DRIVING WITHOUT AUTO INSURANCE

MORE SERIOUS THAN

DRUNK DRIVING?

Read on and you decide. 

It is important that you know, especially because one in seven drivers in the United States has no automobile insurance, according to a report in USA Today.   Even more important to know is that Richard R. Uslan, Esquire, an experienced and knowledgeable New Jersey Municipal Court Trial Attorney, can effectively defend you if you have been charged with Driving without Auto Insurance.

There is no question that both No Insurance and DWI are extremely serious violations in NJ, and require the assistance of an attorney who is well-versed in the necessary statutory and case law on these subjects in order to defend against them.  Mr. Uslan has instructed attorneys and municipal court judges about these important subjects in legal seminars  throughout New Jersey on several occasions.  Attorney Uslan, with offices in Somerville, New Jersey, is equipped with an arsenal of statutory law, regulations and court decisions that are necessary to effectively represent you for this charge, just as he has successfully helped more than 10,000 others during the past 30 years.    A thousand or more of those clients have been charged with either of these traffic violations, or both. 

A motorist facing a first offense of Driving Without Automobile Insurance is, if convicted, facing a mandatory loss of driving privileges for one year, a fine of $300.00, and additional collateral consequences (penalties after you have been sentenced by the judge and left the courtroom), which include state-imposed surcharges of $250.00 for each of the next three years and nine insurance eligibility points, which will significantly increase auto insurance premiums in a state that is already universally regarded as having the highest auto insurance rates in the United States.

Compare those penalties with a first offense of either Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) or Driving under the Influence (DUI) in a non-school zone.  DWI, DUI and Drunk Driving are all the same thing in New Jersey, and if sentenced as a first offender, although the fines and surcharges are greater, and evaluation at an Intoxicated Driver Resource Center (IDRC) is required, the mandatory minimum loss of driving privileges is 7 months, not one year as it is for the no insurance violation.   Based upon my thirty years of experience, the discretionary jail term of up to thirty days for a first DWI offense is rarely imposed, and a sentence to the minimum 7 month license suspension is more often the rule than the exception, so the  mandatory, one year loss of license for a first conviction of Driving without Auto Insurance conviction is one of the most serious penalties that New Jersey motorists can potentially face.  All the more reason to call upon Richard R. Uslan, Esquire to defend you.

OK, so a motorist faces a longer mandatory loss of driving privilege for a first offense of Driving without Auto Insurance than a first offense of DUI.  But what are the penalties for second conviction for Driving without Automobile Insurance compared to a second conviction for DUI?  Which is more serious?   

Although both offenses carry, upon a second offense, a mandatory two year loss of license,  for Driving without Auto Insurance a second time, the fine can be as high as $5,000.00.  Compare that to a second conviction for Driving While Intoxicated, which is a maximum $1,000.00 fine.    Additionally, the second no insurance conviction will also carry with it a mandatory 14 day jail term.   Compare that to a second DWI conviction, where the sentencing judge has the discretion to sentence a defendant to a minimum two day jail term and a maximum of 90 days.  All of that being said, when comparing the severity of the respective penalties for these to offenses a second time, you should also consider this:  many Drunk Driving defendants represented by Richard R. Uslan, even if convicted for a second DUI, have often avoided a “mandatory” jail  sentence entirely.   Additionally, Mr. Uslan has often obtained sentences for second DWI offenders as if was only their first conviction for DWI.

 Why is it that in some respects, a defendant convicted in NJ for Driving without Automobile Insurance a first or second time faces a greater penalty than a first or second conviction for Driving While Intoxicated?  My personal belief is that it is a reflection of the vast influence the Insurance Industry and its lobbyists have over the elected officials responsible for drafting the motor vehicle laws and penalties.  They wield much more influence because they have more financial resources than Mothers against Drunk Driving (MADD).  

