When people find out what we do for a living, our experience at any social event is that people inevitably ask what to do if you ever get pulled over. We decided that this would be an excellent idea for a Continuing Legal Education presentation to our fellow lawyers in the civil bar. Roughly one year ago, the lawyers of Sumpter & Gonzalez addressed a roomful of our colleagues at the monthly meeting of the Austin Young Lawyers Association (AYLA).

David Gonzalez spoke about what to do if you’re ever asked to take a breath test; Kristin Etter addressed the issues surrounding a federal investigation, and Corinne Sumpter talked about what happens if your kid gets in trouble at school. The idea behind the presentation was that civil lawyers are often asked these types of criminal law questions, and we wanted to provide them with the tools to give the right answers in an emergency.

The response was resoundingly positive.

Some of the lawyers in the audience went back to their law firms and spoke about the presentation. Next thing we knew, we were addressing conference rooms of lawyers at civil law firms all across downtown, we were speaking to the entire in-house legal department at Dell, and we were doing the same presentations to fraternities and sororities at U.T. Although the presentations were scheduled for an hour, we often spent another hour answering questions after the lecture concluded.

This led us to a sad realization: if lawyers who are trained in civil and criminal procedure have smart questions about how to properly invoke your rights if you are being wrongfully accused, how would the general public ever learn the proper thing to do? There is a tremendous amount of misinformation about what to do if you are ever accused of a crime, and there isn’t a good vehicle to provide the right information.

Every Wednesday at 6pm, justice stops hiding behind closed doors. Sumpter & Gonzalez hosts the Open Door Initiative’s free drop-in information session, Open Door Wednesdays.

Each Wednesday evening at 6:00 p.m. one of the lawyers at Sumpter & Gonzalez will present a talk on the ins and outs of navigating the criminal justice system. Some of the topics include:

• If I get pulled over, should I take the breath test?
• What do I do if my child gets in trouble at school?
• If I don’t want to talk to the police, what can they do to me?
• What happens on the first court date after you get arrested?
• What is the difference between Deferred Adjudication & Probation?
• Is it true that if the cop doesn’t show up to court your case gets dismissed?
• I think the police violated my rights when they searched me. So now what happens?
• I felt pressured into doing the field sobriety tests. Is there any recourse?
• I’ve heard the Miranda rights a thousand times. What does it really mean?
• What happens when you “take the Fifth?”
• How much difference does it make if you know the judge or the prosecutor? (and what happens if every lawyer promises that ‘they know the judge?’)

This is a multimedia presentation, using video clips and examples of cases we’ve handled. This is also an informal presentation. Sometimes there are a million questions. Other times you can hear the sound of crickets.

The next session will be held on January 28, 2009. it is free and open to the public, but an RSVP is required. please email dsolomon@sg-llp.com by 4:00 p.m. on the 28th so arrangements can be made.