279 Client Reviews
Showing 46 - 50 of 276 reviews | 5 stars
Posted by anonymous | August 03, 2023 | Hired Attorney
OUTSTANDING
Michael is person that keeps id straight and direct with you. I hired him with one objective and that was to keep me out of prison. when I hired him he gave me the breakdown of what to expect but he also explained to meet what we where trying to accomplish and I must say Michael did what was hired...
Dear Anonymous, Thank you very much for your kind, succinct words in the form of #HaberPA's 234th Client Review on AVVO! As you've not identified yourself I'll take a few moments to expound so the folks understand what we accomplished & how we managed to do so. You operate a body shop & were targeted by auto theft detectives for covert investigation. Why you were targeted was unknown (perhaps they had confidential information, maybe it was due to your nearly 10 y/o criminal history or possibly, albeit unlikely, the stated reason - that it was nothing more than pure happenstance & luck, good for the cops & bad for you) but the odds that it went down as the cops swore (i.e. their having been in the right place at the right time & on a fluke coming across an "altered VIN" number on a vehicle parked outside of your shop which you just so happened to enter and drive off) are slim to none. Regardless as soon as you drove off they (detectives not uniformed officers) conducted a "routine traffic stop" (utter "BS"), ordered you out of the car, found a firearm inside the glove box & arrested you for Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, as well as 16 charges including Operating a "Chop Shop", Grand Theft Auto, Possessing Counterfeit VINs, Sale of Vehicle with Altered ID & Making False Statements in Bill of Sale Application. The aggregate of these charges coupled with your criminal past put you in the mandatory 5 year prison range, there were no identifiable, provable statutory mitigators (e.g. you don't suffer from a major mental illness, you weren't a cooperating witness, etc.), neither the cops nor the Prosecutor were willing to plea bargain & so we had decisions to make. After identifying 3 things that I knew for sure (i.e. 1) Without prints & given the location of the gun in someone else's vehicle the State was going to have a tough time proving possession, specifically knowledge; 2) The 16 "paper charges" would have a massive "paper trail"; & 3) as it was a "C" case being handled by an inexperienced, over-burdened & young prosecutor we had a strategic and tactical advantage. Once discovery was received (well over 1,000 pages, none of which contained a scientific or physical tie of the firearm to you) I attempted to negotiate a non-incarcerative plea bargain. This was unsurprisingly unfruitful so we quickly changed tactics, moving to "sever" the charges (it'd be inappropriate, unfair & prejudicial for a Jury charged with deciding your guilt on 16 "paper charges" to know that you're a convicted felon, which is a necessary element of the firearm charge) & engaging in a relentless barrage of discovery motions aimed at proving to the State, by ordeal, what they were in store for during a trial. Once we had everything we could get (& never taking a deposition as we didn't want the cops to know what we were thinking, planning or getting an idea of our strategy) we pushed for trial on the paper case (concurrently leaving the Prosecutor puzzled as to how we could announce "ready" for trial on the "paper case" without having taken a depo). Our strategy was never to go to trial but instead to be able to indirectly pressure the State to reconsider a probation plea in light of the complexity of the case & the Judge's trial docket (which had many cases on it, several of which were older & or subject to a speedy trial demand) & that's precisely what happened. We were in court at 9am, looking the part (dressed to the nines, boxes & charts at the ready) & after a "side bar" conversation with the State & the Court the Judge suggested that a supervisor get involved & engage in a good faith discussion. Moments later you had & accepted the probation plea that you asked me to get you when we first met. While I'd've preferred a cleaner win we got you that which you wanted, & that's what matters most. I know that you'll survive probation and look forward to celebrating it's successful completion. Wishing you all the best! Fondly, MAH/Esq.
Posted by anonymous | May 16, 2023 | Hired Attorney
Motion for early termination of probation
No regrets at all after hiring Marc Haber's services, excellent diligence, very professional and transparent,he will keep you notified in every step of the process, he will go straight to the point and will answer any inquiries you might have at any time,im very grateful I took the decision to work w...
