Advantages of Hiring a Lawyer For a DC Record Sealing Case

If you have considered trying to have your record sealed, the following is information on the advantages of going through the record sealing process with an attorney. To learn more about record sealing in DC schedule a consultation with a DC expungement lawyer today.

What Advantages Does Hiring An Attorney For a Record Sealing Case Are?

I would say that the main advantage is it allows that client to take advantage of the attorney’s knowledge of the intricacies of the system. The DC record sealing statute is very complicated compared to a lot of other state’s statutes. There are a host of issues that could make somebody ineligible to file an interest of justice motion.

People need to make complex legal arguments in an actual innocence motion about why they are innocent. An attorney has the experience and the training to really make those arguments in a way that is most likely to be successful. Also, hiring an attorney will really save a person, who’s looking to seal their record, a lot of time. The record sealing process is very time and effort intensive. It really is going to take a solid six months of following up with courts and the prosecutors, of investigation, of drafting the motion, and all of these things really just add up to hours and hours of work and time that many busy people really don’t have the time to do.

Why Do Clients Choose to Work With You in Record Sealing Matters?

I’d say the main reason that people choose to work with me is my experience in the field. I’ve had an interest in record sealing matters going back to law school. While I was a law student, I actually took the initiative to start a record sealing clinic in conjunction with a public defender service for the District of Columbia.

That clinic still exists and still assists indigent clients in sealing their records. It’s very different than in private practice because a lot of those clients have very extensive criminal records. It gives a person, like me who started that clinic, the opportunity to work on a lot of very complex record sealing cases.

Between the time that I spent working in that clinic, overseeing the clinic, and now in private practice, I’ve worked on hundreds of record sealing motions. This really allows my clients to have confidence that I have the experience to know what judges are looking for when you file this kind of motion. I have the experience to anticipate what might trigger a prosecutor to oppose a motion in the innocence cases. I also just have some experience dealing with the players in the system and that will help for negotiation purposes.

For example, sometimes the government is initially inclined to oppose one of these motions which makes it much less likely to be successful, but after working on these cases, so extensively, I can give those prosecutors a call, and try to figure out what their problem is and see if we can work out a deal that will withdraw that opposition and allow my clients to have their record sealed.