While we hope that nobody drinks and drives, we know that sometimes it happens. A DUI is a big deal and can result in a loss of license, money, and even a person’s job. If you have had a DUI it is important to know what happens after the arrest and how you can get your life back on track. Let’s take a look at what exactly happens after a DUI from a Boca Raton DUI lawyer. What Happens After the Arrest? If you refuse to take a Breathalyzer test at the scene or are found to be above the legal limit, you will be taken into custody. In addition, your license will likely be suspended and your car impounded. Going to Court After being released from jail, you will then receive a summons to appear in court for your DUI charge. At that point, it is then up to the judge to decide your punishment. You will need a lawyer to help represent you in court. If found guilty, your license will likely either remain or become suspended, you will have to pay fines and court costs, and in some extreme cases, you might even have to serve jail time. Are You in Need of a Boca Raton DUI Lawyer? Unfortunately, DUIs happen. When they do, we don’t want you to feel alone. At Drug and Alcohol Attorneys, our attorneys specialize in DUI cases and will be with you every step of the way. Contact us today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation.

Emergency temporary guardianship, or ETG, is used in a situation where the person in question is unable to make their own healthcare decisions. This could be due to issues with alcohol or drugs or any other medical issue that could arise that would leave someone temporarily incapacitated. Let’s take a deeper look at how an ETG works and how a guardianship lawyer in Florida can help. What is an Emergency Guardianship? An emergency guardianship allows someone to make health care decisions on behalf of a person who is temporarily incapable of doing so. This happens when it has been determined that the person in question is not in a state to make their own decisions. How Are They Created? While in most cases emergency guardianships are created under the direction of the court systems, lawyers can also create it. In the case of the court system, an emergency guardianship is typically court ordered and handed down by a judge. What Are the Requirements? While some of the requirements can vary from state to state, some things are universal. Typically there needs to be some proof of either incapacitation, risk of harm, or proof of no other alternatives. A person can not just name themselves a guardian. They either have to be appointed by a lawyer, the court, or noted in a legal document. Are You Looking for a Guardianship Lawyer in Florida? At Drug and Alcohol Attorneys, we are a state-wide law firm with Emergency guardianship attorneys serving every county in Florida. If you or someone you know knows someone that you believe could benefit from a temporary guardianship, contact us immediately.

The Hal S. Marchman Alcohol and Other Drug Services Act of 1993, or more commonly referred to as the Marchman Act, provides for emergency assistance and temporary detention for individuals requiring substance abuse evaluation and treatment in the state of Florida. The act essentially allows a friend or family member to force someone into treatment. How exactly does the Marchman Act work though and how did it come about? Let’s take a deeper look at what it is from a Marchman Act lawyer in Florida. How Does It Work? In order to initiate the Marchman Act, a petition needs to be filed for involuntary assessment in the county court. The petition must be filed in good faith by a person recognized by the court to do so. In order to file, the person that is filing must have either reason to believe or direct knowledge that the individual in question has lost control of their substance abuse problem. They also need to have reason to believe that they can have the potential to inflict direct harm on either themselves or others. How is the Petition Filed? When it comes to filing the paperwork, it’s actually fairly simple. The packet will be provided by either the clerk at your local county court or by your Marchman Act lawyer. Once the packet is filled out, it will be presented to that same clerk of court to determine if the individual in question meets the Marchman Act requirements. Are You Looking for a Marchman Act Lawyer in Florida? At Drug and Alcohol Attorneys, we are a state-wide law firm with Marchman Act Attorneys serving every county in Florida. If you or someone you know knows someone that you believe could benefit from being Marchman Acted, contact us immediately.

We’ve all had medication prescribed to us at one time or another, but not all medications and not all doctors are created equally. Some medications, especially those that are addictive, are prescribed irresponsibly and that can start us on the slippery slope of addiction.   Opioid injuries and deaths are preventable tragedies, but the epidemic has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in this country.   Drug And Alcohol Attorneys founder Mark Astor says:   “Deaths and overdoses are preventable, and are the end result of pharmaceutical company greed. Once you or your family member has fallen victim TO prescription medications and more powerful opioids such as heroin, there is a loss of control. The pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers should be held financially liable for the strain they’ve caused on the public and the destruction they’ve done to countless families.”   Lawsuits are now being filed because of “misinformation” about the risks of opioid addiction, dating back into the early 2000’s.   If you believe that a loved one overdosed or died due to opioid addiction, you should contact an experienced lawyer to see if you qualify for compensation.   The team at Drug and Alcohol Attorneys are there to set you and your family on the road to recovery.   They are in the business of making a difference, empowering families and giving you options.   They will help you to get your loved one into treatment and assist you to seek the compensation you deserve for the injuries inflicted.   For more information, call Drug and Alcohol Attorneys and ask to speak to the Opioid Litigation Team.

