Message to Parents

Since you are reviewing materials on a criminal defense lawyer’s website, I know that you have had better days. Your child or loved one has gotten into some sort of trouble, be it with the school, the criminal justice system, or both, and you are scared and worried about what is going to happen in the immediate future as well as long-term.  As a parent myself, I understand the desire to do everything possible to protect and minimize negative impacts on my kids.  In this situation, you wish that you could make it all go away, but you often cannot accomplish that feat. The best decision that you can make is to talk to an experienced criminal defense attorney and follow the attorney’s advice.  People often ask me “what would you do if it were your kid.”  My approach in handling these cases is to treat your child the same way that I would want an attorney to treat my child, and I treat you the same way that I would want to be treated.  I understand that the outcomes that I obtain can have both short and long term impacts on your child.  While I cannot promise a specific outcome, I can promise to do my best to obtain the best outcome.  In checking out my client reviews, I have a long history of delivering results for my clients.

How Bad Is It? What Is Going to Happen? What do we do to minimize the damage?

Those are the initial questions that all parents have.  You want to know what is going to happen to your child and what you can do to help. The unknown causes a lot of stress and anxiety to both you and your child. A lawyer should be able to give you information about the processes of both the criminal justice system and Penn State University’s disciplinary process.  The attorney should have experience which enables the lawyer to outline what is likely to happen with both the criminal charges and the school’s disciplinary action.  In explaining possible outcomes, the attorney should reference prior cases that were handled and the outcomes that were achieved.  Good attorneys base their opinions on how prior cases were resolved.  After discussing possible outcomes, the attorney can then outline the strategic plan that should be implemented to obtain the best results.

Experienced Attorney

You should review my commonsense list of qualities that are possessed by good defense attorneysA good attorney should have a history of winning cases,  positive reviews from clients and recommendations from other attorneys, and extensive experience in handling cases in the county in which the charges are filed.  While the laws in Pennsylvania are the same across the state, every area has different people interpreting and applying those laws. Charges in urban areas like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are handled differently than those same charges in conservative Central Pennsylvania. In State College, charges can be handled differently depending upon the judge, police department, and individual police officer. You want to get advice from an attorney who has previously represented clients in that particular jurisdiction with the same type of charges.

Attorney Jason Dunkle has been representing people charged with criminal offenses in the State College area and facing Penn State’s disciplinary process since 2004.  Contact an attorney at JD Law via email or at (814) 954-7622 for a free case review.