Comprehensive 12-Step Approach
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Read Past Client Reviews - Click HereStep #8 – Balance Sheet
The concept of a financial balance sheet in a criminal case is unique, but it helps a client visualize the good, the bad, the past and the future in a single document. For a balance sheet to balance, total assets should equal the total of liabilities and shareholder equity. So how do we adopt this to a criminal case? Let us start with liabilities; a liability is an obligation between one party, and another not yet completed or paid for. In the world of accounting, a financial liability from a previous business transaction or event. Sounds just like someone committing a crime in a community; when a crime is committed a transaction or event has already occurred and there is incomplete element to the outcome. Simply, when you commit a crime, the judge, prosecutor, and probation’s job is to “do something” to you. There is an obligation to act against you; that is their role, the prosecutor charges crimes, and the judge protects the community. In the financial word, there are current or short-term and non-current or long-term liabilities; same applies for the mindset of the judge, prosecutor, and probation. These stakeholders want to punish you for what you have done in the short-term, but also want, feel the need to send a message to prevent you from doing it again in the future; a criminal case has a short-term liability of punishment and long-term message to go along with it. A short-term liability can be punished with a weekend in jail, and a long-term liability can be punished with a criminal record for the rest of your life and years of probation. In applying The New Rules, our liability column for our balance sheet we put the police reports, statements, evidence; the worst-case scenarios and outcome; most clients charged with a crime in Michigan, and their attorneys just make this single column; by simply focusing on the negative parts of a case would be a fixed mindset approach to criminal defense. For our growth mindset approach, we create the next column, which is shareholder equity, and for our purposes in a criminal case this is going to be a client’s years on earth prior to the incident. This may include positive and negative things, but it is who you were in all facets of your life the moment before the alleged crime occurred. Examples of shareholder equity would be in no order, your job, mental, emotional, and physical well-being, your family status and life, education, community involvement, your criminal history, your age, your immigration status, professional licenses, travel needs, military, security clearances, and many others. It matters to a prosecutor, judge, and probation who the person was right before the crime happened, but only if they are properly educated. If a client comes to a case with no prior record, a diagnosed mental health condition, a licensed teacher or nurse, a parent of three children, someone with an extensive criminal record, active in their community, unemployed, eighteen years old or eighty years old, this all matters in very different ways in adopting a specific approach to the case. A lot of this shareholder equity goes into our action plan, but it starts with its position on the balance sheet. The formula of liabilities plus shareholder equity, now tells us we need to combine all the bad stuff of the present case, and all your equity; this will produce a different number for each client. The goal will be to balance things out, and have this column equal assets. Remember, your liabilities start a certain value, and it will go up or down depending on your shareholder equity. This means a less serious case with a first offender has in theory less assets needed to balance things out, but a more serious crime of a client with an extensive record must create more assets in comparison. Based on what that number looks like, we now work on our asset column. Like liabilities, assets are both short-term and long-term. We assume that a client’s asset column is empty at this moment, and its our job as client and attorney to fill it up with the right mix, or as we will get into our client value chain. The short-term assets will be part of our diagnosis the why this happened, and our treatment plan. Items we put into place during the pendency of the case; while on bond, or even before going to court for an arraignment. These are proactive steps adopting the theory of “time value of money” as we will get into next; working on the why and putting the how and what into place on our own before it is ordered by one of the stakeholders in our case (judge, prosecutor, probation). Long-term assets are important to address the long-term liability concern of our stakeholders; to address the question of what happens when the stakeholders are no longer actively involved and moved onto the next case. Is jail enough to protect the community in the future? Do we need to maximize probation? Do we need to brand the client a public criminal to warn others about them in your community? Stakeholders struggle answering the question of; will this person learn anything? Will they be back committing the same crime, or did they address the underlying issue, and they are mindful and working on it moving forward? A short-term asset might be doing community service as a jail alternative while a long-term asset may be a commitment to long-term counseling. Step #9 – Time Value of Money This concept is widely accepted that there is a greater benefit to receiving the same amount of money now than it would be sometime in the future. In economic terms, a $100 today is worth more than $100 next year. This concept is why interest is paid on money in your bank account, or why you are charged interest to borrow money. For a criminal case, the same concept applies. If you have committed a crime, and decide to adopt The New Rules, you will get yourself outside the box with a growth mindset and begin a series of proactive steps. Proactive steps in the present are worth more to stakeholders now they would be once ordered. Not only is it worth more to the stakeholders, but there