Happy 2018, everyone. Can you believe that it’s 2018? I’m excited to be sharing more great content with everyone who has blessed me with comments, criticism and encouragement. I want to thank my friend Pam Polani, Audra Simovitch, who I work with, and my mom and sister who conspired yesterday to throw me a surprise birthday party. On Sunday, I’ll be 51. Last year, we didn’t get to celebrate my 50th because my dad was so sick. They really did a good number on me. Thank you. It was great to be in a room full of loving friends and close family. It was an amazing evening.   I am excited for the families that we’re going to help this year. This week was a little strange. I had two families that called me panicked. That’s typically how it goes. I get a call from a mom or dad panicked about their child who has relapsed, won’t go into treatment or won’t stay in treatment.   Two of the families that called me, after retaining me, decided that they didn’t want to do it anymore. They weren’t going to proceed with the Marchman Act. I always hope that clients will be candid with me. It’s an enormous source of frustration for me, not just from a business perspective, but from a personal level.   I am personally involved in these cases. I take this seriously. It’s what gets me up in the morning. It’s why I don’t sleep at night and why I take calls at 2:00 in the morning, as I routinely do. Trying to find out what’s really going on is important to me. I want to understand the psychology of the decision that a family makes when they say, “I’m not going to go ahead.”   Sometimes that decision is based on the fact that their child has voluntarily agreed to go into treatment. At that point, I say to the family, “You have to understand that this disease only gets worse over time. As long as they’re in treatment, there is a good chance of success.” You need that safety net, especially when you’re dealing with a child who has previously fallen off the wagon. If something happens, we have some recourse there. We can go back to a judge. We can do something to try and keep them in recovery as opposed to letting them fall through the cracks.   Occasionally, the family balks at the idea of spending money to retain a lawyer to file a Marchman Act. I had to talk to one mother this evening. I said, “I buried my father last year. I hadn’t planned for that. I didn’t have the ‘bury my father’ savings account. I know that families don’t have a Marchman Act savings account in the bank. It cost me five times more money to bury my father than it does for a family to have me file a Marchman Act.”   I find that a source of

Good afternoon, everyone. I hope you all had a great weekend. It’s always fun to come back to work on a Monday. I find that, as much as I try to relax on the weekends, the nature of our business doesn’t allow for that. I never complain because it’s a labor of love to help people.   I want to address a couple of comments that were made with regards to my last video. It had to do with the fact that, of the $54 million that’s coming into the state of Florida as a result of the state of emergency declared by the governor, apparently, we’re only getting $400,000 here in Palm Beach County. Of that money, it’s apparently being used for medically assisted treatment. I got a little blow back from folks who said, “There’s evidence that this stuff works.”   I’m no therapist. I’m not a scientist. I only know what I see in my practice. What I see is individuals from the ages of 18 to 30 who are addicted to drugs as a result of opioids that have been prescribed to them by doctors who are pushed, prodded and incentivized by pharmaceutical companies. They give kids opioids when they probably don’t need them. That’s what irritates me. The fact that we’re going to give more money to the pharmaceutical companies to fix a problem that they, in large part, caused rubs me the wrong way. Statistics or no statistics. I have a problem with that. If we can use some type of medically assisted treatment to get people off drugs and ultimately into some type of abstinence based treatment, I’m all for that conversation. If you’re going to tell me that we’re going to take one opioid and swap it in for another one, I have a problem with that. I think a lot of other people do, too.   There was an interesting 60 Minutes piece on the TV last night. It was a follow up to the 60 Minutes piece they had done a couple of weeks ago that talked about the fact that our federal government has wimped out when it comes to going after the big pharmaceutical companies that are peddling these drugs to our kids and whoever else is being prescribed them.   The first show talked about the fact that the DEA has had their hands tied. Yesterday’s show talked about the fact that they haven’t had the stones to take these guys to court. One of the companies they specifically talked about was McKesson. I don’t have a problem talking about it because the whole country heard about McKesson last night. They made about $200 billion last year as a result of selling pharmaceuticals. They got a whopping $150 million fine. I haven’t done the math, but I bet it doesn’t take a lot of time for them to make $150 million. Seeing as how no one is going to jail, being indicted or prosecuted, I don’t suppose

