US Courts

Kim T. Stephens ranks as one of the most accomplished trial lawyers and attorneys in the state of Georgia. With more than twenty-two years of experience in litigation, Kim has successfully resolved numerous high profile cases, defending professional and college athletes, doctors, police officers, and teachers charged with crimes ranging from misdemeanors to serious felony crimes. Kim has extensive experience in the areas of criminal law, personal injury, business and contract litigation, and probate law in the Athens area and around the State of Georgia. He practices in all courts including federal courts, superior and state courts, local municipal courts, probate courts, recorders courts, UGA student hearings, administrative hearings, and appellate courts. Kim represents individuals charged with misdemeanor crimes, including DUI; felony crimes, including drug charges, sexual offenses, family violence crimes, burglary, theft, and murder; and federal crimes throughout Georgia, providing an aggressive defense for his clients and consistently achieving optimal results for the people he represents. Kim is recognized both locally and nationally for his professionalism and skills as a litigator. He has earned the rank of 10.0, i.e. "superb," on avvo.com, achieving the highest possible score on the ten point scale that Avvo uses to grade attorneys. Avvo, the world’s largest online database committed to reviewing and ranking attorneys, awards the 10.0 ranking to less than 1% of attorneys nationally, placing Kim in the top percentage of attorneys in the United States. Martindale Hubbell, an attorney peer review database, has recognized Kim as “distinguished counsel,” which is a widely respected mark of achievement, differentiating a lawyer from his or her competition and reflecting a high level of respect in the legal community. More locally, the Athens Banner Herald named Kim as the people’s choice attorney for litigation in both 2013 and 2014. The Reader’s Choice Awards are based on votes from citizens in the Athens area and reflect Kim’s stellar reputation as a DUI and criminal defense attorney in the local community. Kim has provided expert legal commentary and/or given interviews to both regional and national news media, including: the Athens Banner Herald, the Red and Black, the Atlanta Journal Constitution, ABC news, Fox news, ESPN, CBS news, and many other local and national news organizations.

Alan Sack is a Registered Patent Attorney and an experienced intellectual property attorney. A graduate of MIT and the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Alan helps his clients protect their patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets in disputes before district courts across the United States, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (US PTO), as well as before the United States International Trade Commission (US ITC). He has served as lead and associate counsel in numerous patent, trademark, unfair competition, and copyright litigations and has also mediated intellectual property disputes. In the realm of patent law, Alan handles patent and design patent litigation matters before U.S. district courts, and inter partes matters before the US PTO, including patent appeals, reissues, reexaminations, and post-issue review proceedings. He also counsels clients on patent preparation and infringement matters and has extensive experience in the preparation, prosecution, and appeals of patent applications before the US PTO in a broad spectrum of technologies and designs. He is experienced in patent and copyright protection of technologies relating to computer sciences and business methods, as well as nanotechnology, biotechnology, medical devices, imaging, LED lighting, mechanical devices, energy storage, radiation detection, superconductors, computer sciences, signal processing, iontophoresis and chemical technologies, waste treatment, polymer molding and processing, chemical engineering, petroleum processing, films, fluid handling, and business methods. Alan also has successfully overseen opposition proceedings before the European and Japanese Patent Offices, and handles licensing negotiations and preparation of license agreements. Alan is experienced in trademark, unfair competition, and trade secret litigation in the U.S. district courts, and opposition and cancellation proceedings before the US PTO. He routinely counsels clients in adoption and clearance of trademarks and service marks and the protection of trade secrets, as well as U.S. and foreign trademark filing, prosecution, opposition, and appeals. His practice also encompasses counseling and negotiation of branding and advertising transactions. He advises clients regarding protection and use of trademarks in advertising and product packaging, advertising claims, and the use of appropriate marking of patents and registered trademarks on product packaging and brochures. Alan has extensive Trademark, Copyright, Trade Secret & UC protection, Counseling, Licensing, and Litigation experience in the Apparel, Banking, Entertainment, Fabrics, Food, Footwear, Gaming, Music, & Restaurant industries. Alan has been a longtime member of the International Trademark Association (INTA) and an active member of the Trade Name Subcommittee of the Trademark Enforcement Committee of INTA. Alan has also handled a variety of copyright and entertainment related litigation, registration and counseling matters, and has litigated software and television copyright infringement actions in U.S. district courts and before the US ITC. In a recent US ITC investigation, Alan and his team prevailed on summary determination in an investigation involving a children’s television show. The ITC’s Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) found lack of substantial similarity between the accused television show and the copyrights asserted in the investigation. Alan has also handled matters related to copyright infringement actions in the music industry and been successful in taking down infringing content for music posted on various Internet websites under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. (DMCA). He has also successfully conducted arbitrations under ICANN’s Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution (UDRP) arbitration procedures. Alan is a member of the Federal Bar Association and is part of a team of three senior patent litigators that has taken on an initiative to provide the district courts designated to participate in the Patent Cases Pilot Program (PCPP) with a series of in-depth and interactive multi-session presentations on the relevant substantive and procedural aspects of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act. The sessions look at the how the new patent act affects the conduct of patent litigations before the U.S. district courts and the interplay between district court litigation and the new post-registration proceedings before the USPTO. Alan and his colleagues have presented before the judges, magistrate-judges and law clerks of the Southern District of New York, and the Eastern District of New York and have contributed to the drafting of the local patent rules that are shared by these courts.

