Thank you for stopping by to take a look at my web site, www.RobertSheridan.com.
I know, you've been pointed over to a TypePad site, but that's just for the sake of convenience. I do law, not web sites, and TypePad is a format that I'm familiar with from my Constitutional Law site, Sheridan: Con-Law, which you can enter via the link in the margin to the right, below that entry. It's a subject that I enjoy studying and teaching because it's based on a lot of experience, sometimes called history. If we know what's happened before, maybe we won't trip over the same stone again.
THIS site is the commercial one. It proclaims that I'm not the Public Defender. I pay rent, phones, and all the other stuff needed to keep a law practice going for years and years, called overhead.
Law teaching and writing is my pro bono activity, even though the law school pays for a few books and a little more. The rest I have to earn by making myself useful practicing law and winning cases for people like you, my prospective clients. So I have a lot of respect for you.
Teaching and writing helps keeps the blade-edge sharp, for you. Plus I enjoy doing all these things.
This site emphasizes the defense lawyer aspect of what I do, since that's where the most dramatic of my experiences have occurred. I'd like to let you know that I do other things as well, such as advise people who are experiencing legal difficulty or having questions. Over the years I've represented in family law, child custody, probate, wills and estates, landlord-tenant, real property matters, etc. Normally I don't take in such matters, but I like to be consulted to see whether I can be of service myself or by making a referral to an attorney friend who may be of help. Maybe he or she will return the favor some day.
It doesn't cost you to contact me to see whether I am able to be of help. Don't, however, expect me to provide advice by telephone to non-clients. A non-client is someone who hasn't become a client yet. A client is someone who has retained me for the purpose of providing advice, counsel, or representation. Usually I can tell within a few questions whether I can help, or how I can help.
I know I have a client when the person has sat across the desk from me and agreed to retain me. I know the person has agreed when he, or she, has handed me a check to do some work. As A. Lincoln aptly noted, "A lawyer's time and advice are his stock in trade." So, we don't deal in free advice. It's not appreciated as much as the other kind.
We try to make ourself affordable. If you have a matter that I think I can help you on, I'll invite you to come in, as you'd expect and no doubt wish. Then we can meet and see if we'd like to work together on some matter of importance. I hope we can.
Here's the infomercial:
The Law Office of Robert Sheridan emphasizes helping individuals in serious legal trouble with the police, prosecuting attorneys offices, and criminal courts in the San Francisco Bay Area, state and federal. If the legal problems stem from psychological problems, so much the more familiar we are with them.
Mr. Sheridan is a trial attorney (and professor of constitutional law, at San Francisco Law School) who has served as a prosecuting and a defense attorney for many years.
Here's a brief overview of some of his experience:
San Francisco District Attorneys Office, five years, after serving two years in the Contra Costa County District Attorneys Office.
Mr. Sheridan began, as all young prosecutors did, in traffic court and progressed through prosecuting many DUI cases, a wide variety of other misdemeanor cases, and with experience, into all manner of felony charges, including rape and murder cases.
Mr. Sheridan has spent a good part of a long career in court, trying over a hundred jury trials, some lasting for months.
Jury trials occur when there's a difference of opinion between the prosecutor and the defendant over how much time the latter is going to do, whether he, or she, is going to do some time or none, or the charges are going somehow to be dismissed.
Jury trials are where each side puts up or suffers the consequences. You've seen examples, such as OJ Simpson and Michael Jackson, on TV. That's what Mr. Sheridan does. The Michael Jackson case was tried in Santa Barbara. Mr. Sheridan tried the Golden Dragon Massacre case in Santa Barbara on a change of venue, two changes of venue, in fact, the result of publicity about his client, and hung the jury.
Mr. Sheridan served as head of the San Francisco District Attorneys Office Sexual Assault/Rape Prosecution Unit.
As a result, since entering private practice, Mr. Sheridan has been referred many clients with Hall of Justice matters by knowledgeable professionals, colleagues, judges, and police officers, with whom he worked, or who are familiar with his experience and ability. Among these have been a number of accusations of a sexual nature.
Mr. Sheridan has considerable experience representing in the defense of innocent clients against false sexual assault accusations, often made by children and sometimes by adults or adults backing children.
In one instance, Mr. Sheridan's client was facing a state prison sentence of longer than the client's natural lifetime, hundreds of years, if convicted. Shortly before, in another case that was not handled by this office, the defendants had been sentenced to 200 and 300 years by the same judge to whom this case was assigned. Mr. Sheridan challenged the judge before he had a chance to make a ruling on this case.
Mr. Sheridan's client turned down a deal that would have spared him jail, if only he would admit to committing a crime against his three-year old daughter that no one had committed, much less her father. The little girl had made up a story, or to be more accurate, her mother and the mother's attorney, with whom she had been having an affair (they married after the trial) had created the story and influenced her to repeat it, which the authorities badly wanted to believe. The system had lined up against an innocent father.
