276 Client Reviews
Showing 36 - 40 of 276 reviews
Posted by anonymous | May 08, 2024 | Hired Attorney
Outstanding Legal Advocacy: 5 Stars for Michael Haber!
Michael Haber is a true gem in the realm of criminal defense attorneys. From the moment my husband enlisted his services, Mr. Haber exhibited an unparalleled level of strategic prowess and dedication to our case. Throughout the entire legal process, Mr. Haber's responsible and reliable nature shon...
Dear Anonymous, Before I say anything further (including expressing my gratitude for your kind Client Review, #HaberPA's 241st on AVVO) I must recognize your exceptional writing skills (either that or thank Chat GPT as, while I appreciate each & every Client Review, this one was particularly delightful for me to have read). That said (& hoping that your Hubby will author his own review, to which I will reply & address the specifics of his case, but only if he also does so anonymously) I'm going to react to your observations by paragraph. "Michael Haber is a true gem in the realm of criminal defense attorneys. From the moment my husband enlisted his services, Mr. Haber exhibited an unparalleled level of strategic prowess and dedication to our case." Insert blushing face emoji here. At #HaberPA we strive to stand out by providing "boutique" (i.e. "a small company that offers highly specialized services or products") services. As such we effort at coming to know as much about our Client as we do about our profession (to wit: Criminal Defense Litigation). "Throughout the entire legal process, Mr. Haber's responsible and reliable nature shone brightly. He meticulously planned each step of our defense strategy, leaving no stone unturned in his pursuit of justice. His attention to detail and unwavering commitment to our case instilled a sense of confidence and reassurance in us during what was undoubtedly a challenging time." This paragraph has much to unpack but my topline thoughts are that it's easy to be interested at the outset, but remaining equally concerned & attentive through a case's resolution is part of what makes #HaberPA a boutique law firm, differentiating us from many others who are all about "the pay day" & who become far less concerned after the Client's check has cleared. I'll also add that Lee Child's character Jack Reacher is spot-on each time that he says "details matter", as they do, especially in Criminal Cases. "What truly sets Mr. Haber apart is his ability to exceed all expectations. Not only did he deliver on his promises, but he also surpassed them with his exceptional courtroom performance and legal expertise. His strategic maneuvers and quick thinking were instrumental in securing a favorable outcome for my husband." I don't have ESP, a crystal ball, Tarot cards, an Ouija board or any other way to guarantee what will happen, but after 32+ years I can & do foresee the reasonable probabilities in each case, strategically wield & manipulate the Rules of Criminal Procedure & Evidence & am not above employing guile & taking advantage of loopholes & technicalities which inure to my client's benefit (as "we're in it to win it"). "Beyond his remarkable legal acumen, Mr. Haber demonstrated genuine care and empathy towards our family. He took the time to listen to our concerns, providing both legal counsel and emotional support throughout the entirety of our case. His genuine compassion and dedication to our well-being were truly commendable." Of this I am most proud. I recently replied in part to prior Client's kind review stating: "A large portion of #HaberPA's mantra is to "take a 'Global Approach' to the Client & the case & come to understand the Client & her/his situation", & we stand by that blueprint in each & every case." I care (admittedly in some cases & for some clients more than others), always have regard for & some degree of altruism for my clients, but when it's recognized by the Client (as here) it's heartwarming. "Thanks to Michael Haber's outstanding representation, my husband received the justice he deserved. I cannot recommend him highly enough to anyone in need of a skilled and compassionate criminal defense attorney. If you're searching for legal advocacy that goes above and beyond, look no further than Michael Haber. Five stars without hesitation!" All I will say to this is "thank you" once again, both for you kind words & exceptionally moving Client Review. Gratefully, MAH/Esq. #HaberPA
Posted by anonymous | May 07, 2024 | Hired Attorney
Client
You were referred to me by a trusted friend/lawyer who doesn't typically handle BUI cases. You promptly met with me at my convenience in my home; you explained in detail the process and protocol, as well as the possibilities and probabilities. You assessed my case, my interests, and then we establish...
