Why Choose
The Law Offices of Michael L. Steinberg

As the world gets to see Donald Trump walk in on his terms, I want to take time to acknowledge my fellow defense attorneys, who toil away at the arraignment process on a daily basis. In my County (Oakland), we have a system where a detained person, whether at the county jail or in a local police department, is assured to have competent and informed counsel assist them, on a daily basis (weekends and holidays, included.

CDAM (I have been on the Board of Directors since 2002 and a member since 1991) was a major shareholder in creating the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission. That came through our litigation and then legislative lobbying. The ability to interview our clients prior to and be present at arraignment is embodied in law. For over 150 years before, attorneys being at arraignment was not required. Arraignments were not considered a critical stage. Each district court in Michigan has an MIDC coordinator. Each county court also has an administrator whose sole job is to administer indigent defense. To assure counsel at this early stage proceeding, you get a lawyer regardless of financial status. In our county, during the week, we have a pretrial service in place that interview and make a bond recommendation. Our client interviews and bond reports start coming in, via email, around 5 am on arraignment day. Other counties have similar procedures. We also get to interview our clients. That happens in all of the individual courts in the metro area where I work in.

I am grateful to have had a voice in the MIDC creation and the litigation before it was created. The accused are in good hands and lawyers throughout the state are now well-armed in the battle to get a fair bond. As the world gets to see Donald Trump walk in on his terms, I want to take time to acknowledge my fellow defense attorneys, who toil away at the arraignment process on a daily basis. In my County (Oakland), we have a system where a detained person, whether at the county jail or in a local police department, is assured to have competent and informed counsel assist them, on a daily basis (weekends and holidays, included.

CDAM (I have been on the Board of Directors since 2002 and a member since 1991) was a major shareholder in creating the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission. That came through our litigation and then legislative lobbying. The ability to interview our clients prior to and be present at arraignment is embodied in law. For over 150 years before, attorneys being at arraignment was not required. Arraignments were not considered a critical stage. Each district court in Michigan has an MIDC coordinator. Each county court also has an administrator whose sole job is to administer indigent defense. To assure counsel at this early stage proceeding, you get a lawyer regardless of financial status. In our county, during the week, we have a pretrial service in place that interview and make a bond recommendation. Our client interviews and bond reports start coming in, via email, around 5 am on arraignment day. Other counties have similar procedures. We also get to interview our clients. That happens in all of the individual courts in the metro area where I work in.

I am grateful to have had a voice in the MIDC creation and the litigation before it was created. The accused are in good hands and lawyers throughout the state are now well-armed in the battle to get a fair bond