On Norm Pattis and “The Happysphere”

Jamison KoehlerCriminal Law Bloggers, Law Marketing/Networking

  Norm Pattis was in town this weekend, and Mirriam Seddiq and I joined him last night for dinner at Oyamel restaurant.  Seddiq’s brother works as the head bartender there, and he made sure we were treated like royalty. Pattis and Seddiq were in the bar area waiting for our table when I arrived.  Pattis commented on how much smaller …

What This Criminal Defense Lawyer Looks For In A Client

Jamison KoehlerLaw Practice

  JW, one of my favorite readers/commenters, has proposed a blog topic.  He says he has read a lot about what a client should look for when hiring a criminal defense lawyer. Now that JW himself is in the market for a lawyer, he would like to know what a lawyer considers when deciding whether or not to take on …

D.C. skyline

Congressman Etheridge and Simple Assault in D.C.

Jamison KoehlerAssault

  While the YouTube video is now posted all over the Internet, I first found out about Congressman Etheridge’s altercation with two students when checking out my website stats through Google Analytics.  I found that visits to the Simple Assault page on my website had gone through the roof.  My summary of the offense was also quoted and linked to …

Disorderly Conduct: D.C. Court Narrows The Scope

Jamison KoehlerDrug Offenses, Firearms/Weapons, Opinions/Cases, Other Criminal Offenses

  Disorderly conduct is a really annoying charge. The first problem is that the offense is usually so broad and poorly defined that it is too easy for police to charge and too easy for the government to prove at trial.  For example, since intent to cause a “public inconvenience” is a major element of the offense in Pennsylvania, the …

On Watching A Client’s Recorded Statement To The Police

Jamison KoehlerLaw Practice

I am watching a DVD recording of my client’s statement to the detective.  The camera must have a wide-angle lens because my client and the detective take up only a small portion of the screen.  There is also something surreal about two people huddled together in one corner of the room, the cinderblock walls a gray blur around them while …

U.S. Capitol Building

Self-Defense in a D.C. Assault Case

Jamison KoehlerAssault, Defenses to Criminal Charges, Law Practice, Legal Concepts/Principles

Self-defense is an affirmative defense to simple assault and other assault charges in D.C. Self-defense is the use of force to protect oneself, one’s family or one’s property from a real or threatened attack.  It is an affirmative defense, meaning that the defendant has the initial burden of raising it. In D.C., once the defendant has been able to introduce …

Jefferson Memorial

Flat Fees Versus Hourly Rates In A Criminal Case

Jamison KoehlerLaw Practice

There is no good way to charge for legal services, I am persuaded. Clients come in need. They are afraid and angry. They want a hero, a savior, a warrior. You offer them what you can. Most often it is enough. But sometimes it is not. A client grows disenchanted, angry, they want what you cannot give. It is a …

American flag

Six Months Into A Solo Criminal Law Practice

Jamison KoehlerLaw Marketing/Networking, Law Practice

Mark Bennett and Brian Tannebaum both announced last week that they have been practicing criminal law for 15 years.  While I have nowhere close to this level of experience, I recently celebrated an anniversary of my own. As of this past month, it has been six months since I opened my D.C. law office and one month since I began …

Aerial view of DC

Why I Hate Norm Pattis

Jamison KoehlerCriminal Law Bloggers

  I first learned Norm Pattis’ lousy, stinking name through Scott Greenfield, who often uses something Pattis has written as the launching point for one of his own entries.  And Greenfield writes about Pattis in reverential terms you don’t often see on Simple Justice. So what does Scott Greenfield know anyway? Mirriam Seddiq is more effusive in her praise.  She …

Jefferson Memorial

Why Do My Favorite Cops Always Turn Out To Be Crooked?

Jamison KoehlerLaw Practice

I am walking with my kids at the Reading Terminal, an eatery just a couple of blocks from the courthouse in Philadelphia, when we come across a group of narcotics officers sitting in the eating area.  We have been watching “The Wire” on HBO, and I point out the officers out to my kids.  Look, I say.  Real-life narcotics officers.  …