Wipe the Slate Clean Through Expungement
Expungement is a legal process to remove certain types of criminal convictions from your record. If your criminal background check reveals a misdemeanor or felony, you may run into obstacles every time you round a corner. A clear record is important to:
- Individuals wanting to rent an apartment
- Persons seeking employment with a new company
- Current employees who are seeking a better job or promotion
- Business owners seeking an SBA loan
- Professionals such as barbers, teachers or drivers who wish to gain, retain or renew a professional license
- Individuals seeking a security clearance
- Government employees or people wishing to run for elective office
There are many reasons why a person would want to have a clean criminal record. Mark C. Cogan has more than a quarter century of experience in criminal defense. He has received an AV Peer Review Rating* through Martindale-Hubbell and has been listed as an Oregon Super Lawyer from 2007 through the present date.
A wide range of offenses can be expunged under Oregon law: misdemeanors such as assault, theft, indecent exposure, shoplifting, marijuana possession, reckless endangerment and criminal trespass; and felonies such as assault, forgery, public indecency, delivery of marijuana and failure to appear.
Expungement Experience in Oregon's 36 Counties
Each county has its own way of dealing with the expungement process and it is not rare that a simple court staff error may cause enormous harm to an individual seeking to move on with his life. Our law firm knows what to do, because we do it all the time. We work very hard to:
- Make certain that a client qualifies for an expungement through information gathering and analysis of the situation.
- Make certain that we respond to any objections presented by the District Attorney's office or court staff.
- Make certain to provide error free documents.
- Provide frequent client communication and status reports regarding any case developments.
Expungement Restrictions
Certain offenses are not eligible for expungement, such as sex crimes. Other restrictions:
- There must not be any other criminal conviction on your record for the 10 years preceding expungement.
- You must not be facing current criminal charges.
- You must have fulfilled the requirements of your sentence as ordered by the court.
- You must wait at least 3 years after the date of conviction. There is no waiting period required to expunge an arrest if it did not result in a conviction (as long as the other requirements are satisfied).
Your Future Hangs in the Balance — Let's Get to Work
If you have a misdemeanor or class "C" felony conviction that you would like to remove from your record, please call our Portland law office at 503-827-8092 or send us an e-mail for a free initial consultation with our lawyer.
*CV, BV, and AV are registered certification marks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards, and policies. Martindale-Hubbell is the facilitator of a peer review rating process. Ratings reflect the confidential opinions of members of the Bar and the judiciary. Martindale-Hubbell ratings fall into two categories: legal ability and general ethical standards.
