The Foti Law Firm, P.C.

The 2015 Upstate NY Super Lawyers & Rising Stars list was officially announced today. I am honored to have been selected as a 2015 Rising Star recipient. "Super Lawyers selects attorneys using a patented multiphase selection process. Peer nominations and evaluations are combined with independent research. Each candidate is evaluated on 12 indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement. Selections are made on an annual, state-by-state basis... While up to 5 percent of the lawyers in a state are named to Super Lawyers, no more than 2.5 percent are named to Rising Stars." (superlawyers.com)

Yesterday's report from Breanna Fuss of Time Warner News

Proud to support such a great cause.

This is a bit old, but since I'm updating my Facebook a bit, I thought this was worth sharing; I was a guest on Connections with Evan Dawson on WXXI Radio back in October for the subject of jury service. It was a very interesting discussion, and you can still stream it on-line.

Report from 3/30/16

The 2015 Upstate NY Super Lawyers & Rising Stars list was officially announced today. I am honored to have been selected as a 2015 Rising Star recipient. "Super Lawyers selects attorneys using a patented multiphase selection process. Peer nominations and evaluations are combined with independent research. Each candidate is evaluated on 12 indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement. Selections are made on an annual, state-by-state basis... While up to 5 percent of the lawyers in a state are named to Super Lawyers, no more than 2.5 percent are named to Rising Stars." (superlawyers.com)

I spent all week on trial for a client charged with a violent felony that, based on my investigation, was completely innocent. If convicted he faced a minimum of 3 1/2 years and a maximum of 15. It's always a scary proposition to put on a case for the defense. You worry that the jury might shift the burden and inadvertently base a decision on whether they feel you've proven innocence or not. Nonetheless, we put on four witnesses; one was the defendant himself.... The jury did not shift the burden. They deliberated for about thirty minutes, and they came back "not guilty" on all counts. It is always a good feeling when the system works, and today, I feel it did.

I have not been too active on Facebook lately, but I have a couple of big announcements coming over the next couple of months. I'll start with this one: I have been selected to take over as chair of the Monroe County Bar Association Criminal Justice Section. This position allows me to work with and for many local attorneys who dedicate at least part of their profession to criminal law, an extraordinarily challenging and, at times, emotionally draining area of practice. I hav...e a great deal of respect for many of the attorneys who have served in this position before me, and I am honored by this opportunity. More coming soon... MF

Very good article. You can find a copy of the appellate decision here: http://www.nycourts.gov//decisi/2015/03-27-15/PDF/0232.pdf Congrats to Brian Shiffrin. Excellent appellate advocacy.

Leaving the Hall of Justice at 9:45pm on 1/21/15.

Being on trial means waking up earlier, going to bed later, and an extra cup of coffee every day.

John left this on my desk. Excerpt from the speech "Citizenship in a Republic," given by Theodore Roosevelt.

"The records in these cases lead me to conclude that these two defendants, assuming they listened attentively to both the preamble to the Miranda warnings and the warnings themselves, knew their rights, and decided, freely and voluntarily, to waive them. As it turns out that was, as it often is, a foolish choice, but the privilege against self-incrimination protects suspects against government coercion, not against their own foolishness." - Robert S. Smith, Associate Judge of the Court of Appeals, in his dissent of the decision in People v Dunbar, released yesterday. The decision can be found here [https://www.nycourts.gov///Oct14/169-170opn14-Decision.pdf]. It's worth noting that I disagree with the dissent, but there is a valuable lesson in that quote.

Ralph Wilson Stadium 10/19/14 - Bills win in the final moments. #OneBuffalo