Addiction comes in many forms, such as drugs, alcohol, shopping, gambling and other destructive behaviors that someone may be unable to control, which not only affects them, but their families as well. An addict can place a strain on their loved ones both emotionally and financially.   A common question to consider is, “If my son or daughter is suffering from addiction or mental illness, should I exclude them from receiving an inheritance upon my death?” Of course, the concern is that if an addict or someone suffering from mental illness receives a large sum of money, they may make decisions that are not in their best interests, or in the best interests of other beneficiaries.   “Parameters may be set up so you do not have to disinherit a beneficiary, but instead can control what they might receive. You may wish to consider establishing a Discretionary Trust, which allows the creator to control any distributions that are made while you are alive or deceased.” says attorney, Mark Astor.   A Discretionary Trust will allow its creator to suspend the distribution of trust assets if, for instance, the beneficiary relapses, does not submit to random drug testing, or fails to continue on a course of treatment. The Trust may also allow one who manages the trust the authority to engage professionals to treat the beneficiary, and if they refuse treatment, then their interest in the trust may be terminated.   If you want to preserve assets for your child’s future benefit, even if they’re suffering from addiction or mental illness, you should speak with an experienced attorney who handles these matters.   At Drug and Alcohol Attorneys, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. They are in the business of making a difference, empowering families and giving you options. They will help you get your loved one into treatment and set you and your family on the road to recovery.

Good morning, everyone. I’m at one of my favorite places, which is the car wash here in Boca at the corner of Dixie and Spanish River. They have an amazing deal. It’s $33 per month for all the car washes you could ever want. If you want the inside done, it’s $6. How can you beat that? I always enjoy coming here, especially on the weekends. It’s one of those things that makes me happy. I’m enjoying this wonderful winter we’re having here in Florida, all 48 hours of it. That’s exciting.   I was made aware this week that the money we’re supposedly getting here in Florida is being used entirely for medically assisted treatment. To me, that’s insanity. We’re going to give money to pharmaceutical companies that, I think, are largely responsible for the opioid epidemic. We’re going to give them more money so that they can help people who are already addicted to drugs that they gave them. We’re going to give them things like Subuxone and other drugs that they have in their arsenal. We’re going to wean people off whatever they’ve been taking and we’re going to give them another drug that the pharmaceutical companies have come up with.   To me, that’s insanity. We should be promoting, in large part, abstinence based treatment. We have amazing treatment centers here in Florida. I’m a big proponent of the Marchman Act. I think that you have to make the decision for people to go into treatment, because they can’t make it for themselves. I’m irritated about this. It’s politics at its finest. Shame on the folks in Tallahassee if this is how they’re spending the money that we’re supposed to be getting here to help people. If you don’t get these people into treatment, this is going to get worse.   I’ve worked hard over the last couple of years to give people hope. My business is founded on helping people. I’ve talked about the opioid litigation that we’re working on. We will be seeking money on behalf of families whose members have been terribly affected by the addiction epidemic that’s ravished the entire country.   You may have read that some of the states are suing. We’re suing on behalf of the families. It’s great for the states. What about the families that have lost loved ones? They’ve spent thousands of dollars getting their kids and loved ones into treatment because of this opioid epidemic. If you would be interested in participating in that litigation, give us a call. You can call me on the office line at 561-419-6095. Tell my receptionist that you’re calling about the opioid litigation.   There’s something else that we’re really excited to work on. We want to help families that have been affected by addiction and mental illness to plan for the future. I didn’t think about estate planning until my father died at the beginning of the year. I’m responsible for taking care of my mother. What happens

Good morning, everyone. I hope you have all recovered from the Thanksgiving Day turkey food coma. These days, I’m always catching you post-workout. I promise, I do go home, take a shower and make myself look presentable. When I work out, it’s a cathartic time of the morning for me. I have thoughts that come to me and I want to share them. At my age, I tend to forget very quickly.   Last night, Audra and I were out with an amazing woman. We met her through our networking opportunities in the community. She is an amazing entrepreneur, wife and mother. She is an unbelievable beacon of energy. She was gracious enough to share with us the story of her husband who is around my age in his early fifties. He had been in recovery for a number of years.   It crossed my mind as I heard her amazing story that perhaps there are people out there that we have been ignoring. We haven’t been trying to help them. Most of the young people that we help are 18 to 30. Their moms and dads meet with us and ask us to help get their children into treatment. That’s really been our focus.   It appears that there is a whole group of individuals who are a little older and are having issues. We want to help those people. You might know someone who is dealing with an alcohol issue. If you’re someone who has been using pills or heroin, chances are, you haven’t made it to your early fifties. These days, if you start abusing opioids in your late teens and early twenties, chances are, you won’t make it past 30 or 35.   These are individuals who are closer to our age. They need help. We want to help them. There’s a lot of love in this community. There’s an amazing community of support that will help individuals who are dealing with issues of alcohol abuse. We want to help them. We will help them. Be your brother’s keeper. Be your sister’s keeper. Offer to help.   Let them know that we are out there and we want to help as many people in the community as we can. It doesn’t matter their age or what has caused the issue, whether it’s addiction or mental illness. We want to help them. Thank you for the amazing words of support. I can’t tell you how much that means to me. I’m humbled by it. Have a good rest of the week. Work out. Keep your mind straight. Keep your body straight. I look forward to sharing more thoughts with you very soon.