader who stops and does the math must surely conclude, as I did before ever making this offer, that my potential exposure amounts to less than 5% additional work. That is, if I really do win well over 90% of the License Appeals I file (and I do), and I'm accurate in calculating that figure to actually be in the high 90's, then, at most, I'd be making less than 5% additional work for myself.

That math, however, essentially translates into a 100% guarantee for the Client.

So what are you waiting for, a ride to come and see me?

Let's get you back on the road, legally.