Announcement from the Law Office of Brian Michaels re: Corona Virus  and the courts.

As everyone knows the State of California is now on an almost virtual lockdown as a result of the COVID 19 Coronavirus epidemic. Several counties have closed their courthouses completely such as San Diego and San Bernardino. The Los Angeles County Courts have been closed through March 19th but expect that closure to continue.

Our office has been getting calls about what will happen to friends and loved ones in custody. The answer is we do not know. Generally the law requires that an arrestee be arraigned within 72 hours of arrest or the agency in theory is supposed to let that person go. That may or may not happen given the chaos of the epidemic.

Some courts cannot even put enough people together to allow criminal jury trials. Our suggestion is to continuously check your counties court website on a daily basis for information on closures and court activity.

Simply because the courts are closed does not mean arrests will stop. Law enforcement are making arrests and people will be facing cases. While we expect the levels of DUI arrests to go down markedly it is logical Domestic Cases will go up during this time period.

Many courts are allowing people to file Emergency Restraining Orders. Again. Check with your given county. If you have been arrested or have a loved one arrested during this time period our office is uniquely situated to handle all Criminal, DUI and Restraining Order cases remotely without the need to come to an office building. Mr. Michaels and his attorneys will be available all hours of the day to take any new matters and attend to them.  We are currently serving people in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and Riverside County.

To reach Mr. Michaels please contact him directly at (310) 991-9179. Stay safe.