Michael Palumbo

This client had unrealistic expectations of what a lawyer can and cannot do for them. The NYC traffic court has a no plea bargaining policy. Unless you fight the case you are found guilty 100% of the time. We tell this to every client. In this person's case she confesses here that she was driving dangerously and in addition to blowing the red light was also following another vehicle too closely. She complains but fails to point out that her following too close charge was dismissed. Another misleading statement is that she fails to point out that her case was adjourned TWICE before going to trial. After 2 adjournments we cannot get anymore without the approval of a DMV hearing officer. In this case had we not conducted the trial the court would have suspended her license until the next court date. Obviously taking the case to trial rather than getting her license suspended was the better course of action. We always point out to our clients that in the NYC traffic court clients are going to lose on occasion. This is not a reflection of the effectiveness of the law firm but just the nature of a bi-lateral fight - whenever 2 combatants go into a competition one has to lose. Indeed, we even state so much in our retainer agreement, which she and every client signs: "Please note that we do not guarantee a particular or even favorable result. In other words, we might be unsuccessful at negotiating a favorable plea bargain or obtaining a pre-trial dismissal and we might thereafter lose at trial. You might be found guilty of the charge or charges you are currently facing despite our best efforts." We cannot be clearer in how we explain the service when you retain us for a NYC traffic ticket. Furthermore, whereas here the client confesses that they were engaged in several vehicle and traffic violations and driving dangerously the odds of prevailing upon a clean sweep diminish greatly. In addition, we are careful to advertise on both of our web sites exactly what goes on in the NYC traffic court and the particular challenges motorists face there. You can check them out yourself: http://www.attackthatticket.com/new-york-city-tickets.html, http://www.mpalumbolaw.com/new-york-city-ticket-defense.html. The client also complains that she did not receive notice of her conviction until after her time to appeal had expired. This is an out and out lie. We keep meticulous records here. We took this client's case to trial on 9/11/14. On 9/12/14 we e-mailed the results and payment instruction to the client at the e-mail address she had provided, and we also regular mailed it to her at her address which she had also provided and which was consistent with that of which was on record with the NYS DMV. At no time did we get a message that her e-mail was undeliverable, nor did the letter we mail get returned to us. In the closing e-mail we told her specifically what she was convicted of, how to pay and sent her a link to click on so she could pay it online, provided her with the deadline date for payment, provided her with a link to take an online course to have the points scrubbed from her record, and provided her with information about possible other fines levied by the DMV, what to look out for, and a link to pay if she was subject to more fines. She claims here that she did not receive any closing documents, however she admitted to me on the phone that she did receive it but that her life is so busy that she had not checked her regular mail or e-mail until early November. How is this possibly the fault of our office? Does she realistically believe that we should know the social calendars of our clients? What does this tell you about the character and credibility of the person making the complaint? We did everything we were supposed to do and gave her great service. She certainly received the benefit of her bargain and has no right to complain.