News:

Alice K. Berke, Esq.

Alice recently prepared a motion to dismiss a number of traffic tickets in the interests of justice. Our client was being staked out, singled out and regularly charged with petty motor vehicle offenses (ie. not signaling for going in and out of his own driveway). It is our position that his selective prosecution is based upon the fact that he is a registered sex offender and the Town is attempting to force him to leave.

On the evening Thursday, March 8, 2007, Alice served as the Moderator at a meeting of the Capital District of Rental Property Owners (CDARPO). The subject was leasing apartment units to college students. Alice and Fred will be two out of four attorneys teaching "Landlord-Tenant Law in New York - Beyond the Basics" for Sterling Education Services, Inc. on March 27, 2007, from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm at The Desmond. Anyone who claims to be referred by one of them will be entitled to a fifty dollar ($50.00) discount on the registration fee.

Frederick P. Korkosz, Esq.

Fred just won a Second Circuit Court of Appeals case, Abu-Hasirah v. United States Department of Homeland Security. He represented a client in the appeal of a matter where both the client and his previous attorney had arrived late to an immigration court proceeding. Fred successfully convinced the higher Court the tardiness did not constitute a failure to appear and thus could not result in his client being deported in his own absence.

Fred also has an appeal pending in a motor vehicle case in which our client was found guilty at trial of an unsafe start based on the fact that the front wheel of his motorcycle briefly left the pavement when he started it up in a parking lot. Our position is that such a start is not per se "unsafe" as required by the statute, when no other evidence of risk to the operator or others was present.

Mary T. Colwell, Esq.

Mary is currently representing a client who is seeking a divorce from a foreign national, which requires special forms of service of process and presents interesting issues with regard to equitable distribution.

Mary also recently assisted a young client in restoring her license after successfully negotiating nine (9) matters of suspension favorably. The client received minimal points on her record despite the numerous charges and walked out of our office with restored driving privileges.

A LITTLE HUMOR

If you have been to our office, you have probably had the pleasure of meeting one of our office dogs. Each one of us has beautiful dog that occasionally accompanies us to work.

Q:   What is the major difference between our attorneys and their dogs?

A:   The dogs' barks are worse than their bites.