Experienced, affordable state & federal criminal defense attorney in Milwaukee for drug & weapon charges, child sex assault, porn, dv, conspiracy, theft, homicide, burglary and other felony prosecution.

He or she should not make any statements about what he or she is being accused of, with whom he or she has been speaking, about any of his or her activities, friends, business associates or anything other than the personal identification info needed to process him or her. He or she should be polite and courteous to law-enforcement officers, he or she should give them his or her full name, date of birth, address, etc., but he or she should not not tell them what he or she was doing before the arrest or anything else. But one should be assertive in demanding an attorney immediately and frequently. A person who has been arrested should make sure to tell them "I WANT A LAWYER!" - don't ask them if they think a lawyer is needed, and don't say something weak and ambiguous like, "I think I need a lawyer" or "I'd like an attorney." Make it crystal clear that you want a lawyer NOW.

Call or email me right away for a free consultation if you ever find yourself or a loved one even accused of committing any crime in this state. It is vitally important, even at what is referred to as the "pre-charging" phase, that you retain competent legal counsel as soon as humanly possible so that you have the invaluable edge in protecting all of your legal rights that only comes with being able to start laying the groundwork for your defense at the earliest possible point in the development of your case. If you have a loved one in police custody, then he or she should make a collect call at the first opportunity to you, a trusted friend or family member to contact and retain me on his or her behalf. Don't waste time and let great opportunities to take fuller control of the situation early on in a criminal prosecution slip away from you!

Qualified State & Federal Case Experience

My criminal-defense trial experience earned me a place on both the State Public Defender's private-bar appointment list for top felonies and the state's highly-selective CJA Federal Defender Panel for over 20 years, though I no longer participate in that (the latter appoints federal-level criminal cases in both the Eastern and Western Federal Districts of Wisconsin). I am trial certified by the Wisconsin SPD's office to handle all felonies (attempted Class-A), all misdemeanors, paternity, Chapter 980 cases, Chapter 51 & 55 psychiatric commitments (dormant certification), all juvenile, including termination of parental rights, and probation/parole revocations. My unique and lengthy experience encompasses familiarity with practically every level of litigation within nearly every municipal, state and/or federal court, hearing board and judicial governmental agency in southeast Wisconsin. I have built an extensive personal and professional network with other lawyers, judges, law clerks, other legal professionals and forensic experts in many areas of the law, especially in the criminal-defense sector.


Take it to Trial! I have been winning jury trials for many years. I have a proven track record and my approach to criminal cases is simple: So long as it's not a matter of litigation strategy traditionally reserved to the sole discretion and judgment of the attorney, and if it's not illegal or unethical, I do what the client wants. If a client wants to take a case all the way to a jury trial and my experience tells me that it's imprudent or unreasonable under all of the facts and circumstances, I tell him or her what I think, but I abide by his or her decision because I insure that he or she has all the information required for him or her to make a fully-informed decision. So, though it may be a bad decision with which I disagree, I will not impede a client's desire to take risks and gamble on his or her future (it's his or her future, after all). Similarly, if I think a client is crazy for not taking his or her case to a jury, I'll make my opinion crystal clear, but I will not push a client to go to trial if he or she is too scared to roll the dice on a jury's verdict. The bottom line is that, if a client wants to settle or go to trial, it's the client's decision (not mine). I give my clients the best legal representation that their money can buy, regardless of whether they decide to plea bargain or to fight - I've consistently gotten great results over the years doing both. So, though my skills as a negotiator lead to over 90% of my cases resolving short of trial to my clients' satisfaction, sometimes all they understand and respect on the other side is a good fight! I am always ready, willing and able to stand a client's ground and fight the good fight if that's what we're forced to do by a prosecutor's stubborn unreasonableness or bullying tactics. I've gone up against the very worst of them in my years of practice, often times having an unfair judge strip my client's case of all defensive advantages, and I've still won many of those kinds of cases. In 1998, I was one of the very first defense attorneys in the state to take a case to a jury under a new law then making it a felony to fail to prevent sexual contact between a child and another person. Though the jury was misled by unfair prosecutor antics and convicted my client, the unjust conviction was later overturned on appeal for reasons that had everything to do with how I conducted my client's case in chief at the trial (click "Press" in the button bar above to read some newspaper clippings about that case and others). Since then, I have won jury acquittals for serious drug charges (trafficking, manufacturing, keeping a drug house), sexual assault of children, weapons and other offenses. I have won many dismissals simply by sticking to my guns and pushing forward with a client's wish to try a case until the prosecution breaks due to witness or other evidentiary problems that force them to drop the charges altogether. I've also been successful with motions to suppress drugs and to dismiss deficient criminal complaints. Prosecutors know those of us in the defense bar who will not hesitate to fully - but wisely - assert all of our client's rights to challenge evidence and put a weak case in the hands of a jury. Make sure you do your homework if you're criminally charged and be smart enough to pick one of us to defend you so you have the best chance of success and at least get your money's worth.

