Recent Accomplishments

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Criminal/Traffic Defense
Personal Injury
Workers' Compensation

Criminal/Traffic Defense:

In a case where the defendant was facing up to three years in the Department of Corrections, Attorney Deters prevailed on a motion to suppress evidence, where the judge ruled that the search subsequent to the stop was illegal. As a result the drugs and drug paraphernalia uncovered on the defendant were suppressed.
In a DUI case Attorney Thomas Spenser was successful in his argument that there was no probable cause to arrest the defendant for the charge of Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol despite the defendant smelling of Alcohol and committing a traffic violation. All evidence obtained after the arrest, including the blow over .08, was ordered suppressed by the judge.
In a driving while license suspended case where the mandatory minimum jail sentence was 30 days, Attorney Carolina Schottland prevailed at a motion to suppress arguing that the mere fact that the officer checked a plate where the information returned "no record on file" was not sufficient reason to pull over the defendant. The charges were dismissed against the defendant.
Attorney Margi Worth conducted a week-long trial where defendant, an 18 year old, was charged with mob action and aggravated battery for a fight that occurred in a public park. The jury returned a verdict of not guilty to all charges.
At a motion to suppress arrest hearing, Attorney Rob Deters argued successfully that when the officer made a traffic stop because he had information that the female owner was suspended, the detention became illegal because the officer almost immediately realized that the driver was male and could not have been the owner.
Attorney Robert Deters proved successful on a motion to suppress statements of defendant when the police sought to question to the defendant in his homes as to his prior activities. The judge determined that the defendant was in custody and that since the officers did not give the defendant his Miranda warnings, any statements made by him were to be suppressed.
During an ordinance violation trial at city hall, Attorney Robert Deters fought to convince the judge that there was not enough evidence to find the defendant guilty of consumption of alcohol by a minor despite there being empty alcohol containers by defendant's feet.
Defendant stopped in parking lot after park is closed and officer check the defendant's license, confirms it was valid and orders defendant to go home. Subsequently, the officer discovers that the defendant was previously issued a driver's license that had been revoked under a different variation of his name. Defense attorney Robert Deters successfully establishes at trial that the defendant did was not guilty of the offense of driving while license revoked because he had not purposefully defrauded the Secretary of State and they had issued him a license which was valid at the time of the incident. The judge found the defendant not guilty of the charge of Driving while License Revoked.
Juvenile offender and his cousin charged with mob action committing an offense of force and violence against another juvenile. At trial, Attorney Margi Worth elicits testimony confirming that there was no crime of force or violence had occurred despite prior statements by the alleged victims indicating that there had been violent contact. Attorney Worth prevailed on her motion for directed finding and the matter was dismissed.
Attorney Margi Worth filed a motion to suppress on a case where defendant was arrested after collected a large sum of money from the bank upon maturation of his CD. Police acted on a confidential and defendant was placed in custody after leaving the bank. After his arrest a search warrant was issued and items were seized from him home, including an identification that was allegedly fraudulent. Defendant was never charged with any offenses related to the money at the bank. Attorney successfully argued that there was no probable cause to believe he had committed a crime based on his actions at the bank and therefore the the arrest and the subsequent discovery of the identification were improper. The judge ruled in defenses favor and the felony offenses were dismissed.
Defendant was charged with leaving the scene of an accident after his car left the roadway in inclement whether. Attorney Robert Deters won the trial on directed verdict arguing that there was no obligation of the defendant to have stayed at the scene or notified the police since there was no damage to the vehicle or other property.
In the course of representing a defendant for a charge of Driving while license suspended, Attorney Carolina Schottland realized that the suspension was based on an insurance violation from the prior year to which the defendant had already plead guilty and had actually already paid. Attorney Schottland successfully filed the motion to vacate the sentence, convincing the prosecutor that the defendant should never have been charged with the offense because the plates were registered out of state. The prosecutor then dismissed the offense and the defendant received a refund of more that $1000 from the court and the suspension was lifted.
Defendant revoked for a 1994 DUI for which he had never appeared in court. Attorney Carolina Schottland successfully worked with prosecutor to allow defendant to plea to DUI in 2010 and to receive court supervision for the offense. The revocation was removed from his record.
In a case where the defendant was facing a three year statutory summary suspension, Attorney Robert Deters won the petition to rescind statutory summary suspension and was subsequently successful in getting the Driving under the Influence charge dismissed.
Attorney Carolina Schottland won a not guilty verdict in a case where the complaining witness testified to being slapped multiple times, slammed against some shelving, and pushed to the ground. Defendant faced not only possible criminal penalties but also immigration consequences since he was a Legal Permanent Resident up for renewal in 2011.
In a case where the defendant faced up to six months in jail, Attorney Robert Deters successfully argued to suppress the traffic stop, which was based on an allegedly obstructed license plate. All charges were dismissed.

