David Wolf Albers

I had David Albers as my court appointed lawyer. I was being accused of DWI under the Leanders law. I was OK with most of what the courts were requiring of me, other than not having my license. My lawyer did fight for me and speak with the ADA and judge about how it was Marijuana and not alcohol o...r a much harder drug and that from the time i had smoked it I had ample time to be sober (it was 4 and a half hours mind you). The judge never gives licenses to people that are charged with what I was charged with and with David's persistence I was able to keep my license. Not much else was dropped but due to the seriousness of the charges it wasn't able to be and the fact I couldn't prove I wasn't under the influence of marijuana while driving with my children in the car. I had found for being court appointed I was given David's full attention when I needed it and he and I went into detail of different options that I could take. I would tell him that I didn't know much about the laws and he made sure to explain things to me. I had found him to be helpful and had my best interest at heart while trying to prove my innocence.

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. ,