Stay of Adjudication. Client visits North Star looking at his third felony, with possible prison connotations, for more than four hundred (!!) prescription pills and a bill with a testable amount of powder cocaine on it, all within his possession. After intense negotiations and motion practice, the State alters its offer to a stay of adjudication on two drug counts at fifth degree; no jail to serve--not an hour, and no real additional consequences past a $50 fine; the matter is not a conviction, and will be dismissed in anticipation of an expungement in as little as a year. This, notwithstanding a full confession.... When you or someone you care about gets trapped in a terrible spot, which lawyer you retain to salvage what can be saved makes all the difference. All the difference....

North Star takes a call from a young woman, facing (with her mother) a mandatory minimum sentence on first degree drug counts, suitcases full of uncut methamphetamine, and an entrenched and talented prosecutor. Motions had already been filed, and lost... yet Mr. Adkins secured an almost insane outcome. No jail--not one hour; two years of essentially unsupervised probation or less; no real fine, no treatment requirement, no letters of apology... and most importantly, no requirement that she testify against her mother, or anyone else, itself a deadly obligation, always to be avoided where possible. Staggering result, one you won't see in other firms or on other similar cases.

Gross misdemeanor conviction to one count, with the other two counts dismissed. Additionally, the client has no jail to serve, received the minimal fine, and is placed on unsupervised probation. And, perhaps most importantly, the outcome ensures the civil ramifications on the business's license will not be revoked for a full year, which was the likely outcome to a felony conviction. Now, with the gross misdemeanor record, the business will not be hit hard at all by the state regulatory agency. This is exactly what the client needed and the North Star team accomplished.

This juvenile matter involved multiple stabbings, including on the victim's spine--but the result will be a sponged record, no jail or similar confinement, a letter of apology, and a reacquired future. Endless creativity and hustle was required for this troubled client, but the team at North Star possess both traits in surplus.

This client, who permitted her car to be driven by a murderous gangster, was looking at a felony life-changer, just as she brought her first baby into the world. Instead, she has some volunteer work to complete, no felony, and the capacity to remove the matter entirely, in less than a year's time. A thoughtful judge agreed with Mr. Adkins that the injuries received were less onerous than the average such attack, that the client could be trusted not to abuse or dismiss this win, and justice prevailed. Massive win.

Stay of adjudication to one misdemeanor domestic assault charge and two misdemeanor domestic assault convictions. The felony domestic assault by strangulation charge and third case of violating an order for protection were dismissed. This is a remarkable outcome because the initial offer was to plead to the felony count and serve custody time. But, the North Star team raised a creative and new argument that the strangulation count was a specific intent crime, thereby allowing the client to raise a voluntary intoxication defense at trial (which was clear as day that he was seriously impaired). The county attorney initially scoffed at such a motion. The Court did not, though, and agreed with our arguments. That was a game-changing motion as it led to a plea deal to non-felony counts, no additional jail time, and the dismissal of a third case. And after the client successfully completes probation, the stay of adjudication will result in a dismissal of the second case entirely, too. The client is thrilled with the fight given to him by the North Star team.

Client agreed to a diversionary outcome, meaning she is neither convicted nor even offers a plea of guilty as part of the agreement. And so long as she abides by the minimal terms of the diversionary agreement, the matter will be dismissed in one-year. This is a great result for a deserving client. Fearful of facing a felony for switching UPC codes while at Target - and no meaningful defense to it - the client is thrilled to walk away without a criminal record.

Client pled guilty to a gross misdemeanor criminal vehicular operation and received a stay of adjudication on the drug crime. As a result, the client will never be convicted of a felony. Additionally, the sentence did not call for time to serve in custody and only requires him to stay sober - which he has proven for the last year. This is a remarkable outcome because the facts are not pretty. He was both drunk and had a controlled substance in his system - plus pills found in his vehicle. He ended up rolling the vehicle, causing his passenger to be thrown from it. Luckily, the passenger did not suffer serious injuries. And, due to some aggressive discovery requested by the North Star team, we got the records to verify that the injuries sustained were not nearly as serious as initially feared, resulting in the opportunity to plead to a non-felony CVO. The client is ecstatic that he will avoid a felony conviction and jail time. Even the judge commented that he normally sends defendants to jail on these type of allegations, but the plea agreement took that decision out of his hands.