Juvenile Defense
Juvenile Defense Attorney
Juvenile law is not the same as criminal law. An attorney needs to understand the juvenile defense procedures in order to defend the allegations before the juvenile court. Juveniles face an enormous range of juvenile delinquent allegations, which may be called the same crime in adult civil and criminal courts, but are treated very differently in juvenile court.
Our goal is to uphold a young person’s constitutional right to high-quality defense counsel and find productive alternatives to punishment and detention for crimes committed by youthful offenders.
Always remember a juvenile adjudication can follow your child into adulthood. Many people mistakenly believe that juvenile offenses are not a big deal because they do not follow the person into adulthood. After a juvenile adjudication, the offense(s) stay on one’s record and can disqualify the youth for college, scholarships, housing, the military and certain career paths. Even if a juvenile wants to petition for expunction (sealing of records), it is not automatic at age 18 and sealed records still count as priors for judicial purposes.