At Chirafisi & Verhoff, we often say some of the best work we can do for a client happens long before criminal charges are filed.  This case is an excellent illustration of that motto.  Our client, a young man with a bright future and no criminal record, was driving his friends when he got into a crash.  By his own statements to police, he was traveling approximately 30 miles per hour over the speed limit and attempted to pass another vehicle in a no passing zone when the crash occurred.  The client was significantly injured, as well as his two passengers.  The family hired our firm before charges were ever issued.  Attorney Verhoff immediately recognized that the injuries suffered by the client's passengers would make this a felony-level case.  Through pre-charging negotiations, Attorney Verhoff brokered a deal by which the District Attorney's Office agreed to file only misdemeanor charges.  But that was not all.  Attorney Verhoff was also able to get the prosecutor to make an agreement to have client placed on a one-year period of probation with no jail time.  But that was not all.  The agreement also included a provision that the case would be expunged from the client's record upon successful completion of probation.