is immense value in a client staying busy and better understanding their case from day one. A criminal case is stressful; clients cannot sleep, eat, drink or function because they are frozen in fear of the unknown. By adopting a growth mindset, you work on your case every single day, which helps inside and outside the courtroom. Present value is created in the client’s mental and emotional state, which allows them to be a productive and active participant in their own case. Proactive clients are happier, more focused, and motivated to tackle each day of the case journey. If I told a client two stories of two clients, and the first client sat at home and looked up scary outcomes on the internet, complained to anyone who would listen, and consistently worried about worst case scenarios, and the second client spent each day actively working on a half-dozen proactive steps, including understanding how they ended up in this case, and instead focused on best case scenarios, which would sound like a better path? Of course, it would be the second client, but clients and attorneys do not know how to compete in this criminal defense space. The key to the time value of money is adopting the right client value chain, which can be tailored to each specific client for their particular court, judge and charge. Click to Call Me - 248-924-9458 Step #10 – Client Value Chain Now that we understand the time value of money, we can hopefully agree that there is more value in present action than future action. We need to also consider the stakeholder mapping and acknowledge that we are powerless when a case begins. Most clients go through a case as a series of orders and demands; they follow the next step handed to them by someone with real power; a police officer who arrested you, a prosecutor who charged you, and a judge who is about to send you to jail. Going back to step #1 and our core strategy; it is about being different, to change the status quo on how things have gone in the criminal justice system, and what I expect will continue with most attorneys and their helpless clients. Adopting the client value chain is about being different. It is a deliberate set of activities and the steps we need to take to deliver additional value to a client’s case. A detailed set of procedures to work smartly, deliberately with a targeted focus on the exact court, judge, charge, and client to deliver maximum value. The goal is change, and we need the resources and action plan to bring about complex change. When a client is charged with a crime, they enter an incredibility competitive ecosystem with little empathy, understanding or passion to understand each case. A client’s file is a needle in the haystack; and not only are you a needle, but you also just committed a crime; a crime against the community where the judge, prosecutor, probation, and court staff likely own homes and send their children to school. Talk about a stacked deck. When people think of competition, they think aggression, fighting, passion, but most importantly they see two-sides, opposing teams or individuals on opposite sides of a sporting event, argument, or transaction. The criminal client who stays inside the box will adopt this type of competitive mindset. The client will see themselves against the prosecutor and scared of the judge. It is very natural to adopt this mindset as someone accused and charged with a crime. What a client and their attorney do not realize is for 99 plus percent of cases in Michigan, the hockey puck is already in the net, the basketball has gone through the hoop, the football through the uprights, the baseball over the fence and the golf ball is already in the hole. Despite this reality, the client and attorney stay in the box, heck they build a fort; take a fixed mindset, become totally defensive minded, then look to engage the prosecutor and judge in an adversarial manner ignoring that the other team has not already scored. The evidence, facts the case are squarely against the client. The lawyer understands this, but believes they are being paid to start a fight, and they attempt to create value by picking fights and being difficult. As a former prosecutor, there was no quicker way both personally and for my former colleagues to receive limited help or consideration than being a pain in the butt defense lawyer who had no reason for pick a fight. The best lawyers no matter how guilty or innocent their clients are will look to create value with the prosecutor, and work toward the proper result. Most prosecutors can spot the cases that need to be tried and will work with the attorneys to bring about a good and fair trial or make a very strong alternative proposal to resolve the case. If a lawyer is being difficult to be difficult, the lawyer will create very little value for their client, make the client upset, which will then push the lawyer to be even more of a pain in the butt, and in the end the client gets a stressful, anxious, and worse result. Some cases should go to trial because the client did not break the law or there is a believe the prosecutor cannot meet the burden of proof, but most people set cases for trial, because they are frustrated and want to avoid the consequences of their actions. Clients who set trials to set trials have not fully explored creating value and hunting for the right solution, but it’s not there fault, they need The New Rules or a similar approach to inform them of every option. Many clients are frustrated in being charged, because they do not believe they broke the law, when once they understand the law, they realize they did break the law, but did not plan on it, or did not intend on doing it. I’ve heard it a thousand times, “I didn’t think I was over the limit”, “I offered to pay for the items I didn’t scan”, “I didn’t know that was against the law” etc. My hope is that once a client is properly educated, they will stop acting like a victim, and prepare to tackle the case like an educated and informed citizen. If they cannot come to grips on reality stay in the box, these clients will look to blame others, avoid consequences, and want an easy button. I do not work with clients who are not realistic