Dear Client, Thank you for your very succinct, bullet-point styled Client Review (#HaberPA's 239th on AVVO) hitting many points of interest to prospective clients. As you've not identified yourself (& I know who you are) I'll share a something about the facts, circumstances & resolution of your case with the folks (so they'll understand "the why" of your praise). You were stopped at dusk for "planing" in a Manatee Zone (excessive speed) while captaining a vessel (your father's boat). After running you around the boat like a marionette (a tactic which Marine Police employ as de facto "Field Sobriety Tests" / FSTS), & not withstanding your appropriate compliance with most everything (the 2 things that you did "wrong" were not having any ID on the vessel & not having your FFWWC "Boating Safety Education Identification Card", both of which you should have had onboard) because they claimed to have smelled alcohol on your breath you were directed to board the FWC vessel to take marine sobriety exams. You agreed to take them (aside alert: be it on land or sea, in Florida FSTs are 100% voluntary, you do NOT have to take them &, unlike refusing a breath test your Driver License is NOT effected by your refusal to take FSTs - that said, & also unlike breath, where the Cops must advise you of the consequences of a refusal, they don't have to with FSTs & thus they almost never will) &, not surprisingly for anyone who's been boating all day, your performance was adjudged to have been "below standards", after which you were formally arrested for BUI (Boating Under the Influence / DUI on the water). When you arrived at the station you wisely refused breath & invoked Miranda. Without a BAC printout the State's theory of the case had to be "impairment of your normal faculties" & as a consequence of your refusal to blow (just like in a DUI) they'd be entitled to both a rebuttable presumption of impairment & to argue "consciousness of guilt" (i.e. the reason you didn't blow is as you knew that if you did then your BAC would've been >.08). That said I promptly met with you & your parents at your home, debriefed you, vetted your version of events against the Probable Cause Affidavit, explained the charge, the State's burden of proof, the protocol moving forward, the various options available to you & the most critical thing, to wit: That the BWC would tell the tale sans passion or prejudice, & what we see and hear should guide our trajectory. That proved true as within a few weeks we watched crystal clear video & audio which captured everything from FWC lighting you up to your "perp-walk" into the Jail, after which the toughest thing about your case was deciding what to do after analyzing the BWC footage as, while we couldn't refute the alleged odor of alcohol, if you were impaired then, not withstanding the FSTs (which I myself couldn't've aced on land & stone cold sober), it wasn't patent (i.e. you were responsive, respectful, appropriate & not visibly impaired), thus leaving us with a dilemma. With no viable Motion to Dismiss (the "stop" was lawful, the requisite "reasonable suspicion" for a BUI investigation existed & once you refused breath you were lawfully arrested) we had to decide whether to take our chances in a Trial or negotiate a plea. Fortunately we had a reasonable Prosecutor who agreed to offer you a "Deferred Prosecution" agreement (de facto "Diversion") & you chose to take that safe path, whereby in 9 months time & after jumping through a few proverbial hoops you'll earn a dismissal. The choice was yours to make & while it was torture for me (as your case screamed "Reasonable Doubt" & I'd've loved to have taken it to Trial) I expect that you made the right decision (for you - & that's what matters). I was honored to have been referred to you by another lawyer, for the trust placed in me by you & your family & I look forward to you case being dismissed in short order. Thank you again for your kind words. Fondly, MAH/Esq. #HaberPA
Posted by anonymous | May 07, 2024 | Hired Attorney
Great Experience
Michael went out of his way to make sure we understood the process and guided us with profesionalism and at the same time like a friend. Thank you for all your help
Dear Anonymous, This Client Review (#HaberPA's 240th on AVVO) comes on the heels of #239 (one need not be Pythagoras to do that math), but what may not be obvious to others yet which I know is that #239 was submitted by your son, & you are one (or both) of his parents. In my response to your son's kind Client Review (which was also both succinct & anonymously submitted) I discussed "the what & the why" of his case, both to provide context & for the benefit of the reader (but also as there's no way for anyone to identify him, or you for that matter). That said & in response to your Client Review I wish to take a different (bad pun warning) tact. A large portion of #HaberPA's mantra is to "take a 'Global Approach' to the Client & the case & come to understand the Client & her/his situation", & we stand by that blueprint in each & every case. That said, like you I am a boater, I too have a son who's about the same age as yours & when we met (together with our mutual friend) at your home, as we discussed the situation, as I got to know something about your son and your family, silently in my mind I was saying to myself: "But for the grace of G-d there go I [my son]"... Knowing that this situation could just as easily have happened to me & my family, I had a particular empathy for you & yours. That observed another component of #HaberPA's mantra is to "engage the Client with open, honest, direct & frequent communication & to be easily reachable by phone, email or on the internet", & we absolutely & unequivocally stand by that methodology in each & every case. Still, lawyers are bound by ethical canons which include "confidentiality of communications" & the sanctity of the attorney-client relationship. I mention this as not withstanding it having been your boat, your son & your having foot the bill (i.e. you payed your son's legal fees) it was your son who was the Client, not you, & as such it was to your son that my duty, loyalty & reticence was singularly owed. As such it was only because your son directed me to communicate freely & openly with you that I was able to do so (& again, I was affected as, "But for the grace...", i.e. were it my son then I would hope that he would be as completely trusting of me as your