James D. Rosenberg, Shaheen & Gordon, P.A., Concord

Specializing in Criminal Defense: White-collar

October 19, 2017

Kendal J. Bush, Photographer,

We’ve selected six Lawyers of the Year for portraits and to share trends in their legal specialties and a quotation that has inspired them in their work.

Notable trend: Pressed by limited resources and faced with increasing demands relating to community safety, state and local law enforcement are more and more often initiating a range of criminal charges prior to completing a thorough investigation. They often take the word of a complaining alleged victim without pausing to consider his/her motives to make the allegation, conduct interviews with key witnesses and before evaluating whether the state can really meet its high burden to prove a criminal case beyond a reasonable doubt. At the same time, modern press and internet news outlets tend to focus coverage at the time a charge is initiated rather than reporting on a case to its conclusion. Notwithstanding advances in investigative science and technology, this trend has led to a concern that the number of individuals and entities being wrongly accused of criminal conduct is growing. In turn, the role of the criminal defense lawyer has never been more important than it is right now — to remain sturdy, energetic and vigilant in the face of often stigmatizing and sensationalized criminal allegations.