Receiving a ticket for Driving without Automobile Insurance in New Jersey is the culmination of a “perfect storm”

New Jersey is one of the most densely populated States in our country, wedged between the New York and Philadelphia metropolises.  More urban residents in New Jersey drive cars than in New York City and the suburban and rural areas of New Jersey lack a public transportation network, requiring residents in those areas to rely heavily on driving their cars.  The fabled New Jersey Turnpike is just one example of the multitude of asphalt roads that cross the entire State, from Hackensack to Atlantic City, and from Hoboken to Phillipsburg, with Bridgewater, New Brunswick, Morristown, Union and Edison in between.   Such a small state has, in addition to several hundred, separate, municipal police forces, the New Jersey State Police, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police, the Rutgers University Police, several county police agencies, county sheriff’s officer’s, the Norfolk and Southern Railroad Police.  They are patrolling all of those roadways en mass, using mobile data terminals to check the registration and insurance status of the automobiles merely by entering the license plate into an onboard computer.

Combine all the NJ roads, NJ police, the highest insurance premiums in the Nation, and one in seven persons driving a car without any auto insurance at all, and the end result is a penalty for a violation that in some respects, is more severe than a DWI conviction.

Mr. Uslan knows this, but he also knows that automobile insurance companies that do business inNew Jersey are subject to very strict, detailed and complex state regulation.  He also knows that often, the person driving the car wasn’t the one who was responsible for buying the insurance for it to begin with.

Frequently, deciphering the motor vehicle traffic laws, as well as the insurance regulations and statutes to make certain that the auto insurance company has complied with them, is the key to defending an individual whose auto insurance had been cancelled for late payment or non-payment of the premium, and is now left holding the ticket issued by the police for driving the car without having the insurance for that car that is required by law.   

 Don’t lose hope!  Defending you for Driving without Automobile Insurance is my business!

IDFENDU^®

www.idefendyou.com

Obtaining An Expungement Can Remove The Record Of An Arrest Or Conviction As If It Never Happened!

Expungement While Alive

          Having an arrest or conviction is more than just embarrassing and humiliating.  How would you answer a question from your son or daughter about whether or not you have been arrested or convicted?   Having a record of an arrest or conviction for a crime or offense can be an obstacle to obtaining public or other employment, being admitted to an institution of higher education, obtaining a State professional license or teaching certificate,  coaching your child’s sport’s team, becoming a US citizen,  or  traveling to or immigrating to a foreign country.  It can result in a loss of your civil privileges, such as the right to vote, to serve on a jury or to purchase and possess a firearm. 

  Expungement After Death

Over The Several Decades That the New Jersey Expungement Law Has Been On The Books, And After Tens Of Thousands Of Expungement Petitions Filed by Attorneys, Richard R. Uslan Was The First Attorney In New Jersey Legal History To File And Successfully Obtain The Expungement For A Person Who Was Dead

            Why?  Think about it:   Having an arrest or conviction can ruin your reputation for good character.   Your reputation survives you long after your death — in the memories of your family, friends, acquaintances, co-workers and members of the public.      However, the New Jersey expungement law makes no mention of one’s eligibility to expunge a criminal record after your death, or what court procedure must be crafted in order to do it successfully.  It was and is completely silent as to whether this class of defendant would be entitled to expungement relief.

           Often, the success or failure of an attorney to successfully obtain an expungement for a client depends upon expertise, imagination, creativity and resourcefulness.   Just as Attorney Uslan created an entirely unique DWI – DUI defense for New Jersey in a Hillsborough, Township case by using a client’s intoxication to defend the charge of Driving While Intoxicated, so too, on January 28, 2011, in the case of State v. R.D., Mr. Uslan successfully obtained, for the first time in New Jersey legal history, a posthumous expungement in the Hunterdon County Superior Court for the family of his deceased client without any objection by the prosecution.  The decedent had a record of criminal arrests in the Raritan Township Municipal Court.   Ever since that case was decided, there have been other legal attempts, by other attorneys, to expunge the record of a dead person using different procedures than Mr. Uslan employed in State v. R.D., many of which were met with strenuous objection by the prosecutor and disallowance by the Courts.