Dear Anonymous, Noting that my forename is "Mike" not "Marc" (but also that both are 1 syllable, 4 letters words including 3 consonants & 1 vowel), I want to thank you for your kind words (in the form of #HaberPA's 233rd AVVO Client Review). As you've not identified yourself & as I am well aware of who you are, I will share more about your situation with the folks so that they understand the dynamics of what led you to author this client review. You were arrested & charged in a Drug Trafficking Sting Operation. While you were pretrial detained your family hired another lawyer to represent you in the substantive case, for which you agreed to a plea deal involving probation. After serving ½ of your probationary term you found & reached out to me to assist you in securing Early Termination. (I should note that you contacted me because you were not satisfied with your original lawyer, an attorney whom I know, respect & who, from my review of the case file, in fact had done an excellent job - as an aside you went from being arrested for Cocaine Trafficking, Conspiracy to Traffic in Cocaine, Possession of Cocaine, Possession of Marijuana & Possession of Unlawful Proceeds from a Financial Transaction to receiving probation & a Withhold of Adjudication for Possession of Cocaine & Unlawful Proceeds from a Financial Transaction with all other charges Nolle Pros'd / dismissed by the State... a disposition which, all things equal & admittedly not being intimate with the facts & circumstances, is impressive... but I digress...) Anyhow, I discussed your situation with you (most especially determining your understanding of the status of your conditions of probation, i.e. what you knew / believed to have been completed & what was outstanding), I had you provide me with your POs contact information, explained that I needed to verify everything that we had discussed & that as soon as I was certain that your case was ripe for Early Termination I would prepare, file, calendar & litigate the Motion to ET Probation (aside alert: before making representations to the Court, & as President Ronald Reagan famously said, I "trust but verify"). After first securing then reviewing your disposition / sentencing documents & having a conversation with your Probation Officer I discovered that there were both outstanding obligations (court costs) & an issue with regard to your Community Service Hours. With your assistance (i.e. you promptly zero-balanced your case with the Clerk of Court & you provided your PO with proof of compliance with the CSHs), we straightened everything out & then proceeded. During the course of my representation you were Cc'd on all of my various correspondences, filings & emails (i.e. with your PO, the State, the Court, etc.) & within a few weeks time we had successfully applied for & you were granted the relief sought. Due to your own diligence you are now a free man (my role was, admittedly, "de minimus" as you were the one who had to "walk the walk", & you did so, in both a flawless & responsible fashion, thus arming me with all of the tools that I needed so as to get the desired Court Order). For the further benefit of the folks (but also as "props" for you) probation is not "easy" to survive. It is properly viewed as a a gift from an "Indian giver" in the form of a proverbial noose with just enough rope for a probationer to hang her/himself. The State knows that where one violates the hammer drops hard, the deck is stacked in their favor, the alleged violator has extremely limited rights (far fewer than in the substantive case) & most all Violations Of Probation are a veritable "slam dunk" for the State. You accepted that burden, acted prudently & dutifully, did not VOP, complied with all conditions & special conditions & as such you literally set yourself up for success. If you wish we can Seal your record but in any event you are now, once again, righteous, & I am grateful. Wishing you all the best. Fondly, MAH/Esq. #HaberPA
Posted by Ashley | May 11, 2023 | Hired Attorney
Best lawyer experience ever
Mr Habor is an extremely professional and wonderful Lawyer. I can remember, in the beginning of my case I was feeling very uneasy and scared of the outcome, but after I spoke to Mr. Haber over the phone regarding my case, he gave me a piece of mind that everything will work out fine. And actually it ...
