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StevenEllmanLaw.com | 609-362-5933 | June 2025
MEDFORD OFFICE 617 Stokes Road, Suite 108 Medford, NJ 08055
NEW BRUNSWICK OFFICE 317 George St, Suite 320 New Brunswick, NJ 08901
NEWARK OFFICE One Gateway Center, Suite 2600 Newark, NJ 07102
HELPING CLIENTS RECLAIM THEIR LIVES Justice With Heart
When I see clients on the brink of losing it all, I try to help them realize that getting high isn’t worth losing your life. I urge them to kick the habit and get their health back. Unfortunately, some have lost their lives in the battle with addiction. Dozens of others, however, have gone to rehab and continued to abstain. Sober or struggling, my clients know they can call me at any time and check in with me for advice, even after their cases are over. If they retain my office, they retain me for the rest of their lives. Some people are so hellbent on destroying their lives that even their families can’t get them engaged. It’s tragic. Their addiction can pull the whole family down. I have never had an issue with addiction, but I was involved in a very serious accident back in the 1980s. I almost lost my life. From that experience, I have learned that life is very fragile. For the same reason, I became an attorney — to help people, to change lives, one client at a time. No two cases are alike. It really comes down to getting to know that person, where they came from, what they do for a living, and how I can help them. I might look at my client in the hallway and notice they’re not focusing, and I have to let the judge deal with it. He was facing a third DUI, but obviously, he was battling even bigger demons than that. I see people struggling, and I’m compassionate, I want to help them. We all make mistakes, and a DUI is just a mistake. We hope it won’t happen again, but if it does, I will be there for them.
A north star that has guided me through nearly four decades of representing DUI and other clients is the idea that every one of them deserves respect. Many of my clients come to me at a low point in their lives. They may have made the mistake of driving after a few drinks. Others battle addiction to alcohol or drugs. In each case, I try to get to know the client as a person, to understand who they are, whether they’re married or have a family, what they do for a living, and how their lives might be impacted by their case. I look beyond the legal issues for redemptive qualities in each client. And I try to encourage them, give them hope, and if needed, refer them to rehab and other resources. I recently finished a DUI case for a young man who had just gotten out of rehab. He had a job, but he was struggling, clearly in pain, and pretty belligerent. He hated everybody in the world. It was clear recovery wasn’t working for him. I knew this DUI was just the tip of the iceberg for him, that there was more going on in his life. We managed to get through his case, but as angry as he was about the process, I thought he would never call me again. I was surprised when he called again just weeks later for help with a second DUI. My first thought was, “Are you kidding me?” Although he continued to say he was in recovery, he came to court smelling of alcohol. I hate to see clients relapse like that, but if they do, I encourage them to get their lives back on
track. “Look,” I told this young man, “just get back on the wagon, and keep moving forward.” Some of my clients have made monumentally foolish mistakes, running from the police or getting arrested repeatedly. In each case, I look hard for redemptive qualities in these clients that will help me persuade a judge that they are worth keeping out of prison. Are they active in church? Are they taking steps to improve their lives? Are they shouldering their responsibilities? And I encourage people to go into rehab when their addiction is hurting their quality of life, their family life, their job, or their communication with me. After another client had struggled with drugs for more than four years, I saw a superior court judge confront him with the truth. My client came to court high, and the judge threw him in jail to get him sober. When he appeared before the judge for sentencing, he let my client have it. “Out of your 45 years on this Earth, you have spent the last 30 using and abusing yourself. When is it going to stop?” he asked. “When is it going to stop?” Not too many judges get right in a defendant’s face like that. You’d think this client would take the judge’s advice. Instead, he made excuses about not having insurance to pay for rehab. I told him he didn’t really need insurance, that many facilities have open doors. But he still used that as an excuse. Sometimes, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.