          Mr. Uslan’s landmark expungement case was reported in several newspapers and the New Jersey Law Journal, the official, weekly, New Jersey legal periodical, in which William Buckman, the then president of the Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers of New Jersey, confirmed that he was aware of no other posthumous application ofNew Jersey’s expungement statute.    Uslan was invited to speak at a seminar conducted to teach attorneys expungement law.     An excerpt of his discussion about this new procedure can be viewed here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIviPGJ_dV4

        Just as Mr. Uslan’s unique defense for Driving Under the Influence opened a new vista to helping persons arrested in New Jersey for Driving While Intoxicated, so too, Mr. Uslan’s landmark expungement case marked the first time — after several decades that the expungement law had been in existence –  that any attorney thought to use it to restore the reputations of an entirely new, and expansive class of defendants – those persons who are now dead but whose memories live on with their families and friends.  This bold interpretation of and broad application of the expungement law has dramatically altered the landscape of New Jersey Expungement Law and Practice.   

          Not only Criminal Defense Attorneys but also, Wills & Estate Practice Attorneys as well, have sought Mr. Uslan’s advice and counsel about this new procedure and how to employ it for their clients.  He has been invited to teach fellow attorneys,  in expungement seminars, how to successfully obtain this relief for other families who seek to restore the reputation of deceased loved one for posterity, and has also taught general principles of New Jersey Expungement Law and Procedure.

 The Disadvantages to Having a Criminal Record

           A New Jersey conviction for a Crime and often, a conviction for a Disorderly Person or Petty Disorderly Person offense, appear on a New Jersey Certified Criminal History.  The conviction will also be reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), enabling nationwide access of that information to the public-at-large.     Prospective employers, institutions of higher learning, such as colleges and trade schools, or state licensing authorities such as the State Board of Medicine, Nursing or Education, will have access to this information and will often deny the applicant with a criminal record employment, admission or licensure.   You can be denied public employment.  A criminal record can even prevent obtaining citizenship, a visa or to visit a foreign country, and may adversely affect your ability to coach your child’s sports team.  It can also result in a loss of your civil privileges, such as the right to vote, to serve on a jury or to purchase and possess a firearm.

The Advantages to Expunging a Criminal Record

            When you are arrested, the police will take your photograph (a “mugshot”) and will fingerprint you.   They will prepare police reports which associate your name and other identifying information about you as being someone who has been accused of committing crimes or offenses.   A recent law requries that upon an arrest for certain violent crimes (which may be excluded from expungement availability), one must submit a DNA sample for future use by law enforcement; upon conviction for any crime or disorderly person offense, a DNA sample must be submitted upon conviction.

          In sum, all of the information obtained by the police can be used by it to investigate other crimes.    Without an expungement, your police photograph can be added to a photo array that can be shown to victims of crimes you did not commit, in a good faith effort by the police to have the culprit identified, but which may mistakenly result in the misidentification of you!  Your fingerprints are available for comparison to fingerprints obtained by the police from a crime scene.   The police reports can be used to compare the facts of your case with future cases, to see if there are any similarities or patterns, which can ultimately lead them, even mistakenly, on to your trail.

          With an expungement, the arrest processing information, including the “mugshot”, fingerprints, police reports and DNA sample, will be put under court seal and would be  inaccessible to the policeor to the public, without first obtaining the permission of a Judge, and only then, upon a substantial demonstration to the Court that the police or public’s need for access to information far exceeds your right to privacy.  

For Over 30 Years, Attorney Richard R. Uslan Has Helped Hundreds of Clients, Alive and Dead, Expunge Their Criminal Record for Arrests or Conviction, and Can Assist You to Segregate Mugshots, Fingerprints, DNA Samples and Police Reports from Public Access

           Richard R. Uslan, Esquire, with offices in Somerville, directly across from the Somerset County Court House, has assisted hundreds of clients throughout New Jersey to expunge records of convictions for crimes, offenses and ordinance violations.    Although the expungement law requires certain mandatory information be included in the petition (application), and the general procedures to obtain an expungement are outlined in the statute, each New JerseyCounty has developed subtle differences in the expungment process.  Knowledge of those differences are necessary to successfully obtain an expungement.   For example, the process in Somerset County is different from MiddlesexCounty.  Camden County is  different from Morris County.  Hunterdon County is different from Union or Essex County.  Interestingly, were it not for the fact that laws exist in New Jersey which will permit the expungement process, this type of relief for individuals would not be allowed.  That being said, the procedure to successfully obtain an expungement is a detailed and complicated one.  Not only are there instances of complete and total ineligibility, even when one is eligible for an expungement, there are several prerequisites to having it granted.  Among them are that if a conviction is sought to be expunged, there will be waiting periods from two years to ten years from the completion of the sentence for the arrest or conviction that is sought to be expunged.   Moreover, the way the expungement laws in New Jersey are written and have been interpreted by the courts over the years, unsuccessful results can and will occur which the unsuspecting or inexperienced attorney, or applicant,  would not have thought were either logical or expected.