The Law Offices of Attorney Patricia (Pat) Cresta-Savage offers clients the advantage of an experienced attorney with over 20 years of advisory and courtroom litigation experience providing independent legal representation in civil actions, civil rights, and criminal defense. She is a licensed member of the bar in DC, MD and NH, and can represent clients in several different courts. In CRIMINAL DEFENSE, she has effectively represented those charged in Maryland, the District of Columbia, and New Hampshire with many different types and degrees of crimes, including but not limited to serious offenses such as: felony murder, assault with intent to kill, armed robbery, carjacking, possession and/or distribution of controlled substances, felon in possession of firearms, embezzlement, credit card fraud, as well as lesser criminal charges of many kinds. In CIVIL RIGHTS, she has successfully represented clients in civil actions concerning police brutality, gender discrimination, sexual harassment, race discrimination, and employment law. She was co-counsel in a landmark Maryland decision concerning the unconstitutional retroactive application of sex offender registration law: Doe v. Department of Public Safety & Correctional Services, 430 Md. 535, 62 A.3d 123 (2013)

Mr. Morris has been practicing law since 1994 and is a diverse individual with many interests. Unlike other attorneys, Mr. Morris was working on an advanced degree in an unrelated field when he had a calling to become an attorney and he instantly switched from his science-based studies to law. Mr. Morris has owned a retail store, has written computer software and has been on the Board of several non-profit corporations, including the SPCA of Northern Nevada. After graduating from law school, Mr. Morris based his practice on "righting wrongs" and started a heavy practice in civil rights and employment law such as wrongful terminations, disability discrimination, medical leave issues, personal injury and medical facility injuries. His law practice philosophy led him to a specialized area of Tribal and Indian Law where he has represented many Tribes and their members. He was eventually asked to be a judge for the Appellate Court for the Nevada Tribes and he served as a justice for this Inter-Tribal Court of Appeals of Nevada. He has worked as both a plaintiff’s attorney in private practice as well as being General Counsel, Employment Counsel, and Senior Employment Counsel for large national and international corporations including the World’s largest equipment rental company. Mr. Morris has received published decisions in both Federal and State Courts and he is currently licensed in all Nevada Courts including the Nevada Supreme Court, Nevada Federal Courts, Federal Ninth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals and multiple Indian and Tribal Courts. He has lived in both Reno and Las Vegas and provides services to all of Nevada including its rural towns. Due to the nature of the cases handled by Mr. Morris, the majority of them are filed in Federal Courts - which are located in either Reno or Las Vegas.

