Russell David Bernstein

For a few years I used Russell to handle traffic tickets at the recommendation of a friend, and for a while he was effective. Suddenly, came a ticket in which the book got thrown at me. I found that deeply out of character given my record and his. At the next ticket, it just so happened that the o...fficer made a critical error in writing the ticket. Should've been an easy dismissal. On the day of court some amateur attorney shows up, late no less, instead of Mr Bernstein, whom I paid to represent me. This attorney had no confidence and instead of telling me to stay silent while talking in the hallway with the officer before the hearing, he encourages me to answer the officer's questions. I looked him in the eye and asked if he realized he was helping the officer make his case by asking me to answer the officer's questions. When I looked the officer in the eye and said "I assert my right to silence" the officer walked away upset. This Bernstein sent to represent me would have secured the conviction for the officer if I was any less attuned to the situation. This made me wonder if the prior ticket, where the book had been thrown at me was handled by some other amateur attorney-- something i could never prove. A few years later, I was falsely arrested for reckless driving and had video evidence collected by my dash cam to exonerate myself. I figured I'd give Russ another try. Mr. Bernstein took over $1000 of my money to go to one hearing. After that he strongly encouraged me to take the first plea bargain offered by the prosecutor. I asked him if he had discussed my video with the prosecutor at all, to which he responded it wasn't worth it and I should just take the plea bargain. I fired him that afternoon over the phone. What he didn't know was that I had hired one of the forensic traffic experts that the state attorney's office used to review my video, paid his fee, and had, in writing, a forensic analysis that contradicted what the officer wrote in his arrest affidavit. You would think that Mr Bernstein would have done this, not me, the client PAYING HIM to do find a way to clear my name. I then hired a much higher quality attorney who had actually worked as a prosecutor at the Broward State Attorney's office, and he got my case tossed out with one meeting, during which the prosecutor covered their face and shook their head as they watched the video. Apparently the officer that arrested me had a reputation for less than stellar behavior that preceded my arrest . Bottom line, Russell Bernstein didn't put up an effort. He didn't bother arguing for a better plea bargain. He didn't even consult a traffic expert about my video to see if there was anything credible there. He took my money, took whatever the prosecutor was offering and gave me poor advice. I was smart enough to see that he wasn't representing my best interests. Not many folks will be. I STRONGLY encourage you to avoid this attorney, and to get a second opinion if it sounds like he's cutting corners in representing you. Had I stuck with him, I would have a criminal traffic conviction on my record today for something I never did. Instead, the case was tossed because another attorney got the job done right.