          Remember, if you seek to have your criminal record expunged, or you desire to have the criminal record of a deceased loved one expunged,

Defending you and expunging your criminal record is my business!

IDFENDU^®

www.idefendyou.com

If you are charged with the serious offense of Driving While Suspended, consult with Richard R. Uslan, the attorney who has personally and successfully helped thousands of motorists charged with this NJ traffic violation over the past thirty years, day in and day out, throughout the more than 500 municipalities of the State of New Jersey, including but not limited to the Municipal Courts in Central Jersey, such as Somerset County, Hunterdon County, Morris County, Union County and Warren County.

It is now more important than ever in New Jersey that you be represented by a lawyer with a proven track record of defending, not only persons charged with serious traffic violations, but also, persons charged with NJ criminal offenses, as well.  Richard R. Uslan is an attorney who, as a result of his experience, reputation and knowledge in this special area of the law is often invited to teach attorneys — throughout the State of New Jersey — how to effectively defend the very serious traffic violation of Driving While Suspended or Driving While Revoked, as well as Driving Under the Influence and all other serious motor vehicle offenses.

As Many Ways As There Are To Have Your Driver’s License In New Jersey Suspended Or Revoked, Are There Defenses To Defeat These Charges Or Reduce The Penalty

There are over 200 ways that your privilege to drive can become suspended or revoked, and interestingly, only about twenty of those pertain to suspensions or revocations due to poor driving.   For example, you can be suspended for non-payment of child support, failure to pay insurance charges or failure to pay certain fines or penalties.    What do these have to do with your ability to drive safely?

 In New Jersey, one can be driving in a safe and careful manner, yet still be lawfully stopped by the police, who, armed with mobile data terminal (MDT) computers in their police cars, have direct and immediate access to the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) records located in Trenton, the State Capitol.    After entering the license plate of the car you are operating, if it is determined that your vehicle registration has expired or is suspended, the police officer can pull you over, regardless of who is driving the car!    An equally common occurrence is that the police run the license plate of the registered owner of the car and then search the driving history for that owner.  If the driving privilege of the registered owner of the vehicle is suspended, and the police have determined that the description of the driver of the car is similar to the digital driver’s license photo and other identifying information appearing on their computer screen, the officer can and will pull you over — even if you have been driving the car in a safe manner!

Almost as many ways as there are to suspend driver’s licenses in New Jersey, are there defenses, and other factors,  that the Law Offices of Richard R. Uslan has utilized to defeat or minimize these serious charges based upon his extensive knowledge and experience in this area of the law over the past thirty years.

Certain Violations Of Driving While Suspended Are Now Criminal In Nature

There is no room for error by having an inexperienced or unseasoned attorney represent you, because on August 1, 2011, the stakes became greater for New Jersey suspended motorists.  It was on that date, that what had been a traffic violation the previous day became, under some circumstances, a Fourth Degree Crime, carrying a maximum State Prison term of up to 18 months if ocnvicted. 

I’m talking about N.J.S.A. 2C:40-26 of the New Jersey Criminal Code.    This new law makes it a crime to drive while suspended two or more times in the course of serving the driving suspension imposed for a first conviction of Driving While Intoxicated (DWI).    You will also violate this law and face jail if you drive while suspended, even once, while serving the driving suspension imposed for a second or subsequent DWI conviction.    Before August 1, 2011, neither of these infractions were a violation of New Jersey’s Criminal Laws.  Instead, they were classified as motor vehicle infractions, in violation of N.J.S.A. 39: 3-40(f)(2)(3).

