Know where you
stand before you act

An arrest sets off a formal sequence that most people have no experience with. The steps are predictable and legally defined, even when they feel chaotic from the inside. Understanding what happens, in what order, and what each step actually means for your case is the first thing anyone charged with a crime should understand.

Booking is documentation, not judgment

After an arrest, the first stop is the police station or jail for booking. This is the administrative record-keeping phase: your name, address, and date of birth go into the system; you’re fingerprinted and photographed; the charges are formally recorded. Your personal property is inventoried and held.

Booking takes anywhere from one to several hours depending on how busy the facility is. It is not the moment anyone decides you’re guilty of anything. It’s data entry. Some people are released after booking with a citation and a court date; others are held until arraignment.

The initial decision about release

After booking, the question becomes whether you stay in custody until your court date or get released. There are a few ways release happens: you pay bail (a set amount that you forfeit if you don’t appear for court), you’re released on your own recognizance (a written promise to appear), or you stay in custody because bail is denied or set at an amount you can’t pay.

Bail hearings happen quickly, sometimes within hours of arrest. A judge considers the severity of the charge, your prior record if any, your ties to the community, and whether you appear to be a flight risk. The bail amount can often be challenged, and an attorney can argue for lower bail or for release on recognizance, which is why having representation early in the process is important.

If you can’t pay bail directly, a bail bondsman can post it on your behalf for a fee (typically 10% of the bail amount, which you don’t get back). That fee is the bondsman’s payment for taking on the risk that you’ll appear.

What an arraignment actually is

The arraignment is your first formal court appearance and your first contact with the judge on this case. Three things happen: the charges are read to you officially, you enter a plea (guilty, not guilty, or no contest), and the judge makes or revisits decisions about bail and conditions of release.

In most criminal cases, defendants plead not guilty at arraignment. This is standard regardless of the facts. Pleading not guilty preserves your options and gives your attorney time to review the evidence, negotiate with the prosecution, and evaluate all available defenses before any decisions are made. A guilty plea at arraignment is almost never the right move without extensive prior consultation with a lawyer.

The arraignment usually happens within a few days of arrest if you’re in custody (federal law requires it within 72 hours; state rules vary slightly), or within a few weeks if you’ve been released on bail.

Your right to counsel starts at arrest, not arraignment

Miranda rights include the right to an attorney. That right applies from the moment you’re in custody, not from arraignment. You don’t have to wait to speak with a lawyer. You have the right to have one present before and during questioning.

Invoking this right is simple: you say you want a lawyer and you stop talking. You don’t explain why, you don’t answer follow-up questions, you don’t make small talk with officers while you wait. Everything you say before and after arrest can be used. The one thing that can’t be used against you is your request for counsel.

If you can’t afford a lawyer, the court appoints a public defender. Public defenders are licensed attorneys, and many are skilled and experienced. In jurisdictions where public defender offices are adequately funded, they can be excellent representation. The limitation is caseload: public defenders often carry large numbers of cases, which affects how much time they can spend on any individual matter.

What happens between arraignment and trial

Most criminal cases don’t go to trial. They resolve through plea agreements: negotiations between the defense and the prosecution where the defendant agrees to plead guilty to a lesser charge or receive a lighter sentence in exchange for avoiding trial. Whether a plea deal makes sense depends entirely on the specifics of the case, the evidence against you, and your personal situation.

Between arraignment and any resolution, there are pretrial motions (challenges to how evidence was obtained, challenges to specific charges), discovery (the process by which your attorney sees the evidence the prosecution has), and potentially hearings on specific issues. This period is where a skilled defense attorney can make the most difference.

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A criminal charge is not a conviction. The process between them is long and has many decision points where outcomes can shift. Understanding the structure of that process doesn’t guarantee a good outcome, but it does let you make better decisions along the way, which is as much as anyone can ask for.

Child custody is often the most contested part of a divorce or separation, and also the area where most people have the least accurate picture of how decisions get made. The legal standard is “best interests of the child,” which every state uses, but which judges apply differently based on the facts of each case. Understanding what goes into that determination helps parents make better decisions about their own situations.

Legal custody and physical custody are different things

These terms are often confused. Physical custody determines where the child lives and with whom. Legal custody determines who has the right to make major decisions about the child’s life: schooling, medical care, religious upbringing.

Joint legal custody is now the default in most states, meaning both parents have a say in major decisions even when the child primarily lives with one parent. Joint physical custody, where the child spends significant time with both parents, has become more common but is still not universal. Courts can award various combinations depending on circumstances: sole physical custody with joint legal custody is one of the most common arrangements.

What courts actually look at

When parents can’t agree on custody, a judge decides based on factors spelled out in state statutes. Most states include variations of the same core considerations:

The primary factor is which parent has been the primary caregiver. Courts look at who handled the daily logistics of the child’s life before the separation: school pickups, medical appointments, bedtime routines, meals. Parents who were actively involved in day-to-day care before the separation have an advantage in custody proceedings. This matters more than earning capacity or which parent has the bigger house.

Courts also consider the stability of each parent’s home environment, each parent’s willingness to support the child’s relationship with the other parent (a parent who disparages the other parent to the child, or who tries to interfere with the other parent’s access, gets marked down for this), the child’s adjustment to their current home, school, and community, and any history of domestic violence or substance abuse.

In some states and at certain ages, the child’s own preference is given weight, though courts are careful to ensure the preference is genuine and not the result of coaching.

What parents say to each other shows up in court

Text messages, emails, social media posts. Every communication between co-parents in a contested custody case is potential evidence. A message that threatens to limit the other parent’s access, that includes false accusations, or that disparages the other parent in front of the child can be presented to the judge.

