ABC News: Pleading Guilty to A Misdeameanor Can be a Basis for Revocation of Your ABC License or Denial of Your License Application

Pleading guilty or no contest to a crime involving moral turpitude has cost many licensees their ABC licenses and many ABC applicants their opportunity to have their ABC licenses issued. The ABC Act itself requires the Department to revoke a license based on such plea or conviction. Here’s where getting out of jail cheap may cost you that liquor license. Something many licensees don’t know and what many criminal lawyers don’t know: pleading guilty (or no contest) to a crime of moral turpitude even if it’s “just a misdemeanor” will result in the ABC filing an accusation to revoke your license.		Ralph B. Saltsman
Crimes of moral turpitude include narcotics, fraud, and even petty theft. Lawyers tell clients every day, “Just plead to the theft, and we can get out with a small fine and probation. No jail.” It sounds good until you hear from the ABC. One plea or conviction against a licensee or even against one major shareholder, officer or member of the board of directors of a corporate licensee could affect all the licenses held. Typically, the ABC’s prosecution of its case will be based on the court records. The Department’s case will last only a few minutes, and then Department will demand revocation. But you haven’t lost yet. Skilled experienced counsel can still save your license. There are myriad defenses and procedural issues that can be pursued, and the propriety of the penalty is always in question. Pleading guilty may certainly draw an accusation for revocation, but it is not the same as just turning in your license.

2008 ABC Seminar Announcement

SSJ Law Conducts Periodic Seminars on topics of interest to Alcohol Beverage Control Licensees and Discretionary Permit Holders at the State and Local levels. Clients and the general public are always welcome.

Pasadena, California - October 23, 2008

2008 ABC Seminar Details
Topics: New Sales To Minors Penalties, New ACB Application Rules And Procedures, "New Director, New Chief Counsel, New ABC?”
1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Hilton Pasadena Hotel Map
168 South Los Robles, Pasadena, California 91101
(626) 577-1000 (hotel information)
(310) 822-9848 (for reservations)

"Is My Money Safe in Bank" PowerPoint Presentation Available for Download

We have created a new PowerPoint presentation "Is My Money Safe in Bank?" and is now available for download at AuthorStream.com site, click here to download a free copy.

Pro Bono Legal Help and Other Assistance in Los Angeles County

We have created a new directory page where you can find a list of organizations that offer Pro Bono legal help and other assistance in Los Angeles County. The web page can be found at http://ssjlaw.com/pro.bono.la.html

LOS ANGELES COUNTY METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY, OPERATOR OF BUSES & TRAINS, FOUND LIABLE BY JURY, TO PAY $2,247,000 TO INJURED BUS DRIVER

The Metrolink Train that crashed on Friday, September 12, 2008 in Chatsworth was part of a network of separate independent rail and bus lines that includes the MTA (Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority) along with other bus and train transportation companies and agencies serving Southern California . News sources are reporting as of Saturday morning that the Metrolink commuter train crashed head on with a Union Pacific freight train going in the opposite direction on the same track. At least 18 so far are reported dead, 135 people injured, many critically injured, and all 12 hospital trauma centers were utilized to care for the accident victims. In other news about injuries and damages caused by transportation companies, The MTA was recently found by a Los Angeles Superior Court jury to be liable for damages in the amount of $2,247,000. The jury determined that a 53 year old driver for the MTA was terminated because of minor disabilities (which he contends were caused by many years of driving for the MTA), and that the MTA did not engage in an interactive process to find a reasonable accommodation so that the driver could continue to work. The jury found the MTA discriminated on the basis of disability in violation of State law. The bus driver was terminated by the MTA just before he was to reach 23 years of service which would have required full payment of his pension. Stephen Allen Jamieson, a partner in the Los Angeles Law Firm of Solomon, Saltsman & Jamieson together with his associate Ryan Kroll convinced a Los Angeles Superior Court jury that character counts, even the character of a large company. As Jamieson argued to the jury, “If the MTA had simply cared enough about its long term bus driver to follow the law this honorable man would never have been fired and this case would never have seen this courtroom.” The MTA would not put the bus driver back on the job even though he demanded to go back to work, obtained a release from his doctor to go back to work, and was otherwise qualified to return to work. The jury determined that the driver for the train rail and bus company was entitled to money compensation for his injuries and emotional distress and loss of earnings and loss of pension benefits in the amount of Two Million Two Hundred Forty-Seven Thousand Dollars ($2,247,000). The $2,247,000 verdict for compensatory damages will be included in a judgment that will also award an additional substantial amount for attorneys’ fees and costs of suit. Lead trial attorney Stephen Allen Jamieson, and his lawyer partners, in the Law Firm of Solomon, Saltsman & Jamieson, Stephen Warren Solomon, Ralph B. Saltsman, Bruce Evans, and their lawyer associates Michael Akopyan, Julia Sullivan, and Ryan Kroll are pleased to achieve a great result for their deserving client. This was an exceptional result for the client. With over 100 years of combined experience among the lawyers of the Law Firm of Solomon, Saltsman & Jamieson they have also achieved many other exceptional results in many areas of the law including, but not limited to, obtaining compensation for people suffering with serious personal injuries, brain injuries, spinal injuries, broken bones, emotional distress, and loss of earnings, resulting from different types of motor vehicle accidents, construction accidents, and all types of negligence and intentional actions and omissions, caused by transportation agencies and companies, and others. For more information, log on http://www.ssjlaw.com

PowerPoint Presentation Available for Download

We have created a PowerPoint Presentation titled "Our Passion: Helping People with Traumatically Induced Spinal Injuries and Traumatic Brain Injuries" and have it posted on AuthorSTREAM.com, click here to download a FREE copy. Please feel free to share it with your friends.

Introduction to the Law Offices of Solomon, Saltsman & Jamieson

Solomon, Saltsman & Jamieson is a boutique law firm with many areas of expertise. The partners, STEPHEN WARREN SOLOMON, RALPH BARAT SALTSMAN, STEPHEN ALLEN JAMIESON and RODNEY BRUCE EVANS, have been profiled many times in legal periodicals as well as popular magazines and newspapers. They host a weekly radio show as well as a weekly television show and provide professional commentary in the press. Their experiences have been the subject of numerous newspaper articles. Solomon, Saltsman & Jamieson has collective experience in diverse areas of the law, providing unique benefits to its clients.

The information you obtain at this is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for individual advice regarding your own situation. Visit our website at http://www.ssjlaw.com