 Count on Richard R. Uslan to Effectively Defend You Whether Your Driving While Suspended Charge is a Motor Vehicle Violation or a Crime

Looking back at my legal career of over thirty years, I remember several occasions as a Driving While Suspended Attorney in Bridgewater Township, a Driving While Revoked Lawyer in South Bound Brook, and a Suspended Driver Attorney in Manville, Franklin Township, Readington Township and Raritan Township, when my clients were exposed to possible convictions for motor vehicle violations with potential sentences of not more than 180 days in the County Jail.  Now they would face potential convictions of crimes with a maximum sentence of 18 months in State Prison.  The trend is to criminalize offenses such as appear in Chapter 40 of the New Jersey Criminal Code, aptly categorized as “Other Offenses Relating to Public Safety”.  Many were previously contained in New Jersey’s Motor Vehicle & Traffic Regulations.  As the public and lawmakers becomes less tolerant of this conduct, criminalizing motor vehicle violations will continue, making it necessary to be very selective and discriminating when making the important decision about who should represent you.

In New Jersey, defendants charged only with traffic offenses are generally prosecuted by part-time local prosecutors appearing in front of a part-time judge of the municipal court.   Traffic Offenses are regulatory; almost without exception, the prosecution need not prove that you had any intention of committing the violation in order to convict you of it.   Moreover, you are not entitled to a jury because you are not facing a conviction for a crime that exposes you to more than six months in prison.  The procedures in municipal court are more abbreviated, and while they are complex, do not include the added dimension of a trial by jury, which every defendant charged with a crime is entitled to under the United States Constitution. 

Criminal Trials in New Jersey are conducted in the Superior Court, are prosecuted by a full-time county prosecutor, and are presided over by a full-time judge, who often has tenure who,  unlike municipal court judges, are insulated from public criticism if they make unpopular, yet just rulings, whether for the prosecution or the defense.

A conviction for a motor vehicle violation does not appear on a Certified Criminal History (CCH).    However, the traffic conviction would appear, forever, on a New Jersey Certified Driving Abstract.  Crimes, on the other hand, would appear on a CCH, and only under certain strict circumstances could they later be “expunged” — segregated from general public access — together with identifying police photographs (“mug shots”), fingerprints, DNA samples and the police reports, all of which are generated when one has been arrested and convicted of a criminal offense inNew Jersey.

 I am able to guide you, educate you, and first and foremost, defend you through this complicated process, whether you have been charged with the motor vehicle violation of Driving While Suspended or Revoked, or any related Crimes and Offenses.  I’ve been doing it for over thirty years and I do it very well.   

Defending you is my business!

IDFENDU^®

www.idefendyou.com

I AM THE NJ DWI ATTORNEY RESPONSIBLE FOR CONCEIVING THIS DEFENSE

My name is Richard R. Uslan and I am a New Jersey DWI Defense Attorney.  I have personally represented thousands of DWI clients successfully throughout New Jersey for the past 30 years. My law firm is directly across from the Somerset County Court House in Somerville, New Jersey.

Many of you have heard of incidents or watched TV broadcasts involving people who were “sleep-driving”.    Perhaps you saw me on TV or heard me on national radio discussing this subject.   Perhaps you read about me online or in the newspaper.  I CREATED THE NJ DWI AMBIEN  & SLEEP DRIVING DEFENSE that has helped many people who have been arrested for DUI, only because they had taken medicine prescribed to them by their physician and drove their car. 

        “THE MOST DIFFICULT DWI CASE EVER WON IN NEW JERSEY”

Attorneys, not only in New Jersey, but throughout the country, have consulted with me about how to apply this defense to their cases — expert witnesses too, particularly physicians.   While discussing the first occasion when I used this defense, a Professor of a renown Law School who teaches Drunk Driving  Law called my case “the most difficult DWI case ever won in New Jersey” during my lecture to his class.  Another Law School, the Duquesne University School of Law, referred to the case in its Criminal Law Review.  I received an invitation to attend an international convention of Addiction Medicine Specialists in Milan, Italy, to discuss the impact of my unique, Drunk Driving defense.  Throughout my 30 year career as a New Jersey DUI Defense Attorney, I have successfully helped several thousands of clients in most of the 500 municipalities of New Jersey; appearing in almost 500 municipal courts,  where all Drunk Driving cases in New Jersey are tried. 