The father, maintaining innocence, turned down the deal to plead guilty to something he didn't do, and Mr. Sheridan tried this must-win case.
After a month-long jury trial, Mr. Sheridan succeeded in blocking a conviction, then negotiated the dismissal of all 61 felony counts, thus beating an offer of probation and no jail.
Other notable defense efforts include:
Golden Dragon, a multiple murder case arising out of Chinatown.
Foxglove, a poison-murder-conspiracy indictment in which Mr. Sheridan forced the dismissal of murder-conspiracy charges against his client, who'd been in custody for two years during a long court battle with a whole flock of district attorneys.
"Foxglove is a fascinating story of poison and murder," Mr. Sheridan told the press, "which is missing a couple of things, like poison and murder."
This he later proved out the mouth of the San Francisco Medical Examiner who was one of those who had fomented the charges in the first place, in his case through faulty lab testing, flawed interpreting of his test results, and unreliable reporting to the police and DA. He fooled himself, basically. No other laboratory was able to replicate his results. That didn't stop the DA from pressing forward however. Sometimes DAs get carried away with their own theories and the world of political ambition.
Using an improper test improperly, as the Medical Examiner did, this doctor could have obtained the same test result, positive for unprescribed heart medicine, using pure distilled water. The case remained under investigation and in the courts for over a decade before the murder conspiracy charges were dismissed against all those so charged, many of whom had spent years in jail.
After the Medical Examiner passed away recently, the City gave him a medal for his service to the City and County of San Francisco over a quarter century.
Dismissal of federal false statement charges after trial and the blocking of conviction, following a federal indictment obtained by the United States Attorney of the Northern District of California against a ranking federal official.
Professional journals have published articles written by Mr. Sheridan criticizing flaws in the legal system which have lead to the bringing of false sexual accusations against many innocent people.
In addition to representing in court, Mr. Sheridan provides the benefit of his legal experience to future lawyers at San Francisco Law School, where he is Professor of Constitutional Law. The Student Bar Association voted him Professor of the Year. Constitutional Law governs criminal law and procedure.
Mr. Sheridan's private practice brings him to Bay Area courts wherever his clients are required to appear. This has included jury trials in federal court, as well as California state and local courts
all over the Bay Area.
Our office is located in the Hamm's Building,1550 Bryant Street, Suite 810, between 15th and 16th, near the San Francisco Hall of Justice which is located at 850 Bryant, between 6th and 7th, where Mr. Sheridan has been appearing for many years, having worked for five years in the building.
We are two blocks from the freeway leading to the courts in San Mateo and the East Bay, as well as Marin. Validated valet parking is next to the office building.
Mr. Sheridan represents private clients in all Hall of Justice matters including DUI/DMV, domestic relations, and sexual misconduct allegations.
Mr. Sheridan's client list includes police officers and their family members as well as the family and friends of public officials including prosecuting attorneys and judges, successful business people and professionals, other attorneys, doctors and dentists.
Mr. Sheridan is a member of the Bar Association of San Francisco and
serves on its Indigent Defense Panel where he is regularly appointed by
the court to represent in serious felony matters where the Public
Defender is unable to represent.
When legal problems have psychological causes, we see this as business as usual and can help, as we know what to do next. That's one thing experienced attorneys know that others may not: we know what to do next.
Mr. Sheridan is well-experienced in efforts to keep his clients out of court, meaning trial, but also has a considerable courtroom experience successfully fighting on behalf of clients where the district attorney insists on pushing matters to trial.
Successful courtroom efforts have a way of encouraging useful plea bargaining to avoid the risk of trial.
We are both a formidable courtroom adversary and an understanding negotiator on behalf of our clients.
In our experience, experience counts.
If someone you know could benefit from this experience, please feel free to call or refer to arrange an office visit to discuss.
LAW OFFICE OF ROBERT SHERIDAN
The Hamm's Building
1550 Bryant Street, Suite 810
San Francisco, California 94103
(Office) (415) 558-1789
(Fax) (415) 558-7172
(Mobile) (415) 515-9752
RS@ROBERTSHERIDAN.com
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FAQ
Prospective clients will often call with a legal problem and say "I just have a question."
The question is often,
1. "What should I do next?"
Well, the first thing you should probably do is to shut your mouth and say nothing to anyone who isn't a licensed attorney-at-law in this state.
Then get yourself in to see the attorney without further delay.
2. "But do I need an attorney?"
This is a bit like feeling pain, calling a doctor, and asking whether I need a doctor. The doctor's duty is probably to say that you probably need to see the doctor.
Usually the right answer is that if you're experiencing difficulty and know enough to contact the relevant professional, you already know that you could benefit from that professional's advice, otherwise why have you called.
