David Wolf Albers

I hired this lawyer for a minor criminal matter. the only time i got to talk to him was at court appearances. I felt like all he was doing was acting as a go between. I found out later i could have fired him. i didnt know at the time or I would have. I found out later I had a strong case against, whi...ch should have been used as leverage for a better more fair outcome. he just goes threw the motions.

David the wolf Albers represented me in a charge of Aggravated Unlicensed Operation 3rd degree. I was innocent, having been suspended for a clerical error by NYS Child Support Enforcment. I provided Albers with a statement from the agency who made the error. The provision of the statute pertinent her...e reads "one knows or should have known his license was suspended”. Mr. Albers was to research the particular area of law so that he could counsel me and determine whether or not this charge was one of strict liability. I wanted to go to trial. After three consecutive adjournments, Albers still had done nothing. He forgot, has been busy, sorry, etc. He couldn’t even remember my name at one point. I was constructively coerced into a plea because Albers would not provide me counsel. The initial plea I was offered was a plea to the charge with no reduction and fines/surcharges with a small amount of jail time. I was already in custody for failure to pay child support arrears as I was unemployed. Any time I would have received would have run concurrent. I refused the plea and told Albers I wanted to go to trial…When I said this, Albers told me he was going back to the DA to try and amend the plea offer. He returned with a new offer, one which only had fines, which I could not pay. Albers told me that he would ask for a civil judgement, so that I would not have to pay it. I specifically asked him if my license would be suspended. He told me “no, no it will be a civil judgment”. I accepted the plea, as it was a violation instead of a criminal conviction and I would not be responsible for the money until I was able to pay it. After clearing up child support matters I inquired of my license status months later. I discovered I owed the Town Court over 800 dollars in fines, surcharges and suspension fees. I called Albers office leaving messages for him over a two week period. I became more aggressive with my calls but still no reply. Exhausted, I decided after calling him one day that I would use an application on my phone which allowed me to change the number on the caller ID; I changed it to the Courts number. He answered immediately. In our conversation, I explained to him the situation and he told me that indeed he “thought” the civil judgement would protect me from having my license suspended. He said something was wrong and instructed me to call the court again then call him back. He never answered the phone again. I strongly recommend against hiring Albers. ,