Philosophies & Strategies
Protection
Too often, the law is wielded as a meat cleaver when a scalpel is called for. Governments have virtually unlimited resources. Alone, even bright and well-meaning people have little hope of defending themselves against such overwhelming odds. But I can help you even the odds — whether it’s a fight to win your freedom, vindicate your rights, or protect your home and family from official overreach.
Dignity
Every person is capable and worthy of redemption. Just as good people might lose their way, most of us have a loved one who found theirs again. Even so, society is fixated on punishing and stigmatizing those convicted of crimes. Against this soul-crushing philosophy, my primary objective in every criminal case is to win. But if a conviction is inevitable, I will work toward a resolution that allows you to reclaim your reputation and erase your criminal record.
Strategy
The best defense may be the one you never have to make at trial — often no better than a crap shoot with the chips stacked against defendants. I live and breathe to scrap in the courtroom on your behalf, but you may prefer the certainty of a favorable outcome hashed out at the bargaining table. And I certainly prefer to beat your charges long before trial on pretrial motions challenging the propriety of the police work that led to criminal charges in the first place. In any case, I conduct myself with utmost professionalism and honesty in all dealings, earning goodwill for your cause whether it gets kicked out of court, settles out of court, or goes to trial.
Community
Communities fail without accountable leaders. The people we entrust to pass and enforce laws are no better or worse than the communities they are drawn from. Hence, some lawmakers approach the job with restraint while others do so with knee-jerk abandon, passing cruel, punitive, and unconstitutional statutes. One police officer may be even-handed while the next abuses his authority and the public trust. For your sake and the sake of all of our communities, my mission is to overturn unjust laws and put the brakes on official misconduct.
“The law, especially the criminal law, has severe limitations. . . . The criminal law particularly, is not a scalpel. It is a big brutal meat cleaver. Anyone who has gone through a divorce knows this, let alone someone who has done time in the slammer.”
Edwin D. Firmage