about their cases and the impact of those inside and outside their case. A criminal case is not only about the client, but also within the context of the entire ecosystem. The good news for my clients is it does not really matter that they broke the law; I am able to have 100’s of charges dismissed or reduced each year, to keep people out of jail, keeping their driver’s license and thriving in their family and professional life. When I tell a client that it is ok to be completely, caught red-handed guilty and really feel bad and regret what has already happened, and things are still completely manageable, it takes a giant weight and burden off their shoulders. It is time to put down the sword, and instead adopt the client value chain. Guilty clients turn lapses in judgment and poor choices into the reason why they are successful in the future; criminal cases can be limited to short-term consequences if handled with a growth mindset. We want there to be long-term prosperity; it is amazing when a client tells me they are glad their case happened, because if it did not, X, Y and Z would not happen. Criminal cases in Michigan are manageable if a client is willing to get out of the box and adopt a growth mindset. The client value chain is a step-by-step model that transforms the client’s complex change, core values and culture shifting to reality. It is the currency we use to engage our stakeholders (prosecutor, judge, probation) and show them the short and long assets in place for the client. A client who remains in the box will show up in court and promise everyone that the same thing will not happen again. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result. This would be an insane approach to addressing your stakeholders in your case, but it is what over 99 percent of clients and attorneys do with a fixed mindset. If you don’t create change or understand how you ended up in court, the same thing will happen again; it may be a different manifestation, but nothing has intervened to make the next time any different. Adopting Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle approach, my clients focus on the why incident happened. Very few clients understand why they stole, why they got a DUI or why they got into a fight with a spouse; it is the reason you are charged with a crime. Its extremely rare to see a client and attorney even know how to approach the crime charged; nothing about the old rules of criminal defense set those clients apart or compete for the stakeholder’s attention. The other 99 plus percent of people who are charged with crimes, focus on the what as in what they are charged with and what about the situation impacts them (I will lose my job, I need to drive a car). The stakeholders in a criminal case are not going to be moved hearing the what, because they have a stack of police reports and evidence to tell them the same thing; they may pay attention to the how you are uniquely approaching the case, but there will not be real change without understanding and educating the stakeholders on the why of the case. The New Rules focus on the why, before we even think about the how or what. Step #11 - Measurement and Control of Client Performance Our comprehensive action plan contains a lot of moving parts. My clients and I can have the best action plan and do all the hard work, but if we are unable to measure and provide proof of progress and change to the stakeholders then we will be unable to achieve all our goals for a criminal case. Our steps must be specific, measurable, achievable, and compatible with our goals. When my clients and I agree on an action plan, we map out the steps, and the best practices for measuring and documenting each step. This requires a system that quantifies and analyzes our choices and growth. We call this measurement our growth system; it may contain test results, support group attendance, evaluations, counseling verification, certificates of completion and other measures. A high functioning and reliable growth system are just a starting point; we also need a management control system to maintain progress, provide feedback and present the short and long-term assets to the stakeholders. A management control system is all about ensuring that everyone is "on the same page" in terms of implementing the strategy then ensuring stakeholder buy-in. A client can execute the action plan, but if a prosecutor, judge, or probation are not willing to listen and learn about our growth then it will lack the intended impact. This means ensuring that the client value chain and our decisions are well planned and coordinated, and everyone is motivated, and open-minded to learn more about the client. Many judges and prosecutors are now very familiar with my client’s proactive approach, and even expect it from my new clients (high bar set), but when I work with a judge or prosecutor either new or someone infrequent, our approach always takes them by surprise in a refreshing way but may not truly understand the whole package. There are methods that I employ in order to help drive home the impact and measurables. A well-designed management control system helps implement our core strategy and allows the client to maximize the new value created as part of the action plan. Click to Call Me - 248-924-9458 Step #12 – The 3 R’s (Reset, Rebrand, Reward) Think of the present-day Sears or Kmart; failing companies who will need a miracle to survive the next year or two. The condition of these companies would be an upgrade on the position in society that a client charged with a crime faces. These corporations have thousands of people and millions of dollars trying to save them, who do you have in your corner when a criminal case begins? Most clients worry if they will survive the day, keep their job, support, and care for family, specifically children. Not even your closest allies can be relied upon to support you during a criminal case. I have had clients who lose the support of family members and fired from companies after decades of employment. People do not want to be associated with lawbreakers, because they believe it says something about them or the company that employs a criminal. These