WELCOME POST

 Hello and welcome to my blog. 

It is hard to get a good blog name these days.  The catchy names are all taken. I lucked out with Criminal Briefs.

A little about me, Phil Reizenstein. 

A lawyer since 1986. A prosecutor from 1986-1992. I have practiced criminal defense since 1992. I have never done a closing or written a will. I can refer you to excellent lawyers if you need something like that. 

All of the work I do is related to criminal defense. To the extent I handle civil cases, they involve the forfeiture of money or property related to criminal cases.  

In the coming new year, I will be writing about the experiences I have had these past 36 years in court, and that will give you some insight if you or someone close to you are facing criminal charges. I will be mostly blogging for non-lawyers, but I may at times lapse into some technical legal jargon. I will try and keep it at a minimum. 

Some topics I will address are what to do when you are a target of a grand jury; how to handle a criminal investigation; bond/bail and pre-trial release; pleas and the decision to go to trial; trial strategy; forfeiture defense; motions to suppress evidence and motions to dismiss; and finally, appeals. 

 Any one of those subjects is worthy of a full book, so I may do several posts on the same topic. 

If you have any questions before the topics go up, please leave a comment and I will get back to you. Or email me philreizenstein@protonmail.com. Every communication will be treated as confidential.  

Because I think life should be more than about the law, I will endeavor to end every post with a non-legal saying. 

"Change is the price of survival".

Gary Player was a world champion golfer who has always been ahead of his time. In the 1960s he began focusing on nutrition, weightlifting and stretching, when the conventional wisdom was that golfers should never do that.  Once he retired, he became a very successful businessman. Now in his 90s, he is fitter than most people half his age. 

Gary Player's number one rule for life, which he attributes to Winston Churchill, another hero of mine, is "Change is the price of survival." 

It is a powerful rule to accept and understand.