Charged with something you don't fully understand? Start here. The terms behind Maryland DUI, criminal, injury, and family cases — explained in plain English by the attorneys who handle them every day.
The complete, final end of a marriage in Maryland — restoring both spouses to single status and resolving property and support.
Learn more →The license suspension the MVA imposes for a failed or refused test. It runs on its own track, independent of what happens in court.
Learn more →Circumstances — a very high BAC, an accident, a child in the car — that can push DUI penalties beyond the standard range.
Learn more →Payments from one spouse to another during or after a divorce, meant to address a financial imbalance.
Learn more →Your first formal court appearance, where the charges are read and you enter a plea. Having counsel before this point protects your options.
Learn more →The percentage of alcohol in your bloodstream. In Maryland, 0.08 is the per se limit for DUI; a lower reading can still support a DWI.
Learn more →Money or conditions set to secure your release while a case is pending. We push for release on terms you can actually meet.
Learn more →The standard Maryland courts use to decide custody, weighing stability, each parent's role, the child's needs, and more.
Learn more →A device that estimates your BAC from your breath. In Maryland the evidentiary breath test happens at the station, and its results can be contested.
Learn more →Maryland's legal term for regulated drugs. CDS charges range from possession to distribution, with penalties that scale accordingly.
Learn more →Court-ordered payments to cover a child's needs, calculated in Maryland using state guidelines based on income and custody.
Learn more →A search you agree to. You can decline — and declining is not evidence of wrongdoing.
Learn more →A fee arrangement common in injury cases — the attorney's fee comes from any recovery, so you generally pay nothing up front.
Learn more →Maryland's strict rule: if you're found even 1% at fault for your own injury, you may recover nothing. It makes skilled representation especially critical here.
Learn more →Questioning while you're not free to leave. This is the trigger for Miranda warnings.
Learn more →The compensation you can recover — medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering among them.
Learn more →The formal letter to an insurer laying out your claim, the facts, and the compensation you're seeking.
Learn more →The pre-trial exchange of evidence between the State and the defense — police reports, video, test results, and more.
Learn more →An alternative to prosecution — often education or community service — that can lead to a charge being dismissed once completed.
Learn more →Maryland's more serious impaired-driving charge — for greater impairment or a BAC of 0.08 or higher. A first offense can bring fines, points, a license suspension, and up to a year in jail.
Learn more →The lesser of Maryland's two impaired-driving charges — but still serious, with fines, points, and possible jail. You can be charged with DWI even below a 0.08 BAC.
Learn more →A court order that removes a charge or record from public view once you're eligible, so it stops surfacing on most background checks.
Learn more →A serious crime carrying the potential for more than a year of incarceration, plus lasting consequences for your rights and record.
Learn more →The roadside tests — walk-and-turn, one-leg stand, and eye tracking — used to gauge impairment. In Maryland they're voluntary, and you can decline politely.
Learn more →The “follow my pen with your eyes” test. Officers look for involuntary eye jerking that can signal impairment — though many sober conditions cause it too.
Learn more →A breath-test device wired to your car's ignition that prevents it from starting if it detects alcohol. Often required after a DUI.
Learn more →Maryland's program that lets many drivers keep driving with an interlock installed instead of serving a full license suspension.
Learn more →By driving in Maryland, you've already agreed to a breath or blood test if lawfully stopped for DUI. Refusing triggers its own automatic license penalties.
Learn more →The right to make major decisions for your child — school, medical care, and religion among them. It can be joint or sole.
Learn more →Legal responsibility for the harm that occurred. Establishing who's liable is the heart of an injury case.
Learn more →A Maryland status short of a full divorce — a court-supervised separation that can settle support and other issues while spouses live apart.
Learn more →How far back the court counts your prior offenses when deciding penalties on a new one. Longer look-backs mean steeper consequences.
Learn more →The warning police must give before questioning you in custody — your right to stay silent and to have a lawyer. If they skip it, statements may be tossed.