Dear Ashley, Thank you for your generous & succinct Client Review (#HaberPA's 232nd on AVVO). As there's no way to identify you I'll share some of the facts of your case with the folks, as it was complex, time-intensive & an excellent example of how planning, preparation, tenacity & patience can combine to get the best possible result. You were arrested & charged with Grand Theft & Fraud after DCF had accused you of improperly accepting benefits from it's Food Assistance Program. DCF claimed that you improperly / unlawfully filed for & received benefits totaling $29,353.64 & the State Attorney's Office blindly accepted the same, promptly a filing 2nd degree felony charge against you wherein you faced 15 years in state prison, 15 years probation, nearly $30k in restitution, a $10k fine & a permanent criminal conviction. From our first consultation you were absolutely adamant that you neither applied for nor had you received any funds to which you were not entitled. Moreover, you claimed that you yourself had been a fraud victim by an unscrupulous family member, &, as such, we set out to concurrently both prove your & to disprove the State's allegations. As we dug (there were nearly 1,000 pages of discovery, including a Tim Burton worthy nightmare-esque plethora of financial records), sorted & sifted we were able to find a series of double billings along with several over-billing errors, & with a great deal of effort, patience, tenacity & perhaps most significantly - the luck of finding an honest, approachable & understanding "Collections Supervisor" / "bean counter" at DCF in Tallahassee, we were able to confirm the same & effectively knock down the amount alleged from nearly $30k to about $18k. Further, we were ultimately able to so sufficiently scrutinize DCF's payments to you that we actually managed to get DCF to admit that of the revised figure of $18k that they claimed to be fraudulent $10k had been improperly labeled as "criminal" (as opposed to "clerical"). Because of that we were able to remove another $10k from the State's criminal case, leaving a balance of approximately $8k (thereby reducing your exposure from a 2nd to a 3rd degree felony, for which your maximum exposure dropped from 15 to 5 years, both in prison & on probation, the restitution was cut by nearly 75% - from $30k to $8k - & your potential fine was cut in half). From the get go I had encouraged you to put away as much money as you could (best case scenario you would have a pile of cash to do with what you wish & worst case you'd have restitution money readily available) & as such by the time that we had chiseled the restitution amount down to $8k you had $3k to put "down", importantly leaving the balance of your criminal restitution at just under $5k. Why was this significant? Because here in The 305 / Miami-Dade County, the threshold for being admitted into Pretrial Diversion / PTD (a/k/a Pretrial Intervention / PTI) is $5k. Where one's restitution is above $5k then that is an absolute barrier to admission but, where one can get underneath that arbitrary boundary (& assuming that one is otherwise qualified, or, better stated, "not disqualified") then admission is all but certain. As you had no prior criminal history & your "victim" (DCF) didn't object you were "otherwise qualified", & as we deflated the restitution to less than $5k you were admitted into the program (successful completion of which would - did in fact - result in a dismissal). It took a year for you to make full restitution but you did, & as you had no complications during that time period you earned your dismissal (although I've congratulated you already, once again "congrats"). This was truly a complex, time-intensive case & also an excellent example of how planning, preparation, tenacity & patience can combine to get the best possible result. We did it together, as a team, and now you're part of the #HaberPA family! Thanking you again & wishing you all the best. Fondly, MAH/Esq.
Posted by Pamela | May 10, 2023
Bondsman
I went ahead and put a question in about somebody on Bond and he answered my question right away not with just a short answer with the detail answer what I needed for free I find that amazing he's very awesome and I appreciate him very much God bless you
Dear Pamela, As an initial matter I want to "especially" thank you for your Client Review (which is #HaberPA's 231st here on AVVO). Why the "special" gratitude? What makes yours exceptional? (Note: These are neither rhetoric questions nor are they meant to diminish any of #HaberPA's other Client Reviews; rather it's simply an honest assessment after nearly 38,000 questions answered on AVVO - 37,807 to be precise - & reflecting on my many interactions with Askers such as yourself.) However they may come to me (e.g. referral, the internet, etc.) most (meaning nearly all... likely 98-99%) of #HaberPA's AVVO Client Reviews are submitted by people who hired me to represent them & for whom I provided some legal service. Every now and then someone like you, a person who simply asked a question & received an answer (in your case including subsequent email correspondence), will take a moment to chime in & share their experience with the rest of the folks. This is rare, & it's even scarcer for the review to be positive. Why (note: this question is rhetoric...) you ask? Observing both that most things in life are not either necessarily "black or white" and that things do not necessarily fit into cookie-cutter categories, still in my AVVO experience there are essentially 3 types of "Askers", to wit: The bulk of Askers make no comment one way or the other (e.g. they may agree or disagree, like or dislike, be pleased or angry with a given response to their question but in any event you'd never know it because there is no feedback, be it by way of the Asker commenting on a lawyer's response, by their sending an email, following up with a phone call or otherwise providing any indicia of their thought process), an unhealthy chunk (were I to guess then I'd speculate it to be in the 20% arena... yes it is likely that high) provide feedback (in one form or another) which is hostile & outright nasty even (note that a percentage of this faction are incessant & relentless in their baseless rage - it is "baseless" as the responses given are what they are, to wit: mere thoughts & views based upon limited, one-sided proffers without having a complete understanding of the situation & are therefore either blanket statements of the law, circumscribed, albeit educated, conjecture or a statement that the Asker should seek "real world" advise from a fully informed, local lawyer - & some of these unbalanced sorts go so far as to absurdly, inappropriately & maliciously author a negative review - be it on AVVO, Google or elsewhere - or even to file a Bar Complaint) & then there is the opposite end of the spectrum (where you fall) of those who are truly grateful that a professional (oftentimes one who charges $500+/hour) took the time to read, review & reply to their question pro bono (free of charge), whether there's follow-up conversation or not (note that I estimate this group to be far smaller than it's antithesis, roughly 10%, & that those who, like you, actually take the time to author a positive review are few & far between). With that extended explanation you had asked a question which I answered. As I always strive to do I addressed your concerns, provided the rules, pointed you to an on-point YouTube VideoFAQ, suggested a course of action & even outlined the language that, in my estimation & given your situation, I recommended that you should reduce to writing to protect yourself. That was followed by an email discussion wherein your provided me with more information & I provided you with a direct pathway to deal with your predicament, & that was followed by your considerately taking the time to author #HaberPA's 231st AVVO Client Review. I have to tell you (and the all the folks who read this - with the heartfelt hope that the hostile 20% are among those reading this) that what you did, your voluntary, unsolicited act, makes all the time spent (volunteered) worthwhile (including dealing with all too many unhinged Askers). Fondest regards, MAH/Esq.