Serious matters lining up for an appearance at the Hall of Justice will usually benefit from a trained professional who has been there before. You wouldn't want to find yourself in a hospital but be required to perform self-diagnosis and self-treatment. You might make a fatal mistake.
3. "I can't go to jail for this, can I?"
"People are sent to jail for this all the time," is the likely answer. The trick is to keep you out of jail. That's the hard part, once a charge is filed.
4. How long am I facing?"
It used to be fairly simple to answer this question, but now it's not so easy because there have been so many rules laid on top of rules. In federal cases we have something like the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines that were in effect for the better part of 20 years. They've recently been declared unconstitutional as mandatory rules, but are still consulted for advisory purposes.
California has a similar set of rules that resemble the federal sentencing guidelines in important respects, but while the California Supreme Court has recently held them constitutional, the U.S. Supreme Court hasn't reviewed them yet, so the law remains unsettled in this area.
Are there prior convictions? They count.
What kind of convictions? This counts.
Was someone hurt? How badly? This counts.
In felony convictions, California judges are given three sentencing choices: high, middle, and low when it comes to prison sentences. How to choose? This is part of representing, while guessing outcome in the beginning is speculative and the subject of effort by the attorney in representing.
5. "I'd like this case to be over as soon as possible."
Cases take a long time in the court system because we break them up into bite size pieces and deal with them one at a time. When I say we, I mean the court, the judge, the prosecutor, and the defense attorney. We don't usually see things all wrapped up in the first court appearance, even though that's what clients often say they want. You'll sometimes see an unrepresented defendant, at the first court appearance, trying to tell the judge her story. The judge doesn't want to hear it. This isn't the time or place. It's not the trial. So the judge has to advise the person not to speak up now, to save it for the attorney.
I was appointed to represent a man in federal court. He was in custody for illegally possessing weapons, handguns, and he naturally wanted to be released.
I didn't want him to speak.
He wanted to speak.
He told the judge he wanted to get out because being in jail was bad for business, which was true.
"What is your business?" asked the judge.
"Selling guns," was the reply.
Illegally obtained guns was the problem. That's why he was in jail. He was charged with selling illegally obtained guns and now he admitted it in open court. He'd made the prosecutor's job just a bit too easy.
I prefer it if my client lets me do the speaking for him or her after I've studied the case a bit. Usually I can figure out what needs to be said, and the less I have to say, the better.
The first appearance is usually reserved for advising the client of the charges filed by the district attorney, the client's rights, and asking whether he or she is going to retain private counsel and how much time is needed to do that, usually not much time.
Then we come back and enter pleas of not guilty in order to get the process moving forward.
Then the attorney studies the police reports and goes over the material with the client in order to understand the client's version of events. There may be the need to conduct further investigation using the services of private investigators, medical professionals, and other experts that the attorney knows or locates.
There may be motions for bail, to suppress illegally seized evidence or statements, and many other requests of the court designed to make the process fair.
Meanwhile there are likely to be some discussions between counsel and perhaps with the court at the designated time and place with both counsel present.
These are some reasons why cases may take awhile. This is how cases that begin as emergencies become regularized such that they be dealt with calmly and intelligently.
6. "How much is this going to cost?"
Usually the attorney will try to estimate this at the first meeting and ask for a retainer plus the cost of some further investigation if necessary. Trying to guess how much something is going to cost before that first meeting doesn't make a lot of sense. The attorney hasn't seen the police report and hasn't heard the client out to find out what the client requires. I don't quote fees over the phone unless I am not interested in seeing the person because I don't think I could be of assistance in the matter.
Attorney fees depend on a variety of factors including the seriousness and complexity of the matter, the amount of time and effort likely to be required, and the demonstrated ability of the attorney. We do try to make ourselves affordable to ordinary people from all backgrounds.
7. "How is my case going to come out? Will I be going to jail?"
While it is often possible for the attorney to assume that a case is likely to come out in a certain way, or within certain limits, because it resembles other cases he's seen, the fact of the matter is that unless and until the attorney is engaged to perform the work of representing, performs the study indicated above, and has discussions with opposing counsel and the court, and hears from these officials, who control the case, after all, the attorney's assumption may be incorrect.
As an example, the one time I tried to assure a nervous elderly client that he was unlikely to have to go to jail for a first time DUI because he was elderly and had no prior record, I ran into a district attorney who wanted to put him in jail for a substantial period because the man had clipped the door of a woman getting out of her car on a narrow street and the DA thought he'd endangered the woman.
Since then I make it a practice not to speculate on how cases are going to come out. I set a goal of how I'd like to see it come out, and work toward that goal. Since this goal has been set in the beginning with the cooperation of the client, I usually enjoy the cooperation of my client in working to achieve this important goal, which is the purpose of the representation.