Learn more →The less serious category of crime — but don't dismiss it. A misdemeanor can still carry jail time, fines, and a record that follows you to jobs and housing.
Learn more →A request asking the judge to throw out evidence that was obtained illegally. Win it, and the State's case can fall apart.
Learn more →An administrative hearing with the Motor Vehicle Administration to protect your driver's license — separate from your criminal case. You have only 10 days from the stop to request one.
Learn more →Failing to use reasonable care and causing harm as a result — the foundation of most injury claims.
Learn more →Latin for “we shall no longer prosecute.” The State's decision to drop a charge against you.
Learn more →Compensation for the physical pain and emotional distress an injury causes — beyond bills and lost wages.
Learn more →A Maryland disposition where the judge withholds a conviction. Complete probation successfully and you avoid a conviction on your record — often the difference-maker in a case.
Learn more →The BAC at which the law presumes you're impaired — 0.08 in Maryland — regardless of how you were actually driving.
Learn more →Where the child primarily lives and who handles day-to-day care. It can be shared in many arrangements.
Learn more →An agreement to plead guilty, often to a reduced charge, in exchange for a lighter or more predictable outcome.
Learn more →Maryland assigns points to driving offenses. Enough points can trigger MVA action against your license, on top of any court penalty.
Learn more →A portable roadside breath test. In Maryland it's voluntary and its number generally can't be used against you at trial — only to help establish probable cause.
Learn more →An early hearing in some felony cases where a judge decides whether there's enough evidence to send the case forward.
Learn more →The reasonable, fact-based belief police need to arrest you or conduct a search. Weak probable cause is a common defense angle.
Learn more →A civil court order to protect someone from domestic violence or abuse. It can order no contact, remove someone from a home, and more.
Learn more →The lower standard of proof police need to briefly stop and detain you — less than probable cause, but still based on specific facts.
Learn more →Money a court orders a defendant to pay to make a victim whole for their losses.
Learn more →Limited driving privileges — to and from work or treatment, for example — sometimes available during a suspension.
Learn more →Your constitutional right to a lawyer. Invoke it clearly and questioning should stop until your attorney is present.
Learn more →You don't have to answer questions. Staying polite and quiet isn't an admission of guilt — it's a protection. Ask for a lawyer, out loud.
Learn more →Resolving a claim without a trial, through a negotiated agreement and payment.
Learn more →The three roadside tests validated by federal (NHTSA) research. Officers are trained to score them a precise way — and when they don't, the results can be challenged.
Learn more →The deadline for the State to bring charges. Once it passes, most cases can no longer be prosecuted.
Learn more →In Maryland you generally have three years from the date of injury to file most personal-injury claims, with some shorter exceptions.
Learn more →A Maryland option that moves a charge to an inactive docket — not a dismissal, but not prosecuted either. It can be brought back within a year.
Learn more →A formal court order requiring someone to appear, testify, or produce documents.
Learn more →A brief investigative detention based on reasonable suspicion, along with a limited pat-down for weapons.
Learn more →Declining the station breath or blood test. It avoids a BAC result, but carries an automatic — often longer — license suspension under implied-consent law.
Learn more →A plea where you don't admit guilt but accept the court's punishment as if you had. In Maryland it's treated much like a guilty plea for sentencing — and for some charges can still trigger consequences like registration.
Learn more →Maryland sorts registerable sex offenses into three tiers that set how long you must register: Tier I is 15 years, Tier II is 25 years, and Tier III is life. Read the full guide.
Learn more →The Fourth Amendment's protection against searches without a warrant or a valid exception. Evidence from an unlawful search can often be excluded.
Learn more →For drivers under 21, Maryland charges impaired driving at a BAC of just 0.02 — a small fraction of the adult limit.
Learn more →A confidential review of your case, at no cost. We respond within 24 hours.
“His years of experience truly show in the quality of his work.”
Occasional notes on DUI, criminal defense, and your rights. No spam — unsubscribe anytime.