This doesn’t mean communication should stop. It means it should be managed carefully. Business-like, factual, focused on the child. Apps designed for co-parenting communication (OurFamilyWizard and TalkingParents are two widely used ones) create a documented, timestamped record that both parties can access and courts can review. Many family court judges actively recommend or require these platforms.

Parenting plans and mediation

Courts prefer when parents work out a parenting plan on their own, either directly or through mediation, rather than leaving the decision to the judge. A parenting plan is a written agreement that specifies physical custody arrangements, the decision-making process for legal custody matters, and schedules for holidays, school breaks, and vacations.

Mediation is a structured negotiation process with a neutral third party. It’s less expensive than litigation, faster, and keeps decision-making with the parents rather than delegating it to a judge who has never met the child. Many jurisdictions require mediation before a custody case goes to trial.

If mediation fails or isn’t appropriate (in cases involving domestic violence, for example), the case proceeds to a hearing where both parents present evidence and testimony.

Custody orders can be modified

A custody order isn’t permanent if circumstances change significantly. Either parent can petition the court to modify the arrangement if there’s been a substantial change: a parent relocating, a significant change in either parent’s work schedule, a change in the child’s needs or preferences as they get older, evidence of new safety concerns.

Modification requires showing that the change is significant and that the proposed modification serves the child’s best interests. Courts don’t want custody arrangements revisited every time there’s a disagreement, so the bar for modification is higher than the bar for the initial order.

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Custody cases are decided one specific child at a time, with one specific family’s facts. The patterns above hold across most jurisdictions, but a parent’s best preparation is documenting their involvement in the child’s daily life, maintaining professional communication with the other parent, and working with an attorney who practices family law in their jurisdiction before the hearing, not after.

The phrase “wrongful termination” sounds like it covers any firing that seems unfair. It doesn’t. In employment law, wrongful termination has a specific meaning, and whether your termination qualifies depends on the legal context of your employment, not on whether your employer treated you badly.

Understanding the distinction matters because it changes what options you have.

Employment at will is the default, and it has limits

Most employment in the United States is at-will. At-will employment means the employer can fire you for any reason, or no reason, without legal liability, and you can quit for any reason, or no reason, without legal liability. That’s the default rule in 49 states (Montana is the exception).

What at-will employment does not mean is that an employer can fire you for any reason. There are exceptions that matter.

The most important exception: an employer cannot fire you for a reason that violates federal or state anti-discrimination law. That means terminating you because of your race, sex, national origin, religion, disability, age (if you’re 40 or older), pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic is illegal regardless of whether you’re an at-will employee. This is federal law under Title VII, the ADA, the ADEA, and related statutes. State laws often expand the list of protected categories.

An employer also cannot fire you in retaliation for exercising a legal right. Reporting workplace safety violations to OSHA, filing a workers’ compensation claim, reporting harassment or discrimination internally, participating in a union, taking protected leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act: firing someone because they did one of these things is illegal retaliation, and that’s a form of wrongful termination.

What actually qualifies as wrongful termination

A wrongful termination claim is viable when your firing falls into one of these categories:

Discrimination: The termination was motivated by a protected characteristic. This doesn’t have to be explicit. If you were performing adequately and similarly-situated employees outside your protected class were not fired in comparable circumstances, that disparity can support a discrimination claim.

Retaliation: You were fired because you reported illegal activity, filed a complaint with the EEOC or a state agency, participated in an investigation or lawsuit against your employer, or otherwise exercised a legally protected right.

Contract breach: If you have an employment contract (either a formal written agreement or sometimes an implied contract created by an employee handbook), your employer may only be able to fire you under the conditions the contract specifies. Firing you outside of those conditions can be a breach of contract claim.

Violation of public policy: Some states recognize that an employer can’t fire you for reasons that violate a clearly established public policy, such as serving on jury duty, voting, or refusing to participate in illegal activity. The scope of this exception varies significantly by state.

What doesn’t qualify

A lot of genuinely unfair firings don’t qualify as wrongful termination.

Your employer fired you because they don’t like you, because a new manager wants to build their own team, because they needed to cut headcount and you were convenient, because you expressed opinions they disagreed with (in most states, political views are not a protected category), because a coworker with more seniority or connections got to stay. None of these are pleasant. None of them are wrongful termination in the legal sense.

Unfair is not the same as illegal. Employment law doesn’t require employers to be fair. It requires them not to be discriminatory or retaliatory.

What to do if you think you have a claim

Start by documenting everything before you leave your job, if you haven’t already. This means saving relevant emails, performance reviews, and communications that are relevant to your situation. Once you’re terminated, you typically lose access to company systems quickly.

Employment discrimination and retaliation claims usually go through a mandatory administrative process before you can file a lawsuit. For federal claims, that means filing a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. For state claims, it means the state equivalent. These agencies investigate and may attempt to mediate. You can’t go directly to federal court for most employment discrimination claims without this step.

Filing deadlines are strict. For federal discrimination claims under Title VII, you generally have 180 to 300 days from the discriminatory act to file with the EEOC, depending on your state. Miss that window and you typically lose your right to pursue the claim. This is the primary reason to consult an employment attorney quickly if you think you were wrongfully terminated.

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Employment law is a state-by-state patchwork layered over federal statutes. The general principles above apply broadly, but the specific rules about protected categories, damages, and procedures vary. An employment attorney in your state can evaluate whether your specific situation gives rise to a viable claim, and that evaluation is usually worth seeking out early.