And yes, I succeeded in keeping the elderly man out of jail. We'd simply run into a new DA whose judgment hadn't yet been tempered by the requisite experience.
Dealing in cases at the Hall of Justice is a very human process and probably not at all like you imagine if your courtroom experience has been gained from TV and the movies. Prosecutors get ticked off. Judges get ticked off. Clients get ticked off. We have to deal with it. The Hall of Justice is not a place where people go to have fun. They're there because they are required to be there in order to conduct serious business having considerable consequences on people's lives.
Discussions about the possible outcome of cases are agreed to be speculative in nature, not promises or guarantees. Of course it has to be this way in a system where judges, prosecutors, police, probation officers, and concerned citizens, and let's not forget jurors, all have an important say, as well as the attorney and the client.
8. "What kind of lawyer are you."
"I represent people who have legal problems usually caused by psychological problems"
It's hard to get that on a business card, so that's what I usually try to tell people if they have a moment, because it makes them think, and may open an intelligent discussion about whether I may be of help some time in the future when something comes up.
When a normally law-abiding person, my usual type of client, suddenly is arrested for driving under the influence, it is important to know about how the client manages the use of alcohol and medication. Or if there's been a domestic altercation, what are we going to do to make sure there isn't going to be another? Hall of Justice time is where we take a good look into our lives to see what needs tightening up, if anything.
9. "Do you handle this type of case?"
Yes, I can do any type of case known to man and law, at least at the Halls of Justice in the Bay Area, and probably have. I'm not interested in doing certain kinds of work, such as tax, bankruptcy, patent law, and other stuff not ordinarily seen at the Hall of Justice, unless of course, they have a serious HOJ angle that comes with them.
But if it involves people accusing other people of wrongdoing, I've been doing this kind of case for a long time.
You could say that I'm in the accusation business, where if the accusation is found true, the accused my client, stands to go to jail unless I can figure out something.
I figure out things.
That's my job, figuring things out and making things happen in accordance with what I've figured.
Of course there are people on the other side who figure things differently, but mine is usually based on what my client has said.
What I figure out is not always based entirely on what my client has said but what I've figured out based on experience. I've had clients who had no recollection of killing people, they were so out of it at the time.
Sometimes you can sense that an accusation isn't quite going to stand up as charged because of who made it and some possible motive that you suspect exists that makes it wrong.
10. "My case is in this county but your office is in San Francisco, does this make a difference?"
My office has has been located at various times over the years Downtown in the Financial District, on the West side of San Francisco near where I lived, also in nearby Daly City, and now back in S.F. near the San Francisco Hall of Justice. A law office is a communications center from which a lawyer operates.
What's important is for you to find me when you need legal service.
The Bay Area is my bailiwick.
I've been appearing in the various Bay Area Halls of Justice, as well as some non-Bay Area Courts, for over three decades. All of the California courts work off the same body of law, the California Penal, Vehicle, and Health & Safety Codes, most typically. And the U.S. Constitution, a subject that I happen to teach.
If the case is important to the client, it's important to me. Local is anywhere within an hour's drive of San Francisco.
11. "Do you know the judge?"
It's more important that the judge treats lawyers, me, civilly, with respect for my role in the justice system, whether we've ever seen each other or not. There are a lot of judges down at the Hall of Justice, any Hall of Justice, and they keep changing and moving about.
I've appeared before judges who were my close friends, one of whom I played golf with every weekend, who had to tell the prosecutor that we were playing on Saturday and was there any objection. There wasn't. This made it uncomfortable because my client kept wanting me to talk to the judge over a beer, which I wasn't about to do. Not only that, but my good friend the judge, to show how impartial he was being with me, his good friend, kept ruling against my objections. I never wanted to go in front of him again and had the case moved.
I much prefer appearing before judges where I know that he or she is just the judge and the judge knows that I'm just the attorney trying to a good job for my client.
This way we have no side issues to make us wonder how we're being treated.
I know a fellow from Russia who thinks judges and attorneys are all mixed up together to make up their own rules as they go along. Nothing I say can disabuse him of this notion. It's his view of how the world works because, I guess, that's what he's learned from his culture, which isn't the Hall of Justice culture in the Bay Area. So he's mistrustful. He needed an attorney in a distant county. I called a friend, an attorney who used to work for me who referred him to three respected attorneys for his kind of matter. Did the Russian fellow see one of those? No. They were busy and he had difficulty making arrangements. He may have been a little impatient. He gets frustrated easily when things don't happen they way he wants or imagines should be the case.
So he went to someone else and later felt he'd been treated unfairly by this attorney. Was he? I don't know. But if he'd been a bit more patient and followed advice, he wouldn't have wasted one retainer fee and found himself looking yet again for another attorney.
Recognizing experience and good advice based on experience is something we must learn to cultivate.
