The concept of writing an introductory blog is straightforward, but it can soon lead down a rabbit hole of self-examination and reflection.

I was not always so confident that I wanted to be a Virginia criminal defense lawyer or a personal injury lawyer. My initial exposure to the law was as a defendant in a civil suit. Involved in a two-car accident on a stormy summer night in high school, I was surprised to see the Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Deputy at my door many months after my case had been dismissed in traffic court. Served? Lawsuit? Twenty-One Days to File a Response? My head was swimming and once the confusion subsided, fantasies of representing myself and being a John Grisham-style natural in the courtroom took over. That thought was quickly dismissed by the deputy, who reminded me to notify my insurance company right now. I did and they took over from there.

Weeks later I was contacted by a local Fredericksburg firm and they invited me to their office to give a statement about the accident. Hired by the insurance company, I was their client too, and they treated me as such. Much to the delight of a high school student contemplating his college major the next fall, the entire process was explained to me as if it was an assignment I would be working on. Soon I was presented with discovery to answer, which felt like extra homework without the benefit of extra credit at times, and my deposition was taken. The confidence, professionalism, and ability of both my attorneys as well as the plaintiff's attorney made a lasting impression. Years later, I looked back on those events fondly and decided to investigate law as a career. To my surprise, both firms agreed to allow me to shadow their attorneys for one-week externships, in which I sat in on client meetings, did some legal research, and went to court. It was an amazing experience that instilled in me humble beginnings of the qualities necessary to practice law in this great Commonwealth.

This blog post was written by Thomas Soldan. He is admitted to practice in Virginia. With offices in Leesburg and Warrenton, he represents clients charged with Virginia DUI and Virginia reckless driving, In addition to criminal defense, he represents victims in personal injury cases. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law and Lafayette College, where he was a prestigious Marquis Scholar.

A twenty-one-year-old Burke woman is dead and her twenty-seven-year-old brother has been arrested and charged with Driving While Intoxicated and Manslaughter after a July 4th crash in Fairfax.

Sara Ghaffari-Nik was killed when the 2009 Mitsubishi Eclipse driven by her brother Hossein Ghaffari-Nik struck a tree and rolled. According to police reports, the siblings were heading south on Shirley Gate Road by the intersection of Matte Moore Court just before 4 a.m. at the time of the crash.

The chain of events leading to the death of the younger Ghaffari-Nik began when the vehicle her brother was driving struck a curb and lost control of the car. The Mitsubishi Eclipse crashed into a tree, causing the vehicle to flip onto the driver's side and spin, according to police reports. The car hit a second tree after it flipped.

The deceased woman was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, and was ejected from the vehicle. She was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. Fairfax County Police Spokesman Officer Don Gotthardt commented on the woman's death:

"This has tragically changed the life of this family... We take this very seriously. Anytime you mix alcohol with driving, there's the potential for serious trouble. We place a great emphasis on safety and facilitating safe travel," Gotthardt said.

Gotthardt also commented on some of Fairfax County's "high intensity DWI enforcement" policies. The Fairfax County officer says there are "weekly DWI enforcement efforts" involving random sobriety checkpoints within Fairfax County and "six pack patrols." He added:

"These are teams of officers roving the streets looking specifically for impaired drivers."

The accident is still being investigated by Fairfax County Police, and anyone with information has been asked to contact Fairfax Crime Solvers at fairfaxcrimesolvers.org. It was unclear whether Ghaffari-Nik had been assigned or had retained a Fairfax DUI lawyer to defend him.