Michigan Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog
Our firm guarantees to win every first time Michigan Driver’s License restoration and clearance appeal case we take. For everything that a lawyer can say about experience and success, having a license restoration guarantee says even more. For anyone filing a license restoration or clearance appeal, the ONLY thing that matters is winning. When all is said and done, you either get your license back (or get a clearance of the Michigan hold on your driving record) – or not. And let’s face it, “or not” is a complete waste of your time and money.
Our license restoration guarantee is simple and straightforward. There is no “fine print.” If we take your license restoration or clearance appeal case, we guarantee to win it. If not, we will continue to represent you before the Michigan Secretary of State, without further charge, until we do. The only exception happens if a person lies, or otherwise withholds relevant information from us that results in his or her denial. My team and I question every client and potential client thoroughly, so voiding our guarantee would require a lot more than just an innocent oversight on anyone’s part.
There is, however, an important “catch” before our guarantee applies. It’s this: You have to be sober for us to take your case. We ONLY represent people who are genuinely clean and sober. This, of course, means that you must have honestly quit drinking. It also means that you must be abstinent from any and all other substances – including recreational marijuana. A person cannot be “clean and sober” but also use recreational marijuana. This has become a big problem since its legalization in Michigan. One thing my team and I have learned is that a lot of people don’t fully understand just what “sober” really means.
Being genuinely sober translates to being “clean and sober.” It means that a person abstains from the use of any and all mood and/or mind altering substances. There is something of an irony here, because people who are really sober know this. There is no “grey area.” Either you’re entirely clean, or not. Whatever anyone may think about it, the simple fact is that using recreational marijuana will completely and instantly kill a license restoration or clearance case
When it comes to marijuana, however, plenty of people will try and talk their way around it. They’ll explain that they don’t really use it to get high. Instead, they’ll claim to use it to relax, or get to sleep, or for the relief of some pain or other. In other words, they’ll basically admit to self-medicating.
That won’t fly. To be sure, there are limited circumstances in which a person can win a license appeal while using medical marijuana. This is a major topic in its own right, and goes beyond our purpose here. The short version, however, is that having a medical card from some “green clinic” isn’t enough. Unfortunately, the vast majority of people who claim medical marijuana use either self medicate, or have exactly that kind of “green clinic” card.
When it comes to the use of recreational marijuana, the only thing to know is that will completely kill a license appeal.
Our firm provides a guarantee because we know how to win license restoration cases. We have a proven system to do that, but it begins with a genuinely sober client. Beyond that, it’s rather simple; we rely on hard work, experience, and skill. In fact, we bank on it.
Our license restoration guarantee certainly protects our clients from risking their money. The bottom line is that you’ll pay us once, and you WILL get your license back (or win a clearance). There is an important “flip side” to this, however.
Our guarantee also protects us. If we take a case and it doesn’t win, we’re obligated to stick with it until it does. This is why we only accept clients who are genuinely sober. In other words, we’ll only get involved with a case we know we can make into a winner. We pour our hearts and souls into our work. We have no desire to do that for someone who isn’t truly clean and sober.
Likewise, the last thing we want to do is take a case and mess it up. If we miss something and the client doesn’t win, that’s on us. It means we have to do the case all over again, for free, as “warranty work.”
We’re in business to earn our incomes, and we count on doing that by winning our cases the first time around. It would be a poor business model for us to just take every case offered up. Or, for that matter, to take a case and NOT thoroughly prepare it.
This makes us every bit as invested in our clients in winning – the first time.
Every once in a while, a client will ask something like, “What do you think my chances are?” To us, that’s like boarding a commercial flight and asking the pilot, “What do you think the chances are that we won’t crash?”
For my team and I, our license restoration guarantee is no big deal. It’s just “there.” It’s second nature to us. We don’t really think about it, because, fortunately, we rarely have to honor it. I know that if I was looking for a driver’s license restoration lawyer, I would never consider handing over any money without a guarantee. Nor, for that matter, would I ever accept any kind of “limited” guarantee. At the end of the day, a lawyer either stands by his or her work, or not.
We stand by ours, 100%.
In practice, a lot of people contact our office after discovering our license restoration guarantee. Plenty of them read far enough to find it, but don’t keep going to the part about being sober. To win a license restoration or clearance appeal, a person must prove, by what the law defines as “clear and convincing evidence,” 2 things:
First, that he or she has been completely abstinent from alcohol and drugs (including recreational marijuana) for a “legally sufficient” period of time. For our part, my team and I require a person to have been clean for at least 18 months before we’ll move forward with a case.
Second, that he or she has both the ability and commitment to remain alcohol and substance-free for life. In other words, we have to be able to prove to the Michigan Secretary of State that a person is sober, and is a safe bet to stay sober.
Sobriety, therefore, is the foundation upon which a winning restoration or clearance case is built. By extension, it’s the thing my team and I need to confirm before we’ll take a case. When we do, then our representation comes with a guarantee. You simply can’t do better than that.
If you’re looking for a lawyer to win back your license, or obtain the clearance of a Michigan hold on your driving record so that you can get a license in another state, be a savvy consumer. Read how different lawyers explain the license restoration and clearance process. Pay attention to how they describe their various approaches to it.
This blog is a great place to start. It is updated weekly, and fully searchable. The reader can find more useful information within the more than 660 articles (to-date) in the driver’s license restoration section than can be found any and everywhere else combined.
When you’ve done enough reading around, start calling around. You can learn a lot by speaking with a live person.
Our firm can handle your case no matter where in the world you live.
All of our consultations are free, confidential, and done over the phone, right when you call. My team and I are very friendly people who will be glad to answer your questions and explain things. We’ll even be happy to compare notes with anything some other lawyer has told you.
You can reach us Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. (EST), at either 248-986-9700, or 586-465-1980.