son was of you). One more part of #HaberPA's mantra is to "adopt the Client's interests as our own", & in this regard it's not a stretch to say that I tend to develop a personal stake in both the case & the Client. I suppose that this is more obvious in some cases than in others but in either event while I always effort at maintaining a respectable & appropriate degree of professionalism it's not uncommon for friendships to develop (ergo one of my taglines that "You come to #HaberPA as a client but before we're done you'll be a part of our family."). So when you proffered to the folks that I "guided us with profesionalism and at the same time like a friend" it's especially meaningful & moving to me, for above and beyond the standard, customary joy that I get for a job well-done (when I achieve a litigation objective), knowing that I was simultaneously professional & personal makes success that much sweeter. In the end your son's case, like many a DUI / BUI case nowadays (in the technological era), would be made or broken on the BWC footage; still there were options & tough decisions to be made (especially as on BWC your son objectively presented far better than I expected after our detailed discussion of the events of the day). While I provided guidance it was your son, with your sage counsel, who made the decision as to how to proceed, & I believe that it'll work out very well. An arrest can happen to anyone, especially on the water, but how you deal with it largely effects how it deals with you. Knowing you know this I'll say it anyhow: You should be proud of your son as, apart from his (understandably) agreeing to take FSTs, he comported himself perfectly. Thanking you again for your kind words, MAH/Esq. #HaberPA
Posted by anonymous | January 04, 2024 | Hired Attorney
Money Well Spent
Well to start I would like to thank Mr. Haber and his team for all of their hard work and dedication to my case. I am a US Marine Corps Veteran that was facing a15year mandatory minimum . Over a period of two and a half years I was on house arrest with traveling restrictions Mr Haber and his team sub...
“Dear Anonymous Client, Thank you so much for your kind words (in the form of #HaberPA's 238th Client Review on AVVO) &, more importantly (to me personally), thank you for your service to our great Country as one of "the few, the proud, the Marines". Your wife submitted an anonymous review (#HaberPA's 236th on AVVO - anyone can find it 2 reviews below this one), hers was based upon her unique interaction with me while you were pretrial detained in jail, unable to post bond due to the absolute ineptness of the first lawyer whom your family had hired & my detailed response was tailored to her experience. Your independent review allows me to expound on my reply to her, but with a more in depth discussion of your situation. You are an Honorably Discharged military veteran who served in Iraq & Afghanistan and who was primarily assigned to a "demining squad". Why do I know that & what relevance does it have? I know because I fully vetted your life experience with you so as to both come to understand my client & also in consideration of possible "mitigation of sentence" issues. (At #HaberPA we enter every case with the intent to "win", but "winning" has many definitions & reality dictates that while we "pull all stops" in efforting at securing a Nolle Pros / dismissal / "Not Guilty" verdict / acquittal, we'd be remiss in our duty were we to fail to consider the possibilities of either plea negotiations or an adverse judgment, the latter requiring us to contemplate mitigation strategies - i.e. ways to secure a reduction in sentence - & this is something that we do from the get go & contemporaneous with tearing apart State evidence & building a defense case.) In any event you're diagnosed with PTSD (understandably so after what you experienced in the theater of operations) & while you improve every day you've not been able to hold a job since your discharge, instead caring for your 2 young daughters while you receive VA care & your wife works full & overtime. For a literal period of years two scumbags (people you knew but not that they were Federal Confidential Informants trying to "work off" time from their own federal drug cases by proactively setting up others for arrest) had hounded you to secure cocaine for them. You repeatedly said no but they were incessant, knowing your mental state, your family's financial situation &, as predators do, sensing your weakness. Over time & with repeated promises of booty & security they wore you down, you agreed to secure 2 kilos of cocaine & when you delivered them you were arrested on the spot. As you had no prior criminal history & given the facts (both as alleged by the government & as proffered by you) we put forth a classic Entrapment Defense. We compelled disclosure of the CIs, built our case & when the time was right we filed a Written Demand for Speedy Trial. A mere handful of questions into his direct examination the CI caused a Mistrial & we had to start over. For reasons which I outlined in your wife's review the case was ultimately dismissed, but the important thing is that we skillfully & strategically wielded both the Rules of Criminal Procedure & the Rules of Evidence to take the tactical advantages which resulted in the dismissal, but we also employed a great deal of guile in accomplishing that end. That said, knowing that which you willfully sacrificed & the price that you continue to pay for that sacrifice so that I, the ones whom I love & every other American can live under the umbrella of the freedom that you & your military brethren so selflessly provide, your case was particularly meaningful to me. Noting that demining in Middle East war zones is all but unfathomable to me, still, in light of the villainous scum who simply sought personal profit from their intentional criminal acts off of your selfless service & unwilling penance is deplorable. I could not be prouder to have helped anyone else. Semper Fi & thank you again (for everything). Respectfully, MAH/Esq. #HaberPA”
Posted by anonymous | December 28, 2023 | Hired Attorney
Expungement
Mr. Haber is very professional and always on top with everything. I knew I could have relied on him with multiple cases. Very great gentlemen and always on point with everything he does. I am very thankful for everything he has done, I highly recommend hiring Mr. Haber with any legal issues.