Posted by Sarah Jones | April 26, 2023 | Hired Attorney
The Best Outcome In Light of the Circumstances
A few weeks ago, an officer dressed in civilian clothing showed up at my home claiming that my daughter was inside and that he needed to ask her some questions. Not knowing what this was about I asked him to leave and advised that she was not inside. Despite my efforts to get him to go away, he summo...
Dear Sarah, Thank you for sharing your daughter's situation. Without violating confidence or disclosing confidential, privileged information I'll expound as much as I can for context. Plain and simple, the Detective who showed up at your house was a d*ck, a complete & utter d*ck. I get that he had a job to do but there's no reason why it had to be done with such attitude, disrespect & a wanton disregard for your family. You called me in real time (while he was there with the warrant squad, noting both that he didn't have a warrant & that he was out of his jurisdiction, having traveled to your home in another city without any representative from your city's PD, much less noticing them of his intent) & when you asked him to speak with your / your daughter's lawyer he refused. He wouldn't explain the "why" of anything to you, rather he simply & rudely lobbed & levied threats (I could hear him in the background... inexcusable) to you & yours until he was satisfied that your daughter was not on scene. To be honest I was incensed, with a gut reaction of advising you to file an Internal Affairs complaint against him (again, even if he were justified in his ends his means were insufferably unbecoming, & cops like that should not be on the street interacting with civilians), but revenge is a dish best served cold (& believe you me, he will get his, but I digress...). I called the PD but only got voicemail so, presuming that Officer Unfriendly was ducking me I reached out to a friend at the State Attorney's Office who agreed to contact the PD & get the Detective to accept my call, which he thereafter did. He explained to me why he was there (i.e. Domestic Violence allegations from your daughter's baby-father), what his Probable Cause was & what charges he planned on levying. I then explained to him that your daughter was due to be induced in 72 hours time & that the booking process would jeopardize both her & the baby. It took a direct quasi-threat that I was following up our discussion with an email to him, to his superiors (e.g. his Lt., Capt, & Chief) & to the State Attorney's Office documenting the risk that he was contemplating, together with the facts that while his complaining witness (a proven liar who has his own Domestic Violence criminal past with your daughter) claimed a mortal fear of your daughter she posed no threat to the community, was not a flight risk & was represented by counsel who was willing to surrender her just as soon as she was medically cleared. No doubt realizing the extent of the risk the Detective agreed to back down & wait until the baby was born & both mom and child were medically cleared, at which time I agreed to personally surrender her at the station. I will add that you got her OBGYN on the phone with us & he was kind enough to author a letter advising of the medical concerns (e.g. bed rest until delivery) which I attached to my confirmatory email to the Detective. It took 3 weeks but your granddaughter entered the world, your daughter received a clean bill of health & so we began the surrender process. I arranged for a bondsman, worked the clock to minimize the time spent in custody (noting that no one "controls" Corrections) & within about 12 hours time your daughter was in Bond Court (DV cases require a mandatory appearance before bond can be posted). At that Hearing the ASA wanted bond to include total lockdown with a GPS monitor (which, given the circumstances, frankly was not an unreasonable ask) but it's not quite that simple to effect & the process to do so would likely have required several days in custody, time which was not available given nursing issues. In the end we convinced the Judge to overrule the State & grant a monetary bond. With skill & experience we did all that we could possibly do to smooth this process & now the real work begins (exposing this case for the BS story that it is). After we exonerate your daughter we'll deal with the Detective. Again, TYVM! MAH/Esq. #HaberPA