Carla Risoldi, a graduate of the Fordham University School of Law, is a distinguished attorney and the owner of Risoldi Law Offices, LLC, in Langhorne, Pennsylvania. Before founding her firm, Carla Risoldi served as the Assistant District Attorney of Bucks County. Ms. Risoldi practices law in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Ms. Risoldi's practice includes issues related to driver licensing, including suspensions of driving privileges. Having the ability to operate a motor vehicle is very important in our society and often is key to being able to work. Carla Risoldi has been practicing law since 1991 and has seen many changes in how the issue of driver licencing suspensions has changed over the years. "First, we saw an increase in suspensions, the legislature, in their fever to be 'tough on crime' would add driver's license suspensions to completely unrelated matters such as drug possession, in addition to driver's license suspensions for even first-offense driving while intoxicated matters. Obviously, this came as a surprise to many defendants who would receive a notice of driver's license suspensions weeks after they pled guilty to an often unrelated underlying crime," she says. "Since the loss of driving privileges was considered a 'collateral consequence' to the conviction, it may or may not have been something that the defendant was advised of at the time of the guilty plea or finding of guilt to the underlying offense and oftentimes, there was little to nothing that could be done about it once the notice of suspension came from PennDOT after the fact," she says.
Happily, over time, the law in Pennsylvania has changed. Driver's licenses are no longer suspended for simple drug possession and a first-time offender of driving while intoxicated can usually keep driving if they install an "interlock device" to assure that they are sober when driving. However, there are still some "surprise" suspensions, such as the "implied consent law" whereby driving privileges can and will be suspended if the suspect in a driving while intoxicated case refuses to consent to a test of his or her breath or blood as the law considers that you gave "implied consent" to this test when you agreed to become licensed to drive.
"If you receive a notice from PennDOT that your driving privileges are about to be suspended, you should immediately consult with an experienced attorney. There are often ways to undo the damage, but you must act quickly. For example, sometimes the suspension is the result of a guilty plea that you made to a traffic offense. If caught in time, it may be possible to undo the plea and re-litigate the entire issue, but you must not only act to undo the plea but also file your opposition to the PennDOT suspension. This is all extremely time-sensitive stuff," says Ms. Risoldi.
Carla Risoldi can be reached at 215-741-3700, www.risoldilawoffices.com