“Dear Anonymous, Thank you so very much for your kind words (in the form of #HaberPA's 237th Client Review on AVVO). #HaberPA loves taglines and over the years we have conjured and pushed many. For example, "#UPx2" is a modified acronym that stands for "Shut-Up and Lawyer-Up" and is a quick and easy way to remember both to and how to invoke your 5th Amendment Right to Remain Silent and your 6th Amendment Right to Counsel. "The Three Wrongs", is a reference to being in "the wrong place at the wrong time and coming into contact with the wrong cop", the point of which is to suggest that you have some degree of control over both where and with whom you choose to go / to be but there remains a variable ("the wrong cop") over which you have no control and which can quickly ruin your day (in any event there's no denying that the convergence of these "three wrongs" definitely will not make a right). "The Three Ms" refer to "Motion" (in the year 1686 Sir Isaac Newton's masterpiece, the "Principia Mathematica Philosophiae Naturalis", was published postulating his Three Laws of Motion, the 3rd of which is that "for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction"), "Merton" (Professor Robert K. Merton coined the "Law of Unintended Consequences", which holds that while you may act intending "X" result, unanticipated or unforeseen outcomes can and do happen, and when they do, despite your lack of intent you remain accountable) and "Murphy" (in 1949, while working at Edwards Air Force Base on United States Air Force Project MX981 - a project designed to see how much sudden deceleration a person can stand in a crash - Captain Edward A. Murphy, an engineer, would first find an transducer which was incorrectly wired, then locate the responsible / irresponsible technician and reportedly say: "If there is any way to do it wrong, he'll find it", thus coining the now infamous "Murphy's Law"), together these "Three Ms" remind us of three things, to wit: No matter what you do sh*t is gonna happen, it's not possible to anticipate all of the potential sh*t that might happen and if "bad sh*t" can happen, then it will happen. Finally "The Three Cs" are a simply reference to "Cops, Courts and Constitutions" (as in: "When it comes to "The Three Cs" remember to #UPx2 and call #HaberPA, stat!"). If you're wondering why I just wrote 379 words using up 2,199 of the 4,000 characters allotted to me to respond the answer is simply that your Client Review just now inspired a similar catchphrase, to wit: "The Three Ss" - "Short, Succinct and Sweet" - as was your kind Client Review. That said you hired me to prepare and to file a Petition to Expunge your previously dismissed criminal case, which is far from rocket science but, still, is a painstakingly detailed process. Having done hundreds of these over 3+ decades I have streamlined that part of the process that we can control (note that I have no control over how long or efficient either the State Attorney's Office or the Florida Department of Law Enforcement chooses to be); specifically I have all of the forms handy and ready (they are "plug and play", simply needing to be personalized to the client's specific case), once tasked I customize and email them to the client with detailed step-by-step, "childproof" instructions. The quicker that the client accomplishes the few things that I cannot do for her/him (e.g. execute the prepared application and affidavit in the presence of a notary and get fingerprinted at a local police station) the quicker that I can get the ball rolling. All things equal (again depending upon the SAO and FDLE respectively) the expungement process can be expected to take 3-9 months but, again, the client can either assist or obstruct, and in your case it was absolute assistance. Being the responsible client you were allowed me to be an effective advocate, so please accept my gratitude (both for your help and kind words). Wishing you a Happy New Year! Fondly, MAH/Esq. #HaberPA ”