THE DEFENSE IS COMMONLY REFERRED TO AS THE “DWI AMBIEN DEFENSE” OR THE “DUI  SLEEP DRIVING DEFENSE”

That’s right!  Certain medications cause innocent people to get behind the wheel of a motor vehicle, and engage in behavior as complex and difficult as driving a car, without even realizing they were doing it!   It was apparent to me that when the Drunk Driving laws were first passed, the legislators could not possibly have foreseen that taking a prescription medication under doctor’s orders could cause this.    It was one of several legal arguments which ultimately culminated in the acceptance of the defense which, using legal terminology, I named: “Common-law Pathological Intoxication”.  This defense is also commonly referred to as the “DWI Ambien Defense” or the ”DUI Sleep Driving Defense”.   Some people call it the “Drunk Driving Sleeping Pill Defense”.    The essence of this defense is that I utilize the fact that my client was intoxicated as a defense to their charge of Driving under the Influence!     

If you have experienced unusual symptoms from drugs or medications while driving, and as a result, have been arrested for Driving While Intoxicated, even if you combined those pills with alcohol, consult with me, Attorney Richard R. Uslan, without further delay.  I am acknowledged throughout New Jersey as having created the judicially-accepted legal defense of “common-law pathological intoxication”, which I successfully applied as a Somerset County Drunk Driving Lawyer in Hillsborough Township, and has become a state-wide defense that I can argue in any one of the 21 counties in New Jersey, including North Jersey, Central Jersey and South Jersey. 

NEW JERSEY HAS ONE OF THE TOUGHEST DRUNK DRIVING LAWS IN THE UNITED STATES, SO YOU NEED AN EXPERIENCED AND SUCCESSFUL DWI ATTORNEY WITH PROVEN RESULTS

New Jersey has one of the toughest Drunk Driving laws in the United States, so you need an experienced and successful DWI attorney with proven results.   You aren’t entitled to have a Jury hear the case.  You have to convince the Judge that the facts — and more importantly in these situations — that the law is on your side.  You can’t even plea bargain cases of Driving under the Influence in New Jersey.   Even if you did not intend to drive intoxicated, once the police see you operating a car, you would still be found guilty by the Judge – that is, until my defense first became accepted and recognized.   The defense I developed was so effective in that particular case that

MY  CLIENT WAS FOUND NOT-GUILTY BY THE JUDGE, NOT  ONLY AFTER HAVING BEEN SLEEP-DRIVING ON AMBIEN AND SEROQUEL^®, BUT ALSO, WHILE BEING OVER THE LEGAL  LIMIT  OF ALCOHOL,  AS WELL.

Ironically, my law firm is located in the very shadow of several pharmaceutical companies that make these pills.  For instance, Sanofi-Aventis, the manufacturer of Ambien^® and Ambien CR^® , is located on the same road where I represent clients as a Bridgewater DWI attorney, two miles from my office.   Bridgewater is also the home of King Pharmaceuticals, the maker of Sonata^®.   Valeant Pharmaceuticals is in the next county over, where I have appeared often as a Morris County Drunk Driving Attorney, specifically, in the Madison Joint Municipal Court.  Valeant produces Dalmane^®.   Abbott Laboratories, which manufactures Placidyl^® and Prosom^®, is where I practice as a Middlesex County DWI attorney, specifically, as a Cranbury Driving While Intoxicated Attorney.   Abbott Labs has other offices in the township where I appear as an East Windsor DUI Lawyer and more generally, as a Mercer County Drunk Driving Lawyer. 

All of these New Jersey-based medications I have mentioned are the focus of revised labeling because they can cause sleep-driving.    Still other products with revised labeling that can cause sleep-driving are produced outside of  New Jersey and include:  Butisol Sodium, Carbrital^®, Doral^®,  Halcion^®,  Lunesta^®, Restoril^®,  Rozerem^®  and Seconal^®. 

New Jersey is the home to several other well known drug companies that have produced and will continue to produce hundreds if not thousands of drugs, the side-effects of which may still not be fully known, and therefore, can potentially trigger use of my common-law pathological intoxication defense in the future, depending upon what effect it may have on any given defendant’s knowledge and intent to operate a motor vehicle.   Merck & Co., in the Whitehouse Station section where I appear as a Readington DUI Attorney, is just minutes away from another court I appear at regularly as a Raritan Township DWI Attorney.  They are all in Hunterdon County.   I am a Hunterdon County DWI Attorney.  