Affordable, Experienced Criminal Defense Counsel

I make my services affordable for people by offering various payment arrangements to those who qualify. Note that "affordable" does not necessarily equal "cheap" because experience like mine, especially in this part of the state, does come at a high price charged by most practitioners who have been handling criminal-defense cases as successfully as I have for as long as I have. Based in Milwaukee, I have many years of experience as trial-litigation, defense counsel (since 1995) in both the adult- and juvenile-court systems in both state and federal courts all over southeastern and south-central Wisconsin successfully defending good people accused of committing top criminal offenses, either directly or as a party to the crime (PTAC), such as: Assault and Battery, Bank Fraud and Bank Robbery, Bankruptcy Fraud, Blackmail, Bouncing/Floating Checks (felony uttering), Burglary, Capital Offenses, Carrying Concealed Weapons, Corporate Criminal Law Offenses, Conspiracy, Computer Crimes, Contributing to the Delinquency of Minors, Fraud, Disorderly Conduct, Domestic Violence Charges (DV), Drug Trafficking, Possession and other Drug Offenses, Embezzlement, Extortion, Failure to Prevent inappropriate physical contact with a Child, Felony Failure to Pay Child Support, Federal Criminal Law Violations, Felonies, Felon in Possession of Weapons, Possession of Child Porn (pornography), Forgery, Forging Drug Prescriptions, Homicide, Illegal Reentry, Interfering with Parental Rights/Placement, Kidnapping, Mail Fraud, Mayhem, Misdemeanors, Odometer Tampering, Operating after Revocation, OWI/DUI, Parole and Probation Violations, Postal Fraud, Prostitution, Reckless Endangerment, Real Estate Fraud, Retail Theft (shoplifting), Robbery, both adult and juvenile "Romeo & Juliet" offenses, Child Assault/Abuse of Children, Theft, Theft by Contractor, Theft by Fraud, Underage Drinking/Possession of Alcoholic Beverages by a minor, Weapons Charges, Wire Fraud, White Collar Crimes, and much more.


True or False? "A criminal-defense attorney who is a former prosecutor has the best experience to defend you if you're ever charged." I have never been, nor will I ever be a prosecutor! Former prosecutors may have more jury-trial experience than most career defense attorneys, but keep in mind that most of their experience is from trying cases against people accused of committing crimes. It's a very different experience that comes from the same number of years defending people in front of juries against the prosecutors (and sometimes even against the judges who often side with the prosecutors, especially if the judge is also a former prosecutor), and that's the edge that best serves a person accused of criminal conduct. We career defense attorneys pick up every little trick the prosecutors try to pull, and we get to know the inner workings and policies of the prosecutors' offices after defending people for a long time. Every former prosecutor I know against whom I at one time had to defend clients who has since jumped the fence to defend the criminally accused was relentlessly, unreasonably heavy-handed as a prosecutor. What would make anybody think that someone who chose to start his or her career prosecuting people would be able to simply flip a switch in his or her brain such that he or she could then thoroughly and sincerely advocate for the best interests of people charged with committing the same crimes he or she once zealously prosecuted? Once a prosecutor, always the prosecutor's mentality! If you're thinking about hiring a former prosecutor to defend you in a criminal case, instead of a career defense attorney, like me, then ask him or her a few questions first: Why is the attorney now defending the criminally accused when he or she started out prosecuting them? What's your guarantee that he or she will really be looking out for your best interests and will not let old instincts inadvertently take over to the point that you get "sold down the river"? If he or she says it's because the money is better, run (don't walk) out of his or her office, then call me. Some former prosecutors I know who are now defense attorneys have been busted for drunk driving and shoplifting, so they had no choice but to leave the prosecutor's office. Without practice experience in other areas of the law, they are forced to resort to doing criminal-defense work (it's not hard to imagine that they really don't want to be doing what they do now). So do you want one of them defending you?

Monthly payment plans available. Free, confidential e-mail and telephone consultations.

I was selected as one of the top 19 criminal-defense attorneys in Milwaukee in 2016 and as one of the top criminal-defense attorneys in 2018 by expertise.com (click this image for the link to their web page).

I was also chosen by The National Trial Lawyers for membership into the top 100 criminal-defense lawyers in the state of Wisconsin.

If somebody you love is arrested . . .

Qualified State & Federal Case Experience

Take it to Trial!

Affordable, Experienced Criminal Defense Counsel