Big changes in traffic and criminal cases

In January 2020 the Northern Virginia Courts Fairfax, Prince William, Loudoun and others went through major changes. These 3 Counties each add new Commonwealth attorneys come in replacing certain local practice rules that had been in place for many years. They have expanded body-cam availability, have been lenient on continuances and bond (due to COVID). Prince William now has a Public Defender Service and Fairfax is not using a prosecutor on most misdemeanor cases (except DWI). The court times have been staggered to run on separate timed dockets from 9:00 to 11:30. There is an entire new line of younger prosecutors, especially in general District Court, which the local attorneys have to meet learn their style and be able to work with in a positive way. In 2020-21 police work has changed and many officers have retired or chose to leave for other vocations. Thus, it’s been a year and we have had time to adapt to this and to learn and incorporate all the changes to work to your best advantage. Therefore, this is not the time to do it yourself. It’s always best to hire an experienced local attorney.