As Pennsylvania recently enacted a sweeping new expungement law, thousands of people across the state stood to benefit from new opportunities to clean their criminal records so they could move on with their lives.

Some employers and landlords oppose the new clean-slate law on grounds that they have a public-safety interest in knowing the criminal records of their employees and tenants.

The new law seeks to strike a balance by making people with criminal records wait as much as five or ten years before they are eligible for an expungement.

Based in Pittsburgh, Spivak Law Firm has helped people across Allegheny County to expunge their criminal and PFA records.

To speak with an experienced expungement attorney, call Spivak Law Firm at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.

If you have a criminal record, it is visible to the public through a basic docket search using your first and last name. If your criminal record is wiped clean through the expungement process, it will not appear on public dockets.

But district attorneys and the Pennsylvania State Police Central Repository will still have access to your record. Other law enforcement agencies and courts may obtain access to your record by request. They retain access to your record for the following purposes:

• To identify people in criminal investigations;
• To determine the grading of future criminal offenses; and
• To determine eligibility for diversionary programs.

Erasing your criminal record may open new opportunities for employment.

Spivak Law Firm expunges criminal records for a low, one-time fee. For more information, call us at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.

Pennsylvania has led the way nationally by enacting the first major automatic expungement law.

“States should follow the approach of Pennsylvania,” according to a recent article in The New York Times, “and make expungement automatic once the legal requirements are met.”

Expungements of criminal convictions seals them from public view, removes them from databases, and neutralizes most of their legal effects.

People usually have to wait years after completing their sentences and go through an elaborate process to have their records cleared.

Interested in expunging your criminal records? Spivak Law Firm handles all areas of family law and criminal defense. For a free consultation, call Spivak Law Firm at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.

A criminal record expungement erases all proof of arrest, charges, convictions, and hearings from the public record. But will an expungement necessarily lead to the destruction of all information related to your criminal history? Unfortunately, no.

Under Pennsylvania law, the following types of information continue to be maintained by criminal justice agencies even after an expungement order is granted:

-Intelligence information

-Investigative information

-Missing persons information

-Wanted persons information

-Stolen property information

-Medical treatment information

-Psychiatric treatment information

To learn more about the criminal expungement process, call Spivak Law Firm at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.

Maintaining a clean criminal record is crucial to obtaining housing, employment, or educational opportunities.

If you have a criminal record, you may be eligible to clear it if criminal charges against you were withdrawn or dismissed or five years have passed following conviction of a summary offense. This process is known as an expungement.

If you have charges or convictions eligible for expungement, the first step is requesting a criminal background check with the Pennsylvania State Police. Next, you file an expungement petition with the county where the incident took place. You must file separate petitions for each arrest incident.

If there is no objection by the district attorney, the petition is granted without a formal court hearing. The court then sends approval to your attorney. The court also notifies state police and other criminal justice agencies that will then clear your public criminal record.

Spivak Law Firm routinely handles expungement matters for a low, one-time fee, and keeps you updated at each stage of the case.

To speak with an experienced expungement attorney, call (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.

In Pennsylvania, the old expungement law only allowed summary convictions to be erased from your criminal record. Fortunately, that has changed, as Pennsylvania recently expanded the laws for people to erase or conceal their criminal records from employers so they can move on with their lives.

In many cases, people convicted of second- and third-degree misdemeanors will be permitted to request a court order limiting public access to their criminal records. You may be eligible if you have been free of arrest and/or conviction for the past ten years, and if you fulfilled all requirements in your sentences.

Spivak Law Firm routinely helps people clean their criminal records for employment reasons and to preserve their reputations. Call us for a free consultation at: (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.

Limited access orders are Pennsylvania’s newest form of relief for people seeking to conceal their criminal records from future employers.

The order prevents any non-criminal justice agency from accessing your criminal record.

Under Pennsylvania law, a limited access order will shield from potential employers criminal history record information for people convicted of a second- or third-degree misdemeanor, or an ungraded misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of no more than two years, so long as you have been free of arrest or prosecution for a period of 10 years.

At Spivak Law Firm, we help people seal or even erase their criminal records so they can move on with their lives.

For a free consultation, call Spivak Law Firm at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.

Expungement refers to the legal process for erasing a person’s criminal record. Under Pennsylvania law, the term “expunge” means as follows:

-To remove information so that there is no trace or indication that such information existed;

-To eliminate all identifiers that may be used to trace the identity of an individual, allowing remaining data to be used for statistical purposes; or

-Maintenance of certain information required or authorized when an individual has successfully completed the conditions of any pre-trial or post-trial diversion or probation program.

Spivak Law Firm helps people expunge their criminal records so they can move on with their lives. To speak with an experienced criminal expungement attorney, call Spivak Law Firm at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.

Summary offenses are low-level criminal offenses. They include public intoxication, disorderly conduct, public urination, harassment, and cruelty to animals.

If you’re charged with a summary offense, we recommend contesting the charges by pleading ‘not guilty’ and hiring Spivak Law Firm to represent you in court.

We have helped many people charged with summary offenses, then successfully expunged, or erased, the charges from their criminal records.

At Spivak Law Firm, we do not judge our clients. We provide strong, aggressive representation to help them move on with their lives.

Call us today at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.

Student loan debt is at an all-time high, which makes landing a job after graduation even more important. Unfortunately, employers running criminal background checks can further complicate the job-hunting process, making it imperative to maintain a clean criminal record.

If a night of partying leads to criminal charges being placed against you, it is important to begin the expungement process as soon as possible.

You may be eligible for an expungement if:

• The criminal charges against you were withdrawn or dismissed;
• You have been free of arrest or conviction for five years following a summary offense conviction; or
• You completed an accelerated rehabilitative disposition (ARD) program on a first-time criminal charge.

Spivak Law Firm routinely helps people of all ages clean their criminal records for employment reasons. Call us for a free consultation at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.