The Levine Law Firm, PLLC
PRACTICE AREAS
Criminal Defense
Trials and Appeals
The Levine Law Firm aggressively defends the rights of those accused of crimes in the State of Washington. If you or a loved one have been charged with a crime, are being investigated for a crime but have not yet been charged, or have been convicted of a crime and are appealing and/or seeking a new trial, our team of attorneys, investigators, and staff will get to work on your case immediately in an attempt to get you the best outcome possible, whether that involves a trial, dismissal, or favorable plea agreement.
Among the types of charges that The Firm handles and has had success with are the following types of charges:
​
-
Homicides
-
Sex Offenses
-
Assault
-
Drug Offenses
-
Theft
-
Financial Crimes
-
Property Crimes
-
DUI
​
This list is not exclusive. The Levine Law Firm handles virtually any kind of criminal charge or allegation. When defending someone accused of a crime, the most important question is not necessarily how many times a lawyer has handled a specific kind of charge, although this is not an unimportant consideration; rather, the most important question is whether the lawyer has the experience, smarts, saavy, and aggressiveness to stand up to prosecutors, police, and others who will try and make an accused person lie down and give up. A person who is accused of a crime is just that: accused, and nothing more.
Every case is different, depending on the type of crime alleged and the factual circumstances surrounding the charge. Some defenses will be that the person "didn't do it," some will involve self-defense, some will involve mental health defenses, some will simply involve mitigation. But no matter what the circumstances, the Levine Law Firm will aggressively defend your rights.
​
Additionally, if you or a loved one have been convicted of a crime and want to appeal--or if there has already been an appeal and you now want to pursue what is known as a personal restraint petition (PRP) or federal habeas corpus relief--The Levine Law Firm, PLLC can help.
​
Oftentimes people convicted of a serious crime were provided constitutionally ineffective assistance of counsel at trial. You have the right to the effective assistance of counsel at trial under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Levine Law Firm has extensive experience in this area and can represent you in such cases through a PRP or federal habeas corpus relief.
Public Records
Under state law, government agencies and other government entities—both local and state--are required to turn over public records to members of the public, upon request. While certain kinds of records are not subject to disclosure, many records are, and the Washington Public Records Act (PRA) has been construed very broadly by the Courts in favor of public requestors. Under the PRA, if a government fails to follow the law when a member of the public requests public records, the government agency may not only be required to turn over the records, but may also be required to pay statutory penalties and attorney’s fees. The Levine Law Firm, PLLC has successfully litigated PRA cases in the past, and we encourage you to contact us if you have a dispute with a government agency over records that you believe you are entitled to under the PRA.
Personal injury
If you have been injured through the negligence of another, whether it be a driver in a motor vehicle accident, the owner of a building or business, or a government entity, The Levine Law Firm will aggressively represent you.
If you have been injured, you may have the right to compensation for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other types of damages. The Levine Law Firm will work with your insurance company and the negligent party's insurance company, but will take the appropriate insurer to court if that insurer does not, in good faith, live up to its responsibilities under a given policy. We will go to bat for you to ensure that you receive the settlement or judgment that you are entitled to, and will normally take your case on a contingency fee basis, meaning that we will receive no fee unless we are successful in recovering damages for you.
The Levine Law Firm handles various kinds of of personal injury cases, including but not limited to the following:
​
-
Motor Vehicle Accidents (drivers, passengers, pedestrians, bicyclists)
-
Premises Liability
-
Insurance Disputes
-
Wrongful Death
-
Government Negligence
-
Child Abuse
Legal Malpractice
Lawyers have ethical responsibilities to their clients, and must represent their clients competently and zealously, within the bounds of the law. Legal malpractice occurs when a lawyer fails to provide services that meet the minimum standard of care for a licensed attorney in a given practice area, in a given jurisdiction. However, the fact that a lawyer may have committed legal malpractice does not automatically mean that a former client may recover financial damages against his or her former attorney; the client must also demonstrate that but for the lawyer’s negligence, the client would likely have won the underlying case for which the former attorney was responsible. This is known as “causation,” and in legal malpractice cases is often known as proving the “case within the case.”
If you are unhappy with your previous lawyer’s representation and you feel the outcome of your case would have been different but for the lawyer’s errors in your case, it may be possible for you to obtain monetary damages against your previous lawyer, including what should have been your recoverable damages in your underlying case, as well as the fees and costs that you paid your former attorney. However, general unhappiness about how your case turned out does not provide a basis for a legal malpractice case against your previous attorney; you must be able to show, with the assistance of your new lawyer, that your prior attorney acted--or failed to act—in such a way that fell below the minimum standard of care and that these actions, or failures to act, caused you harm.
At the Levine Law Firm, PLLC, we have successfully litigated legal malpractice cases and can advise you whether you have a case that is worth pursuing. Contact us for a free consultation.