–Steven Ellman
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TRAFFIC STOPPER Tiny homes may be all the rage for budget- conscious house hunters these days. But none has as engaging a history as the diminutive Alexandria Spite House in Virginia. A Historic Tiny Home Built on Spite
in so tightly that its neighbors’ exterior walls serve as its interior. Its 25-by-7-foot area is spread over two floors, producing a total floor space of 325 square feet. The little home is comfy enough that one couple lived there for 25 years. Its most recent owner bought it in 1990 for $130,000 and used it occasionally. The Spite House at 523 Queen St. is Alexandria’s best-known tiny home, but it isn’t the only one. Three other tiny houses, all 1–3 feet wider, were also built in alleys during the 19th century. This may seem like a cheap way to build since all that is needed is a roof and rear and front walls. Nevertheless, based on the latest available sales data from 2014, one of these alley houses sold for a cool $424,000!
Brickmaker John Hollensbury built this 7-foot- wide rowhouse nearly 200 years ago — not to live in, but to fill up the alley next to his splendid two-story brick home in what is now the Old Town district of Alexandria. Hollensbury was bothered by horse-drawn carriages trying to squeeze through the alley, scraping against the brick walls of his and his neighbor’s houses, and loiterers gathering in the area. Hollensbury decided to close the alley forever by building a house in it — not to create living space, but to block the alley — thus its name, the Spite House. The little dwelling is squeezed
A Risky Bet Kids like to challenge each other to balance on one foot playing hopscotch, or to walk heel-to-toe on a balance beam without falling. IS A FIELD SOBRIETY TEST A GAMBLE YOU SHOULD TAKE?
A good rule of thumb is that if you haven’t had anything to drink for more than 24 hours, and if you are confident you will do well, take the test. But if you think you might fail, refuse. Even if you take the test and fail, a skilled, experienced DUI lawyer may be able to get the results thrown out. Perhaps the officer made procedural errors or has a history of administering the test poorly. Perhaps you were asked to perform on uneven ground or cracked pavement. Or perhaps other circumstances prevented you from passing, such as fatigue, age, or anxiety.
Could you pull off those physical feats? What if a police officer was watching you intently after a traffic stop, considering whether to charge you with DUI? Both skills — balancing on one foot for 30 seconds and walking a straight line heel-to-toe — are part of a field sobriety test, a procedure developed by federal officials in 1981 to help police officers assess whether a driver is drunk. A third part of the test, the horizontal gaze nystagmus, measures involuntary jerking of the eye caused by alcohol, and requires the suspect to watch the officer’s finger as it moves from side to side. The information gathered in a field sobriety test can be used as evidence against you. But unlike Breathalyzer tests, drivers are not legally required in New Jersey to take it when asked. For a driver, therein lies a risky gamble: If you take the test and do poorly, the results can be used against you. But if you take the test and do well, the officer might decide not to cite you for DUI.
If you are facing a DUI charge, we will be happy to investigate all those questions and more to help you mount the strongest possible defense. Call or email us today!
