About this course
This course examines New York’s 2026 DMV rule changes and the practical consequences those changes create for attorneys handling traffic tickets, suspended-license cases, criminal-court pleas, professional-driver matters, and DMV administrative issues. Beginning February 16, 2026, DMV increases point values for several serious violations and expands the persistent-violator lookback period from 18 months to 24 months.
This course is not just about traffic tickets – it is about collateral consequences. A routine traffic plea can affect a client’s license, job, insurance, registration, criminal exposure, driving privilege, and ability to keep working.
What you will learn
- How DMV calculates points, and why the date of violation controls
- What happens at 11 points, and what changed for serious violations
- Why VTL §511 is now a major point problem, and why VTL §509 must be analyzed separately
- How defensive driving helps – and what it does not do
- Why Driver Responsibility Assessment fees can create new suspensions
- How unpaid tolls and registration suspensions can snowball into criminal exposure
- How administrative rulemaking changed the consequences without ordinary public awareness
- Why traffic law hits professional drivers and working-class clients especially hard
Course information
- Practice area: Traffic Court; DMV consequences; suspended licenses; administrative law; criminal / traffic-court overlap
- Intended audience: Attorneys representing or advising clients in traffic court, criminal court, TVB, DMV administrative proceedings, or summons court – or any matter involving driver’s-license consequences
- Format: Prerecorded online video (on-demand) through the Attorneys with Swag Learning Center
- Recommended CLE credit: 1.0 Areas of Professional Practice (see the CLE Status panel)
CLE credit note
This course is intended to support a request for 1.0 CLE credit in Areas of Professional Practice. It contains roughly 70 minutes of substantive instruction after excluding opening music, introductions, closing remarks, and non-substantive commentary; under New York’s standard, 50–74 minutes equals 1.0 credit.
These materials are educational and are not legal advice to any individual driver. Traffic and DMV consequences depend on the exact charge, violation date, driver record, license class, and forum – always review the ticket, DMV abstract, applicable statute, and current DMV guidance before advising a client.
Self-Paced Learning
Study anytime, anywhere
On-Demand Access
Lifetime access to content
CLE Accredited
Earn approved CLE credits
1.00 total CLE credits
| Credit Category | Credits |
|---|---|
| Areas of Professional Practice | 1.00 |
This program is delivered as a single on-demand video segment. Watch the full course to satisfy the CLE attendance requirement – your viewing progress is tracked automatically as you go.
No course materials have been added yet.
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Eugene D. Toussaint, Esq.
President, Attorneys with Swag Inc. · Host, The Legal Aid Society — Criminal Defense Practice (Queens)
Eugene D. Toussaint is the President of Attorneys with Swag Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit media and legal-education organization, and the host and showrunner of Attorneys with Swag, where his work focuses on making legal information understandable and accessible to the communities most likely to encounter the justice system before they understand it.
Eugene is a Staff Attorney with the Criminal Defense Practice of The Legal Aid Society in Queens, representing clients facing criminal charges in New York City. His background as a public defender informs the mission of Attorneys with Swag: bringing legal education to the public in a way that is practical, community-facing, and rooted in real courtroom experience.
- Education: J.D., St. John's University School of Law
- Jurisdiction Admitted: New York
- Current Roles: President, Attorneys with Swag Inc.; Staff Attorney, Criminal Defense Practice, The Legal Aid Society (Queens)
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Kimberly Juszczak, Esq.
Founder, Traffic Court Pro PLLC
Kimberly Juszczak is the founder of Traffic Court Pro PLLC, a New York traffic-defense practice representing drivers throughout New York City and the surrounding area. New York City born and raised, she has spent over ten years helping thousands of drivers protect their licenses and livelihoods — keeping points off records, preventing suspensions and revocations, avoiding Driver Responsibility Assessment fees, and limiting insurance consequences.
Her practice emphasizes moving violations, DMV points, license suspension and revocation prevention, professional-driver issues, and Taxi & Limousine Commission matters, including work with Uber, Lyft, Yellow Cab, and black-car drivers.
- Education: B.A., SUNY New Paltz; J.D., CUNY School of Law
- Jurisdiction Admitted: New York
- Current Role: Founder, Traffic Court Pro PLLC
- Practice Focus: Traffic tickets, moving violations, DMV points, license suspensions, professional-driver representation, TLC consequences, insurance / livelihood impacts
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Mehdi Essmidi, Esq.
Founder, The Law Offices of Mehdi Essmidi, P.L.L.C.
Mehdi Essmidi is a New York City criminal defense attorney and founder of The Law Offices of Mehdi Essmidi, P.L.L.C. His practice includes criminal defense, DWI defense, suspended-license cases, weapons charges, federal criminal matters, and domestic-violence cases.
A former Bronx County Assistant District Attorney — including service in the Domestic Violence Bureau and Trial Division, where he handled matters ranging from DWIs to violent felonies — he now uses that prosecutor-side experience to defend clients in criminal and family-court matters.
- Education: J.D., New York Law School
- Jurisdictions Admitted: New York; U.S. Supreme Court; U.S. District Court, S.D.N.Y.; U.S. District Court, E.D.N.Y.
- Current Role: Founder, The Law Offices of Mehdi Essmidi, P.L.L.C.
- Prior Experience: Assistant District Attorney, Bronx County District Attorney's Office
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David Ourlicht II, Esq.
Founder, Law Offices of David E. Ourlicht, PLLC
David Ourlicht II is a New York criminal defense attorney and founder of the Law Offices of David E. Ourlicht, PLLC, defending clients in criminal and related matters throughout New York City with frontline courtroom experience in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx.
Before entering private practice he served as a public defender with The Legal Aid Society in Manhattan. That background combines public-defender and private-defense experience, giving him practical insight into plea negotiations, courtroom advocacy, constitutional rights, and the collateral consequences that can follow criminal or traffic-related cases.
- Education: J.D., CUNY School of Law
- Jurisdiction Admitted: New York
- Current Role: Founder, Law Offices of David E. Ourlicht, PLLC
- Prior Experience: Public Defender, The Legal Aid Society, Manhattan
Certificate Status
Complete every required lesson and the knowledge check to earn your certificate. Once you are eligible, your certificate will be available to download here.
Course Content
Required for CertificateFoundations: What Changed in 2026
Unlicensed Operation: VTL §511 & §509
Collateral & Administrative Consequences
Context: Rulemaking, Tolls & Real-World Impact
Putting It Into Practice
QUIZ
Complete all required lessons and the quiz to earn your certificate.