Later this month, one of the firm's lawyers, Jason R. Sakis, will be speaking to 5000 lawyers, police officers, and social workers at the 2007 National Crime Victim Bar Association's Annual Conference in Washington, DC. He will be addressing civil litigation ivolving sudden restraint fatalities and the defense of the excited delirium syndrome.

In a civil lawsuit our law firm had been defending, which was seeking approximately $6 million from nearly 400 defendants, attorney Jason R. Sakis of the firm convinced the trial court to dismiss the claims on procedural grounds. This is a huge victory for the firm because the case had been on appeal for nearly three years and because the case was referred to the firm by the National Crime Victim Bar Association and the U.S. Attorneys' Office in California. Most importantly, our clients are pleased with the outcome of the hearing held earlier this morning.

In a civil case involving nearly 400 defendants in the Oakland County Circuit Court which is being defended by the Sakis law firm (the case was referred to the firm by The National Crime Victim Bar Association, and also, the U.S. Attorneys Office located in the state of California), the Honorable Gene Schnelz will decide later this month if the case (with an aggregate claim of approximately $6 million) should be dismissed because Michigan is not a reasonably convenient place for trial given that none of the defendants reside in the state and because the witnesses and evidence are beyond the subpoena power of Michigan. Given that this case has been on appeal for two years before the Michigan Court of Appeals and the Michigan Supreme Court, the defendants anxiously await the court's decision. To assist the court in reaching its decision, the Michigan Court of Appeals provided it (and future courts that may consider the issue) with certain factors to evaluate in a published decision which essentially created new law.

The Michigan Court of Appeals recently issued an opinion in favor of our client who was unlawfully arrested for, and charged with, prostitution by a Wayne County Deputy Sheriff. Her claims of false arrest and malicious prosecution will now be heard by a jury when the case returns to the trial court. This is a very bad case for the officer who made the arrest because of the facts.

Our female client (an African American woman) was wrongfully presumed to be working as a prostitute and she was unlawfully stopped, questioned, charged, and prosecuted for that crime simply because she was walking down Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. After walking to a bank from the sidewalk, she walked over to the same vehicle that dropped her off where the arresting police officer could see that two other women and a child were passengers in the vehicle, yet the officers descended upon them with their guns drawn in full riot gear. If that wasn't enough, the offending officer handcuffed our client and charged her with prostitution knowing that she lived a few blocks away and that she had just come from work instead of apologizing for the glaring mistake.

While the Sakis law firm was successful in getting the criminal charges dismissed on the day of the trial, our client is requesting $4.5 million in the upcoming trial for the continued pain and suffering she has endured and will continue to endure.