Our Family, Divorce, and Criminal Defense Attorneys

Law was my second career., I became a lawyer to help people who were accused of criminal wrongdoing, knowing that innocent people get charged and sent to prison often, but also sometimes good people make mistakes, and those mistakes should not define their lives. As a law student I helped start the Michigan Innocence Project, and was one of two students to serve on the Innocence Board for the State of Michigan. After graduating law school I worked for a small firm in Waukesha, Roth & Binn, and began developing a criminal law practice. Within a year of working there, Roth & Binn merged with Davis & Kuelthau, s.c. D&K was a good group of lawyers, but they did not have a criminal practice base, and were not interested in me developing one.I left that firm and began working for the State Public Defender, in Elkhorn. While I handled a wide variety of criminal cases in Whitewater, Delavan, Darien, Lake Geneva, Lyons, Burlington, and pretty much everywhere in Walworth County, iIn 2005 ,I decided it was time to open my own practice in an effort to focus my skills on those areas of law that best suited my clients and myself. I began handling family law cases in 2006, in an effort to assist some clients from my criminal practice. I take a standard approach in all family law cases, the kids are the most important people involved. I will litigate aggressively for my client, but never to the detriment of the children. In 2011, I entered into practice with John Murphy and Paul Volbrecht, and while it worked out well; however, my goal was always to have a family practice, literally. So after Anthony, who is my step- son, had developed sufficient experience, we decided it was time for us to go out on our own. Now we are a small family business, which is devoted to providing the high quality service you expect at the "big firms," but also has the familiarity of the small town business down the street. My theory of practicing law is: do what needs to be done in order to help the client. I enjoy having a creative approach to dealing with problems, and using my legal education to come up with solutions that are not normally sought after by the average attorney. Whether it is a Criminal Law matter, or an action that affects the family, my job is to help you, not make decisions that cost you more money. My goal is to be effective and efficient, and in doing so getting the best result that is affordable to my client. I have developed many strategies to assist clients in drug cases, which does not require them to become a "snitch." I am the only member of the NORML Legal Committee in Walworth County, WI. I have always felt that practicing law was a privilege and that helping people is one of the best things a person can do in their lives.