If you are charged with a crime and you can’t afford to pay a solicitor we can apply for and usually be granted legal aid to defend you. This means that we will be in a position to defend you for free and if necessary employ a Barrister on the same basis. Generally the criteria is that you cannot afford to pay a solicitor and the crime is a serious one with a possibility of a jail sentence.

Did you know that conviction for possession of small amount of cannabis for your own use does not attract a prison sentence until you have three convictions. These matters can be dealt with in the District Court usually a small fine imposed but you then have a criminal conviction which can affect your in situations for foreign travel. We have an expertise in dealing with the Courts that can help you in this situation.

A lot of offence involving drunkenness or public order offences attract prison sentences but some do not. We can help you in a situation if you are charged with these type of offences and can plea bargain with the police on your behalf in your defence.

Driving Offences

The number of driving offences that attracts penalty points is growing year by year. Please find link to website which shows the up to date position. If you are convicted of driving without insurance there is no mandatory disqualification attached but the Judge can disqualify you for up to two years. We have an expertise in helping you in this situation and in possibly avoiding a disqualification.

Certain persons i.e. taxi drivers, bus drivers, etc are described as specified persons under the Road Traffic Acts as far as drunken driving is concerned. This means that permitted alcohol level in their blood / urine / breath is approximately half the normal limit so effectively any small amount of drink in the system of such a designated person will put them over the limit for drunken driving a lead to a minimum of six months off the road.

Did you know however that if you do not have a valid driving licence of if you have a valid driving licence and failed to produce it to the Guards within 14 days you can also find yourself being charged with drunken driving as a specified person and half the normal limits apply to you as well so it is important at all stages to make sure your driving licence is in date and that you have it on your person or if you don’t that you produce it to the Guards within 14 days of being asked to do so.

A client of ours who was well below the alcohol limit for ordinary driving but because his driving licence had expired found himself in this situation and has now been disqualified from driving for six months even though he was well below the normally permitted alcohol level in the body. We have appealed this conviction on his behalf so he is entitled to drive until the appeal is heard.

Children

At the moment the mother is the sole custodian/guardian of a child born outside marriage unless she gives her written consent to the father being appointed guardian or unless a Court makes an Order to that effect. This is all about to change under the Child and Family Law Relations Relationship Act which is being discussed by the Dáil although it has not yet come into law. Please find link to the bill and likewise a link to the explanatory memorandum as published by the Government explaining how the provisions work. If you go to _____ of the Bill, sections ______ to _______ of the explanatory memorandum you will see what the proposals are to change this situation.

If you are the parents of a child and are living separately but in the same town or area then there is generally there is no great difficulty with either parent seeing the child on a regular basis. However if the parent that is the primary carer or custodian of the child wishes to move away which will make access to the child by the other parent difficult the parent that wishes to move away has to apply to the Court for permission to do so if the opposing parent does not agree. These are called Relocation Applications and they apply not only to relocation within Ireland but worldwide. This is a complicated area of law in which we have expertise and the following is a link to a useful case which gives an idea of the complexities involved and how a Court will look at such a situation.

Debt Collection

A useful path is The Small Claims Procedure which guides you through the process of making a claim which is heard in the local District Court.

Find out more about the services we provide in the area of debt collection.