folks are stuck in their own box, but their initial position is not unreasonable. A client who adopts a fixed mindset will be judged for the crime committed and may never escape that label. The New Rules are here to the rescue, and bring you the 3 R’s, which ultimately is a brand repositioning. The client is the brand, and the client needs a ton of help, but lack the thousands and people and millions of dollars to save them. Where do we start? We need to break old associations and add new ones, which in business is much more difficult than simply starting a new brand. If current associations are strong and well established, it can be near impossible. The Marlboro cigarette brand used to be more about Shakespeare and the theater before the creation of the Marlboro Man brand image. The brand had to reinvent itself in order to survive. Unfortunately, a criminal charge does have strong associations, but the key is to avoid them sticking; this is where the first of the R’s comes into play – the Reset. The Reset happens as soon as you see the incident as a sunk cost and avoid a fixed mindset. By sticking the police report and the evidence against you in quarantine, it allows you to focus on a growth mindset approach. If you choose to adopt a fixed mindset, the stink of that “committed a crime” association will never leave you. Once in a growth mindset, the second of the R’s – the Rebrand can happen. Brand repositioning are changes made to what the customer, or in a criminal case, the stakeholders associate with your brand. The stakeholders expect a criminal to come to court, resist change, be difficult and abrasive, because they are on the defense. People get away with driving drunk, stealing, fighting, speeding, and breaking the law more than they are caught. An arrest and criminal charges are a game of chance, but a judge and prosecutor also understand this dynamic. When arrested for a crime, the stakeholders in the case will say “you were finally caught” despite no record of previous bad actions. As a former prosecutor I understand this dynamic, which needs to consider in all strategy. By using our balance sheet, we put use our shareholder equity to show the stakeholders the history of our brand, and why we have and can still bring value to society and those around us. Example being a hard-working, first time offender nurse; should this nurse be stripped of their professional license, and not help thousands of patients in the future due to an isolated moment in time? Every brand, company and person will at some point falter or detour from a successful path; we are after all human and susceptible to poor judgment. Like a successful company who has a bad quarter or losses money on a new product offering, us humans are going to break the law either intentionally or unintentionally, and not even know why we did it. In the rebranding stage, we are salvaging all the positive attributes of the brand (the brand equity) and adjusting and modifying. We acknowledge that if a crime is committed there is short-term liability that may exceed the shareholder equity of the client. The case just doesn’t go away, because you’ve lived an amazing life prior to the arrest. The goal is to identify that overage and match or exceed it with creation of assets. Even if we tackle short-term liabilities, we still need to put in place assurances for the future. This is where we go beyond the painkiller and apply the treatment plan, and future vitamin regiment. The third and final R – the Reward happens over the course of the case, not only at the end of a case. By adopting a growth mindset and understanding the time value of money, it allows us to have earn flexibility with the judge and prosecutor. Examples of rewards at this stage would ability to travel for work or pleasure, to see family members, to drive a car, to amend or change testing to better accommodate your schedule. Going through a criminal case is not easy, and if a client adopts a fixed mindset and is not willing to engage in value and relationship building with stakeholders, then the case will be filled with anxiety, stress and frustration. When someone is charged with a crime, they have very little power, but over time, a client slowly takes back control of the case in the form of rewards, both small and large. Other rewards, and potentially the most sought after may be avoiding jail time, avoiding a criminal record, ability to drive a car, to return to your home to see your spouse and kids, and to avoid or limit court supervision. As part of culture change and adopting core values, we strive to make long-term impact in a client’s life. I have had clients tell me at the end of a case or weeks or months later that they are grateful the case happened, because without intervention they would not have received the help they needed or made changes in their life; they are a better member of society, employee, employer, family member and friend, because of the fruits of their criminal case. |
If charged with a DUI in Michigan, how can we apply the New Rules of Criminal Defense?
Every drunk driving case in Michigan is different, and we need to consider the unique court, judge, the facts of the case and the charges. There are many variables that go into the right approach, but it all starts with a core strategy; it means deliberately choosing a different set of activities to deliver a unique mix of value. My clients adopt a logical and consistent set of choices that generate and sustain long term competitive advantage in a Michigan DUI case. My clients are competing for the limited attention span of a judge, prosecutor, and probation department; to be more than just a name and a charge.
We must take a growth mindset for a DUI case; to take a fixed mindset would mean to focus only on what has already happened, which we cannot change. This doesn't mean what happened is true or cannot be contested, but when a case happens, there is no venue to simply tell a prosecutor or judge, X, Y and Z didn't happen; that requires litigation such as filing a motion or a setting a case for a trial; those are options down the road, but to begin a case, those are the facts we have, so we ignore them.