Johnson & Johnson is located in the same town where I have argued Drunk Driving cases as a Raritan Borough Drunk Driving Lawyer.  I have also successfully argued cases as a New Brunswick Driving While Intoxicated Lawyer, a city where Johnson & Johnson also has offices.  Not only does that company have a large pharmaceutical facility in the New Brunswick area, I often travel near another one of its facilities to handle Driving under the Influence cases as a Morris Plains Driving while Intoxicated Lawyer, and yet another office is near the court where I have appeared with clients defending Hopewell Township DUI cases. 

Bristol Myers-Squibb, another international drug company, has offices near the court where I often appear as a Montgomery DUI Attorney, and produces medications in facilities located in the same towns where I defend clients as a Princeton Drunk Driving Attorney, a Lawrenceville DUI Lawyer and a Hamilton Driving While Intoxicated Lawyer.  Bristol Myers-Squibb (BMS) has a large presence in our State.  I have been called upon by clients on numerous occasions to appear as a Plainsboro DWI Attorney and as a New Brunswick DUI Defense lawyer, two municipalities where BMS also maintains offices.  

MANY PHYSICIANS AND PHARMACISTS NEGLECT TO VERBALLY EXPLAIN TO PATIENTS THE SEVERAL POTENTIAL SIDE-EFFECTS OF AMBIEN OR OTHER MEDICATIONS THEY PRESCRIBE.

Another important aspect of this highly technical and complex defense is that the specific, pathologically intoxicating effects of Ambien^® were not in the literature accompanying the medication when my client took it, and my client was not informed of it by the pharmacist or medical doctor.  Even today, many physicians and pharmacists neglect to verbally explain to patients the several potential side-effects of Ambien or other medications they prescribe. 

As you could imagine, sleep drivers are usually not operating their vehicles safely, and when they are pulled over by the police, are in a dream-like trance.   These individuals usually do not remember that they either started the car or drove the car.  They may not even remember having been arrested!  They are suffering from retrograde amnesia unintentionally caused by taking the very drugs, in the proper dosages, which their doctors prescribed to them, most often to help them sleep.  

I am a Somerset County Drunk Driving Lawyer, so  I often appear in court as a Bridgewater DWI Attorney, a Bedminster Drunk Driving Attorney, a Bernards Township DUI Attorney, a Bound Brook DWI Attorney, a South Bound Brook DUI Lawyer, or a Manville Drunk Driving Attorney.  They are all in Somerset County and close to my Somerville office.   Hundreds of clients each year from Somerset County and all over New Jersey, or clients who were arrested in New Jersey but live out-of-state, have sought my advice to combat the humiliation, stress and embarrassment of being arrested for Driving While Intoxicated.

I AM A FORMER PROSECUTOR

I am a former Essex County Prosecutor in Newark,  a Springfield Municipal Prosecutor & Denville Municipal Prosecutor.   After that tenure, and using my familiarity with those areas and courts, I have defended numerous cases as an Essex County DUI Attorney, a Union County DWI Lawyer and a Morris County Drunk Driving Attorney.  I have had law offices in Springfield and Linden, both of which are in Union County.

IF  YOU HAVE ANY UNUSUAL SYMPTOMS FROM DRUGS OR MEDICINE THAT YOU WERE TAKING WHEN YOU WERE ARRESTED CONSULT WITH ME

If you have any unusual symptoms from drugs or medicine that you were taking when you were arrested for drunk driving, DWI or DUI, even if you combined alcohol with those pills, consult with me, the attorney with over thirty years of experience successfully handling thousands of these cases throughout New Jersey.  I will use my knowledge and experience not just in the law, but in Sciences, to expertly and personally handle your case. 

DON’T LOSE HOPE!

DEFENDING YOU IS MY BUSINESS!

IDFENDU^® AT WWW.IDEFENDYOU.COM.

That’s because I’ve been in Court every day for the past thirty years, throughout the entire State of New Jersey, helping clients like you who have been charged with Driving While Intoxicated.