Personal Injury:

In a difficult slip and fall case BGSA attorneys were able to successfully argue at binding arbitration that the client’s fall and torn rotator cuff was caused by the landlord's failure to keep the stairs free of debris, resulting in an award of over $240,000, even after taking into consideration comparative fault of our client.
BGSA attorneys successfully negotiated a settlement for $95,000 of the $100,000 insurance policy prior to the filing of a lawsuit for a client who sustained a lumbar herniation in a motor vehicle collision, despite the insurance company maintaining that the collision was a low-impact collision.
After receiving a low offer from the insurance company, BGSA filed a lawsuit and was able to secure a $20,000 settlement (almost double the pre-suit offer) for a client following arbitration. This was despite the defendant arguing that the client contributed to the accident and that she only had soft tissue injuries with chiropractic care.
Received the full $100,000 policy limits for a client following a binding arbitration in a case where the insurance company argued that our client slipped and fell on ice in the parking lot rather than being struck by their insured’s car as she walked across the parking lot.
Settlement of over $35,000 secured for a minor when he broke his arm after falling from the top of a playground slide. Settlement was reached prior to depositions having been taken and despite the defendants claim that the slide met all safety standards.
Settlement was reached for $285,000 of the $300,000 insurance policy for a client involved in a motor vehicle collision where the defendant also brought a counter-claim against her for injuries he sustained from the collision and there was a dispute as to which driver was at-fault for the collision.
Negotiated a $225,000 settlement for a client early in the litigation process even though defendant claiming that the client’s herniated disc was not a result of the collision.
Despite the defendant hiring a medical expert to dispute our client’s injury, since no policy were called to the scene and no emergency room treatment sought, client was awarded over $42,000 following a binding arbitration for her cervical strain and aggravation of degenerative disc disease.
Prior to filing a lawsuit a $21,000 settlement, which included a waiver of the workers compensation lien was secured for a client who was bit by a dog on her calf. The settlement included treatment she received five months following the incident for nerve problems, which the insurance company argued was not related.

Workers' Compensation:

Petitioner injured his right leg at work. Employer did not dispute that injury occurred and agreed to pay for initial surgery to that leg, but they later disputed the additional surgeries needed when the leg did not heal properly and the surgery needed on the opposite leg due to the compensatory gait that developed. After trial, the petitioner was awarded authority to proceed with both surgeries and was awarded Temporary Total Disability (“TTD”) in arrears.
In a back injury case, the Employer not only disputed that any injury occurred, but also fired petitioner within days of injury occurring. Employer denied the claim and Petitioner was unable to pursue recommended treatment because she lost her benefits when she was fired. After trial, the arbitrator found that injury was work-related and ordered Employer to pay all back TTD from when she was unable to work to date of trial. Further, Employer was ordered to pay all reasonable and necessary and medical bills including prospective treatment of Petitioner’s lower back.
Employer disputed a carpel tunnel injury arising from petitioner’s duties as a janitor and refused to pay Petitioner any form of compensation or reimbursement. The matter was taken to trial and, after the treating doctor and Independent Medical Exam (“IME”) doctor were deposed, the Arbitrator decided for Petitioner, ordering Employer to pay all back TTD, and pay for any surgery required and reimbursement of all medical bills related to the treatment and future surgery.
Plaintiff suffered rotator cuff tear during the course of her employment at a day care center. Even though the Employer denied relief throughout the proceedings, immediately after testimony was taken during trial and before filing of briefs, the respondent agreed to pay for surgery and all related medical bills and TTD.
Plaintiff was injured at his job delivering mattresses. While the initial surgery on his rotator cuff was not disputed, the Employer disputed the need for a second surgery as recommended by the treating doctor. The arbitrator, after trial, ruled in favor of Petitioner, finding the second surgery was causally related and approved the need for the additional treatment and any medical bills reasonable and necessary for said surgery.