We focus on what we can control and that is to get out of the box. This means to view the situation from outside your own point of view, to value what drunk driving means in Michigan; the public perception and the laws in place. To get out of the box is to put yourself in the shoes of the audience looking down at your case and to see if from their eyes. Sure it really sucks to get a drunk driving in Michigan; you worry a lot of bad things are going to happen to you, but this case isn't about you, it's about your action and impact to the community; it's about how you would view a drunk driver if it happened to someone you didn't know or care about in the world. Outside of your shareholder list, nobody is supporting you or rooting for a good outcome.
The stakeholders will not give you the benefit of the doubt, and the culture stinks in your case. We need to change that culture and that begins with putting what happened behind us and creating core values for complex change. We need a case for change, a vision, the skills, the right incentives, the resources and the action plan.
To get ourselves organized and to focus on both the past, present and future, we create a DUI client balance sheet, which adopts the time value of money and the client value chain. Doing things in the present for a drunk driving case have more value than doing things in the future when ordered by the court. A DUI case of any case I handle has the most opportunity to act now rather than later; this could mean flexibility to travel, get your kids to school, get to and from work and to avoid time consuming tasks during bond; if you want your freedom during a DUI, adopt the time value of money.
The client value chain will supply our asset column. The liabilities are the case before us; the worst version of it, and the equity will ask "what's in your pocket?"; if you're a 45 year old with no prior history, then you 45 years of credit; if you're a hard working nurse, a great parent and already active with a non-profit, those are points for you. If you're struggling to find work, you have a criminal record, or you're very young, we have less equity and simply need to create more assets; every case is different with a unique approach. The key is to make everything measurable and compatible so we can focus on the 3 R's.
We need to begin with the reset, move to the rebrand, and hopefully reap the rewards at the conclusion of your case, and thereafter once the case is over.
Every drunk driving case in Michigan is different, and we need to consider the unique court, judge, the facts of the case and the charges. There are many variables that go into the right approach, but it all starts with a core strategy; it means deliberately choosing a different set of activities to deliver a unique mix of value. My clients adopt a logical and consistent set of choices that generate and sustain long term competitive advantage in a Michigan DUI case. My clients are competing for the limited attention span of a judge, prosecutor, and probation department; to be more than just a name and a charge.
We must take a growth mindset for a DUI case; to take a fixed mindset would mean to focus only on what has already happened, which we cannot change. This doesn't mean what happened is true or cannot be contested, but when a case happens, there is no venue to simply tell a prosecutor or judge, X, Y and Z didn't happen; that requires litigation such as filing a motion or a setting a case for a trial; those are options down the road, but to begin a case, those are the facts we have, so we ignore them.
We focus on what we can control and that is to get out of the box. This means to view the situation from outside your own point of view, to value what drunk driving means in Michigan; the public perception and the laws in place. To get out of the box is to put yourself in the shoes of the audience looking down at your case and to see if from their eyes. Sure it really sucks to get a drunk driving in Michigan; you worry a lot of bad things are going to happen to you, but this case isn't about you, it's about your action and impact to the community; it's about how you would view a drunk driver if it happened to someone you didn't know or care about in the world. Outside of your shareholder list, nobody is supporting you or rooting for a good outcome.
The stakeholders will not give you the benefit of the doubt, and the culture stinks in your case. We need to change that culture and that begins with putting what happened behind us and creating core values for complex change. We need a case for change, a vision, the skills, the right incentives, the resources and the action plan.
To get ourselves organized and to focus on both the past, present and future, we create a DUI client balance sheet, which adopts the time value of money and the client value chain. Doing things in the present for a drunk driving case have more value than doing things in the future when ordered by the court. A DUI case of any case I handle has the most opportunity to act now rather than later; this could mean flexibility to travel, get your kids to school, get to and from work and to avoid time consuming tasks during bond; if you want your freedom during a DUI, adopt the time value of money.
The client value chain will supply our asset column. The liabilities are the case before us; the worst version of it, and the equity will ask "what's in your pocket?"; if you're a 45 year old with no prior history, then you 45 years of credit; if you're a hard working nurse, a great parent and already active with a non-profit, those are points for you. If you're struggling to find work, you have a criminal record, or you're very young, we have less equity and simply need to create more assets; every case is different with a unique approach. The key is to make everything measurable and compatible so we can focus on the 3 R's.
We need to begin with the reset, move to the rebrand, and hopefully reap the rewards at the conclusion of your case, and thereafter once the case is over.