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Why Alcohol Affects Different People Differently DRINK WISELY
ADVENTURE BAREFOOT
HIKING JUNETEENTH PARK PICNIC
PRIDE SANDALS SUNBURN VOLUNTEER
FATHER GEMINI
People looking for excuses to drink and drive often rely on some common myths, such as the notion that gulping coffee after a few beers or eating a big, greasy burger will sober them up. In fact, every driver needs to understand the factors that actually do affect their blood alcohol content (BAC). Several individual differences explain why your buddy may be fine after a couple of shots while you’re struggling to sit upright. Rate of Alcohol Consumption: How fast you drink can have almost as much impact on your BAC as how much you drink. Alcohol that enters the body rapidly overwhelms the liver’s capacity to process it. The remaining alcohol stays in the blood, leading to higher BAC readings. Spacing drinks over time and drinking water in between can help moderate the impact. Foods Eaten: Having food in your system slows the progress of alcohol into the bloodstream. The body digests high-protein foods such as meat, fish, and dairy products more slowly than other foods, and these can act as a barrier, slowing the rise of a drinker’s BAC. Adding high-fat foods such as butter or avocados can have a similar impact. As a result, eating a healthy meal before drinking can help moderate your BAC later. Gender: Women have lower levels of an enzyme called ADH, which breaks down alcohol in the body. That means that more alcohol consumed will enter a woman’s bloodstream than a man’s, all other factors being equal. Women’s tendency to have lower water content, higher body fat, and higher levels of estrogen at some times of the month also slows the rate at which alcohol is absorbed. So women, don’t try to out-drink your male companions! Body Type: It makes sense that after drinking the same amount of alcohol, larger, heavier people are likely to have a lower BAC, pound for pound, than smaller people. However, muscle absorbs alcohol more quickly, so a muscular drinker with low body fat won’t feel the effects as fast. Assuming you can tolerate the same amount of booze as your ripped buddy on the next barstool is a bad bet. The Takeaway: Pacing your drinking to match your friends’ isn’t wise. Instead, be mindful of how your body is likely to process alcohol and keep tabs on its effects. If you are facing DUI charges or have questions on the topic, reach out to us today!
WHAT OUR CLIENTS ARE SAYING “I would recommend Steven to anyone in need! He did an amazing job with my case. I got the best possible outcome. He was so patient and understanding with me, answered all of my questions, and really came through for me! I will always be forever grateful! Thank you, Steven!” — Michelle S. “The Law Office of Steven Ellman is a great team! I had a situation, and they assured me that I would make it out with [a] positive result and I did. I highly recommend this firm for anyone looking for a representative. Prices are reasonable and the staff is always there with advice. Overall, I want to thank the Law Office of Steven Ellman for being beneficial to my life at the time and keeping me from the negative!” — Terrell M.
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617 Stokes Road, Suite 108 Medford, NJ 08055 StevenEllmanLaw.com 609-362-5933
Inside This Issue A Legal Ally for Life: Taking Clients’ Stories to Heart page 1 The House That Spite Built page 2 Refusing a Field Sobriety Test: Legal, But Is It Smart? page 2 Why Your Buddy Handles Liquor Like a Champ — And You Can’t! page 3 What Our Clients Are Saying page 3 What Happened to Wendy Williams? page 4
INSIDE HER BATTLE FOR CONTROL OVER HER LIFE WENDY WILLIAMS FIGHTS FOR FREEDOM
When did you last hear Wendy Williams’ iconic “How you doin’?” It’s likely been a few years, and it’s not because you didn’t tune in to her
So, how did Wendy Williams end up in this situation? In 2024, her care team disclosed that the talk show host had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia and aphasia. Information related to her situation came from various sources but nothing directly from Williams for many years. She has recently started taking phone interviews and making television appearances and has clearly disagreed with the situation since 2022. Wendy Williams states she has been living in a memory unit in New York City for the past three years but does not think she belongs there. “Look, I don’t belong here at all,” stated Williams during a phone interview with “Nightline.” “This is ridiculous.” Williams is actively fighting for her freedom, and one source even told ABC News that Williams’ court-appointed attorney was planning to file a request to terminate the guardianship. The fact that she’s getting opportunities to share her side of the story provides hope to her fans, but only time will tell how this will unravel.
daytime talk show. Actually, Williams hasn’t filmed an episode of her talk show since 2022. It’s not because she got tired of the
responsibility or was taken off the air due to unpopularity. Williams effectively disappeared after an incident with Wells Fargo led to a court-appointed guardian taking over her financial affairs. Williams learned that Wells Fargo had frozen her accounts after she attempted to make multiple large withdrawals from her bank account. Even more unsettling, her financial advisor, through Wells Fargo, notified the bank that Williams was of “unsound mind,” which prompted a court-ordered guardianship. Initially, many believed this was solely a financial guardianship, but the Hollywood Reporter revealed that the court-appointed guardian was overseeing nearly everything in Williams’ life.
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