Massachusetts Criminal Lawyer Blog
AM is a 17 year old private school student with a Junior Operator License. He drives himself back and forth to school five days a week and needs his license. On July 16, 2026, he was caught speeding in the Town of Essex, estimated speed of 60 mph in a 30 mph zone. He was pulled over by the police and given a citation for speeding. He and his parents learned that if he was found responsible for the speeding ticket he would lose his JOL (junior operator license) for 90 days. Both of his parents work and he needed to be able to drive himself to get back and forth to school. AM appealed the citation and requested a hearing before a Clerk-Magistrate at Gloucester District Court.
AM and his parents contacted and retained Attorney Robert Lewin from Andover. Attorney Lewin told them there was much that could be done to convince the Clerk-Magistrate not to find AM responsible. Attorney Lewin had AM and his parents furnish Attorney Lewin with the following documents:
- AM’s RMV driver record – it was clean.
- AM’s High School Transcript – He is an honor student.
- AM’s National Honor Society Certificate
- Proof of AM’s performance of Community Service over the last two school years.
In addition, AM’s parents were extremely proactive:
- They had AM complete the National Safety Council “Alive at 25” program and furnished a Certificate of Completion of the Program to Attorney Lewin.
- Lastly they installed the “Life 360 APP” in AM’s car.
On September 16, 2026, AM, his parents, and Attorney Lewin appeared in Gloucester District Court for the hearing. Prior to the hearing, Attorney Lewin had spoken to the police prosecutor and had furnished the police prosecutor with copies of all the above papers. At the hearing, the police prosecutor read the facts of the speeding (60 mph in a 30 mph zone). The Clerk-Magistrate turned to Attorney Lewin. Attorney Lewin then made his presentation to the Clerk-Magistrate and explained that AM absolutely needed his license to get back and forth to school. Attorney Lewin also presneted all the documents referenced above to show that AM was an excellent student and that he (and his parents) had taken the violation seriously. At the conclusion of his presentation Attorney Lewin asked the Clerk-Magistrate not to find AM responsible.
The Clerk-Magistrate asked the police prosecutor if he had any objection to Attorney Lewin’s suggestion and he said no. The Clerk-Magistrate then said she was going to continue the hearing for 3 months and she wanted AM to perform 10 hours of community service. She said if he did the 10 hours of community service and stayed out of trouble then on December 16, 2026, no one had to return to court and she would enter a finding of NOT responsible.
Attorney Lewin explained the following to AM and his parents, that if AM stayed out of trouble and performed the 10 hours of Community Service then:
- AM would NOT have to return to Court on December 16, 2026 and a finding of NOT responsible to the charge of speeding would be entered in the case.
- AM would NOT lose his license at all.
Some people might say that this was a lot of work for a simple speeding ticket. But if the RMV is going to snap YOUR license away for 90 days (three months!) you would want your lawyer to pull out all the stops and do everything possible to avoid that 90 day loss of license. That is PRECISELY what Attorney Robert Lewin does in every case and with every client – from a speeding ticket to a murder charge. In Attorney Lewin’s mind there is no such thing as being too well prepared.
Attorney Robert Lewin was an Assistant District Attorney from 1972 to 1975. For the last 51 years he has limited his law practice to criminal defense. There are very few lawyers in Massachusetts who have the years of experince and breath of knowledge and simple “know how” that Attorney Lewin brings to every case and every client.