You know how you can tell if you have a great lawyer? If he not only remembers you and your case, but still treats you like his client when you call him up 15 years down the line! Bill is that lawyer.
My story: back in the early days of the California cannabis dispensaries, when the Oakland police were taking their cues from the D.E.A. and not the local voters, I was the subject of a heavy-handed raid on my legal indoor grow of a few weeks. Not only did Bill find every mistake made by the cops, discover who was really behind the "tip-off" (my corrupt landlord and his OPD son) and thereby prove that the trashcan evidence, basis for the search warrant, was faked, due to which the majority of the charges were dropped instantly BUT he got the one remaining charge to almost go away. This was due to the presence of a small amount of psilocybin mushrooms, any amount of which carried a potential 10 year sentence but Bill got it reduced to a "drug diversion" program that would eventually disappear off my record.
He knew I didn't need rehab and helped me find the least time-consuming option and after 6 months of court appearances I was able to just ride out another 18 months. Best of all, Bill successfully argued for me to be legally able to continue using medical cannabis, and thus "come up dirty" on the weekly urine tests, during the entire proceedings, even while taking "drug diversion" classes (much to the rage of the ex-convict leading the 12-step-based sobriety lessons).
Until last week, I believed my old case had been expunged back in 2005, which would have been two years after the diversion was completed. But to my surprise, the arrest turned up on a background check in another state,undertaken for a job in the legal field no less! So I called Bill up to see if he could help out. I think I maybe have spoken to him one time in the intervening years and even that would have been at least 7 years ago. Not only did he immediately know me but he only needed a few clues to brush up his recall of the case and was able to locate the case number in his records immediately. As I was out of state, it would have taken me at least a couple of weeks to navigate through the phone and email and letter system of the California courts to get the information needed! I can't start working until I get the background cleared so this was really hanging me up which I explained to Bill.
Bill offered to just pop round the records office when he was at the courthouse on some other business anyway and that if it wasn't going to be some giant hassle, but just literally take a few minutes, he would do it for free. If it turned into a hassle he said he would charge me, but postpone payment and work with me, since he understood that this was actually preventing me from starting my new job!
We spoke on the Friday and by the following Monday he had totally taken care of it and even scanned and e-mailed me the document proving the case was dismissed and the file destroyed so now I have that proof for my own records as well as to present to the state licensing board that was checking my background. He said it took about 15 minutes, which would be over $100 but said, nah, forget it. I was made to feel like he was still my lawyer after all these years, and would tie up all the loose ends - which is exactly what he did.
If you need a seasoned lawyer with great relationships with the courts, and a great track record, who will never forget you - Bill's the man! read more