While every case is different, and outcomes cannot be guaranteed, I have the confidence that comes with nearly two decades of successful lawyering. For many years I maintained yearly spreadsheets with each case recorded along with the outcome. Although I became too busy to continue with that practice, those logs are still available upon request and give a good indication of my success rate. Dismissal is always the goal in every case until factors indicate that goal is an impossibility. And as I tell clients, there are many ways to skin a cat and avoid conviction—all of which demand work on the part of the lawyer and all of which demand effort on the part of the client as well. Clients must be part of their own defense team by not getting in further trouble, following the advice of counsel, obeying the rules of the Court and court personnel, and avoiding injurious habits and troublesome friends. If I am rowing one way in a boat and the client is rowing in the opposite direction, we simply will not arrive at our destination which is to avoid harsh outcomes. Year over year I would place my batting average on every type of case against anyone in the city. To give examples, in better than 90 percent of DWI cases, my clients avoid conviction. In nearly 100 percent of my Assault Family Violence cases, my clients avoid conviction. Likewise, so far in 100 percent of my Sexual Assault cases my clients have avoided conviction. In truth, in whatever type of case, my clients avoid conviction most of the time. If conviction of the charged offense cannot be avoided, we work to make the punishment as painless as possible, the fines as low as possible, and the ultimate outcome as fair as humanly possible.