For 35 years, Mike Siewert has tried major cases and earned the reputation as a strong courtroom advocate for his clients. He is most concerned about the lifelong stigma a conviction can bring.

“I’ve seen the long-term effect of what a conviction on your record can do and how difficult it is to achieve success in a traditional way,” he says. “There are too many innocent people who either plead guilty to avoid the fear of a trial, or who are convicted at trial due to an ineffective counsel.”

While the legislature has reduced the barriers for sealing certain criminal records, there are still too many people who cannot obtain an expungement.

Mike is strongly in favor of the courts increasing the number of criminal offenses eligible for intervention or diversion programs, which enables defendants to bypass jail or prison time in lieu of treatment or mental-health support.

 “Some offenses do not allow for diversion or intervention programs,” he says, “and it’s one of my goals to do as much as I can to change that.”

Mike is best known for earning not guilty verdicts in defense of drunk driving and serious felony charges, and he often arranges successful and favorable resolutions by negotiation. After expertly exposing the prosecution’s weakness, he has also received not guilty rulings in cases of aggravated murder, murder, rape, gross sexual imposition, kidnapping, felonious assault of a police officer, felonious assault, robbery, and drug trafficking.

One of his favorite not guilty verdicts occurred in only 16 minutes of deliberation in a case of kidnapping, felonious assault and drug possession — as the jury understood his client’s innocence despite weeks of negative coverage in the local newspaper before trial.

In another high-profile case — a felonious assault on police officers — Mike won a jury verdict of not guilty for a client by building a case of self-defense after officers stormed into a home.

Mike is constantly improving his trial techniques. He has received the same training law enforcement officers complete, and he is certified by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) for its DWI Detection and Standardized Field Sobriety Testing program.