Sealing means that the record of your criminal arrest is retained by the courts and criminal justice agencies that hold them, but the records are not accessible to the public.

Expunging means that the record of your criminal arrest is physically destroyed. Only one copy is retained by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and that copy is not accessible to the public.

Both sealing and expunging remove the record of your criminal arrest from Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS) and the record will not show up in a criminal background check.

Sealing is generally available for a charge for which you received a withheld adjudication. Expungement is only available if the charge was dropped or dismissed, including dismissal through a pretrial diversion program.

No. Florida law allows you to lawfully deny or fail to acknowledge the arrest covered by the sealed or expunged record, except in very limited circumstances (for example, when applying for a job in law enforcement, a child welfare agency or as a teacher).

Unfortunately, no. You can only seal or expunge records relating to one criminal incident.

Yes, qualifying felony, misdemeanor and juvenile records may be sealed or expunged.

Our office charges a flat fee of $750, inclusive of attorney's fees, filing fees and court costs. The fee may be paid in two payments of $375 -- one payment due when you hire us, and the second payment due usually a few months later when we receive the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Certificate of Eligibility to Seal or Expunge. We accept all major credit cards. In some cases, we may charge an additional $250 court attendance fee if it is necessary to attend a court hearing. In addition, we may require an additional fee of $25-50 if you are unable to provide us with a certified copy of the criminal disposition.

If you compare our fees with those of other law firms offering similar services you will find that our fees are very competitive, especially when you consider that the fees quoted by some other firms do not include filing fees, court costs and other "hidden" costs. The fees we quote are simple and all inclusive. With us, you won't need a flow chart to compute how much this will cost you.

We do everything within our power to expedite the process. However, the processing time fluctuates and depends on the ever changing workload of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the court system. We estimate that the process may be completed in six to eight months.

Almost nothing. Initially, you will need to have your fingerprints taken on a fingerprint card we supply you, and you will need to sign and have notarized two documents we will provide to you. You may also need to make a trip to the courthouse to obtain a certified copy of the criminal disposition. We take care of the rest. No office visit is required and usually you will not need to appear in court. If the court schedules a hearing, I usually advise my clients to attend, if possible, to show the court that sealing or expunging your criminal record is important to you.

First, we apply to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for a Certificate of Eligibility. Once we receive the certificate, we submit to the appropriate court a petition to seal or expunge. The court will rule, usually without a hearing but sometimes with a hearing before the judge. If the petition is granted, the court will issue an order sealing or expunging the record. The order is then sent to the arresting agency, any other criminal justice agency involved in your arrest, any other agency having criminal records related to your case, and to the clerk of court.

We will provide you with a free consultation to determine your eligibility. If you are not sure about the results of your previous criminal incidents, we may ask you to obtain a report from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement which costs $23 and can be obtained usually within 24 hours by visiting the FDLE website.

Complete the online consultation form on this website, or contact us by email or telephone (954-217-5123) for a free consultation. We also accommodate clients who wish to meet with Mr. Pakula personally, but we require that you call our office to make an appointment in advance. However, no office visit is required and the vast majority of our clients do not come to our office. If we determine that you are eligible, we will accept your payment and provide you with the fingerprint card and the forms to sign and have notarized.

Our law office is located at 1806 N. Flamingo Road, Suite 410, Pembroke Pines, Florida 33028. However, we serve clients throughout the State of Florida, as well as clients who have a Florida criminal record but reside in other parts of the United States or abroad. Although we welcome clients to visit us, most sealing and expungement clients never come to our office. In most cases, no court hearing is required. This allows us to economically and efficiently handle sealing and expungement cases throughout the state. We do not handle cases outside the State of Florida.