New Jersey has a lot of fine lawyers – there are over 70,000 of them. Everyone has a family member or friend who is an attorney. Almost everyone has had an attorney help them with a Will, a real estate purchase or for injuries due to an accident. But what if you are charged with DWI, DUI, Drunk Driving, Driving While Intoxicated, or Driving under the Influence? In New Jersey, they all mean the same thing. The penalties are the same for each and are the strictest laws in the nation. For each, you can go to jail, lose your license to drive, and pay heavy fines, insurance surcharges, and higher insurance premiums. You must go for mandatory alcohol and substance abuse evaluation and may be required to install an ignition interlock device on your car. All of these consequences and you aren’t entitled to a “plea bargain” or a jury trial! Additionally, as if those penalties aren’t serious enough, they are even worse if this is not the first time you have been convicted of it.

It is easy to understand, that if you have a serious medical problem — with your heart for example — you would see a specialist — a cardiologist — who has the expertise to help you. The same is true if you are arrested for DUI. You need me — an experienced, respected, DWI defense attorney. I am the lawyer who has personally helped people like you — who have been charged with DWI — for over thirty years; I am the lawyer who has been invited to instruct attorneys, judges and police officers in seminars about this subject all over the State of New Jersey. When you call my office, you don’t get a young or inexperienced associate to go to court with you. You don’t get an attorney who is an expert in real estate or immigration law. You get me. I personally travel to all of the municipal courts in Atlantic, Bergen, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Essex, Gloucester, Hudson, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Passaic, Ocean, Salem, Somerset, Sussex, Hunterdon, Union and Warren County. During my lengthy career as an Attorney at law, I have maintained offices in Morris, Union, Essex and Somerset Counties, but I have been everywhere in New Jersey, as well as in New York, too, where I am also admitted to practice law, and in Pennsylvania, where I was sponsored to appear in Federal Court pro hac vice.

As yet another example of why the Drunk Driving laws in New Jersey are so strict, if you were stopped while driving – but did not intend to drive – you cannot use that as a defense, with the exception, of course, of a judicially-recognized DWI defense that I created. That defense involved using my client’s intoxication as a defense to driving while intoxicated!

An experienced DWI defense attorney is someone whom the Prosecutor and Judge have seen in action – many times. It doesn’t matter whether your office is around the block from the courthouse. I am well-known as a respected, experienced, DWI attorney everywhere in New Jersey. Geographically, it’s a small State, which is densely populated with a multitude of roads and highways between the New York and Philadelphia Metropolis’.

The prosecution knows that I can try a case effectively, confidently and aggressively. They know I can find defenses to help you and spot weaknesses in the case that they think they may have against you. They know I am going to make them work hard if they want to try to convict you. They know I want to receive all of the discovery – the police reports, the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) Reports to examine 20 minute observation issues; the Alcohol Influence Report and foundational documents to challenge admissibility of evidence; the police videotapes from the scene and police headquarters; the radio-dispatch tapes; the historical data-downloads containing prior tests on the Alcotest; the service and repair records for the breath-testing machine; the laboratory notes and chemist’s reports for drug-related DWI cases; the hospital records in the case of blood testing in DUI cases; the police roadblock memoranda if that is the claimed reason for your motor vehicle stop and arrest; the Alcotest operator certificates and manuals; the foundational documents necessary before breath tests can be admitted into evidence.

Of the many police departments I have had DWI matters with, they know they will face exhaustive and probing questions from me on cross-examination.

Can we prevent the breath test results from the Alcotest machine from being used as evidence against you? Were you stopped without a valid reason, without probable cause? Can they prove you were even operating the vehicle while you where under the influence within the meaning of the NJ DUI law? Would you be entitled to receive a “step-down” (lesser) sentence if you were convicted, and if you could, how and what would it be? They have to prove you are guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. You can exercise your right to remain silent and not testify against yourself at trial. If the prosecutor can’t prove the case against you, it doesn’t matter whether you may have driven while intoxicated or not — you will be found NOT GUILTY! I am here to protect the legal and constitutional rights you and each of us have, whether you are a citizen of the United States or not. I am here to protect you from potential police overreaching, misconduct, misstatements and exaggeration.

I don’t do real estate. I don’t do wills. I don’t handle accident cases if you are injured. I defend people charged with Driving under the Influence, charged with Crimes and charged with serious traffic offenses that can carry jail, fines, license suspension and more, in the over 500 municipalities throughout New Jersey and in every Superior Court in the State of New Jersey.