Before I get too far I need to be clear about one thing – you cannot expunge a criminal conviction. It’s simply not possible. Expungement is the process of deleting information from your record. That doesn’t mean acting like it’s not there. It means literally hitting the delete button in the computer database. The information is gone forever.

Expungement, at least in Washington State (where I am a Washington expungement lawyer, by the by) is only good for one thing – getting rid of information related to arrests and other non-conviction data. Charged with a crime and found not guilty? You can get that expunged. Have charges filed against you that were dismissed outright? You can get that expunged. That way no one will ever have knowledge that you were arrested or charged with a crime.

The Washington expungement process is pretty straightforward. If you meet the requirements, you file some paperwork with the court, set a hearing, and go in and try to convince the judge that he should grant your request for expungement (that’s why, though it is a pretty straightforward process, you want an expungement lawyer to help you through it).

The reason you’d want to do this is that background checks are going on all the time for all sorts of different things. Applying for a job? You can bet they are going to do a background check. Need a mortgage? It’s possible they’ll run a background check on you. Want to move into a new apartment? Background check. Think of the difference it makes if that marijuana possession arrest you picked up in college is no longer anywhere to be found.

If you think you might be eligible for an expungement, you should talk to an attorney so they can check it out in depth.

Essentially, the meaning of this type of claim implies that you will be charged nothing if you do not win the claim. Therefore, there is no risk and no way to lose a bundle of money. Plus, it ensures that your legal help will be motivated to work as hard as possible to win, since his or her services will be free if you do not win any money.

So what happens if you do win your case? Guess what. You still do not have to pay these fees. The other party or other party’s insurance company will be responsible for your attorney’s and legal fees since you are the innocent party forced into the whole situation.

When you have been in an accident, the last thing you need to worry about is finances. Luckily, these no win no fee claims are an asset so that you can emotionally and physically recover without stressing over how you will pay legal fees.

So how do you get started? That is simple. Look up an attorney either with a phone book or the internet. Finding one should be fast and simple. You should only have to fill out a quick form and you should expect a phone call from a lawyer shortly after. As always, read any disclaimers and all fine print before putting your signature on anything. Be sure you know exactly what you are getting into.

Source: Law And The Lawyer

photo credit: qwrrty

Before you hire a bankruptcy attorney or before you pay for other bankruptcy services you should go online and review the bankruptcy forms that are actually used. Looking back at my bankruptcy petition I could see it was actually pretty easy to fill out the forms and could have been something I did for myself and allowing me to save fifteen hundred bucks. Sorting through paper work I kind of laughed that an attorney pretty much just pays a legal clerk to do all the paper work and they only put their name on the documents. At least this was how it looked after reviewing the work done by my Michigan bankruptcy lawyer

As a taxpayer you have the ability to go to public access court electronic records (PACER) and actually look at some bankruptcy cases for your district to get an idea of what a completed bankruptcy case looks like. In fact, if you are hiring an attorney it may not be a bad idea to pulling up one of the court dockets to see what their completed or even ongoing work looks like prior to hiring the attorney.

One of the benefits of looking at a case before you file is you have the chance to look at forms without being rushed through the bankruptcy process. You have to keep in mind some bankruptcy attorneys process hundreds of cases each month and as a debtor filing bankruptcy you may be on their bankruptcy assembly line based due to the size of the firm and the amount of their bankruptcy fees. Therefore, the attorneys leave the paper work up to their legal clerks and they only briefly meet with you and rely on you and their clerk to make sure the paperwork is done correctly. If the bankruptcy firms you are using sounds like one of these firms that pushes people through their bankruptcy case you should get familiar with the bankruptcy forms prior to filing or hire a attorney that will be able to spend more time with you going over your case.

photo credit: oliverlindner

I don’t work from home, but I once did. I’m a DUI attorney who started his own practice, and for the first few months of my practice I worked from my home. Let’s be honest, the phone wasn’t ringing that much, I knew it wouldn’t be, and I didn’t want to take on the extra cost of an office until I had to.

But then I decided to go out and look for some office space, and I eventually found some. And what a difference it made. I won’t lie to you and tell you it made me more money, necessarily, but it did end up being a much better set up than the home office. Here’s why.

1. It’s too isolated.

I think one of the worst things about working from home is the isolation it creates. For me, it was almost hermit like. I’d wake up in the morning, walk into my home office, and get to work. I’d stay there all day, eat lunch, work some more, and then it was eventually time to stop working. And then I woke up and did the whole thing over again. You can stay in touch with people if you put a lot of effort into it, but a separate office space makes it easy.

2. It doesn’t produce better productivity.

At least for me it didn’t. What would happen is, I’d work for a bit, go down and get a snack, and then end up watching television for an hour. Then at lunch time I’d do the same. Afternoon snack? You betcha. All of a sudden my entire day was gone. Going to an office eliminates a lot of those distractions.

3. It helps compartmentalize your life.

For many people, leaving work at work is one of the hardest things to do. Imagine what that feeling is like if your office is 15 feet from your bedroom. Sure, the commute is excellent, but you always have some sort of work looming over you. It’s nice to be able to break away from work and come home, away from it.

4. It just feels cooler.

There is something to be said for the pride that having a job carries. If you don’t feel it you’re either heartless or a liar. I feel it. And when I tell people I’m a DUI lawyer and then tell them where my office is, there’s a little bit of pride there. Even though I’m renting it’s my space. It feels good to wake up in the morning and have a place to go.

There you go, four reasons not to work from home. I’m not saying it’s not possible to work from home. People do it every day. These are the reasons I don’t.

photo credit: doug_wertman

Sounds a little painful, doesn’t it? Affidaviting the judge. But not to worry, this weapon, utilized by good Seattle speeding ticket attorneys everywhere, is painless. The judge may even like it. It lightens their load. But it also makes the job of any Seattle speeding ticket lawyer that much easier.

Believe it or not, Seattle speeding ticket law is a bit like the old west of areas of the law, for a number of reason. First, no one really cares about speeding ticket contested hearings. The fines are low, the consequences are minimal, and the facts are usually straightforward. Second, people usually don’t have the time or the money to appeal a bad decision up. And third, there isn’t much law out there on speeding tickets in the first place.

What this means, then, is that from court to court and from judge to judge, the ruling made on your speeding ticket could be extremely different. Some judges like one argument. Others don’t. Some judges will dismiss for a minor inconsistency, some won’t. And there isn’t a lot that we can do about it. Except affidavit the judge.

The State of Washington has a great rule that, if utilized correctly, can greatly help the Seattle speeding ticket attorney in their practice. It allows anyone, one time only, to ask a judge to recuse themself from a case. You don’t have to show bias. You don’t have to show prejudice. All you have to do is file the paperwork in time.

This can work to a great advantage in your case. To be honest, there are only a handful of judges out there that absolutely will not listen to any argument you have, no matter how good. And they aren’t in the same courtroom. This means if you affidavit one judge you are highly likely to get a judge that will listen to your arguments, and dismiss your traffic ticket!