Blair Bernholz Berk

In 2013 I was wrongfully arrested by the LAPD on a drug charge. As this was the first time I'd ever dealt with something of this type and the fact I did nothing wrong, I was overly paranoid with hiring the right attorney. As such, I consulted 10-12 criminal attorneys. Blair was among them. Each a...ttorney I spoke with felt that the best course of action was to fight the case on the merits, including the fact three police officers entered my home without a warrant for no apparent reason, which is clearly a fourth amendment violation. Lisa, on the other hand, suggested I take a plea deal (PC 1000, which dismisses the case but keeps the record around for the courts, the DOJ and FBI), without so much as any kind of fight. I'm not sure what attorney would tell an innocent client to plead guilty, but it is not one I'd hire. In the end, I hired a much cheaper lawyer who had the case dismissed. As a cherry on top, he was able to persuade the court to issue a very rare Declaration of Innocence (Penal Code 851.8), which ordered all records of the arrest and prosecution to be sealed and totally destroyed. Moral of the story? You can find a far less better lawyer and pay far less.