Donald J. Baranski received his Bachelor of Arts in Humanities Pre Law, from Michigan State University. This was a triple major of American History, Philosophy, and Psychology. He then received a Master of Arts degree in Philosophy from Michigan State University. He then obtained his Doctorate in Law from Michigan State University College of Law. Baranski has been a licensed Attorney and Counselor at Law in the State of Michigan since 1988. He clerked for a trial judge for two years. He worked as a City Attorney, and as a public defender. Baranski has handled a general practice of law including: family law, criminal law, juvenile law, adoptions, contracts, real estate, landlord/tenant, probate estates, wills & trusts, guardianships and conservatorships, mental health law, social security disability, workers compensation, unemployment compensation, education law, collections and bankruptcy. Baranski has conducted jury trials and bench trials in District, Probate and Circuit Courts. Baranski is also admitted to the Western District of Michigan and Eastern District of Michigan Federal Courts.

Tessa K. Muir is an accomplished trial attorney as a former federal prosecutor and former Army JAG officer. As an Assistant US Attorney in the Western District of Michigan, Tessa served as the lead prosecutor in hundreds of federal criminal cases and Sixth Circuit appeals. She worked closely with and trained federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies on search warrants, computer investigations, and human trafficking — including the Michigan State Police, FBI, DEA, ATF, Homeland Security, police departments, and sheriff’s offices throughout Michigan. Now, she uses that knowledge to understand weaknesses in an investigation and areas where law enforcement and investigators made critical errors. From the first stages of an investigation to the final stages of appeal, Tessa knows how the system works from the inside out. She uses her expertise as a former federal prosecutor to help her clients understand the investigative process, find weaknesses in the case, and build a strong defense. Tessa’s clients routinely comment that she is responsive, empathetic, professional, and effective. Tessa is a persuasive courtroom advocate and has won multiple not-guilty verdicts at trial. She has succeeded in both state and federal courts in achieving the complete dismissal of cases after filing Fourth Amendment challenges to traffic stops and searches. Tessa has convinced prosecutors at the state and federal levels to agree with her position on motions ranging from reversing improper sentencing conditions to excluding evidence against her clients at trial. Tessa succeeded in a motion to reverse a federal judge’s decision to deny bond to a client pending trial in a serious RICO conspiracy case. She achieved early release from a halfway house for a client suffering from a mental breakdown. She secured a sentence significantly below the recommended range in a federal healthcare fraud case, allowing her client to avoid serving prison time. These are just some examples of the results she has obtained for her clients. Tessa has earned commendations for her work as a federal trial attorney from the FBI, Homeland Security, and the State Bar of Michigan. Since 2015, she has been selected by fellow attorneys and federal judges in the Western District of Michigan as a Steering Committee member and instructor for the Hillman Trial Advocacy Program —the district’s premier federal trial practice program. Tessa founded and leads SBBL Law’s Title IX practice group and has become a national leader in the field. She represents students, staff, and faculty members who are either the victim (complainant) or the accused person (respondent) in Title IX sexual harassment and sexual assault cases at schools and colleges nationwide. She puts her background as a federal prosecutor and defense attorney to work to ensure the Title IX investigation process is as fair and thorough as possible for her clients. Her expertise and track record in this field are unrivaled, and she brings a deep understanding of Title IX laws and policies to fight for a fair and just outcome in every case. As a Title IX attorney, Tessa has successfully advocated for clients from five years old through college grad students and professors. She has won findings of “not responsible” for clients at Title IX hearings, obtained confidential settlements from schools that failed to follow the proper procedure, and advocated for supportive measures for clients who have experienced sexual assault and harassment. As a mom and step-mom, Tessa understands the unique dynamic of a family going through the difficult and overwhelming process of navigating the complex and overwhelming Title IX process. She acts as a true advocate, giving a voice to her clients and ensuring the investigation reflects any and all evidence and arguments in their favor.

The Law Offices of David M. Doré, P.C. is a litigation firm. Mr. Dore’s experience included consultation with attorneys on procedural rules for Federal and State and City courts for all New York metropolitan area court systems as well as courts in numerous other jurisdictions and countries. Coordinate service and filing of documents in courts for matters various New York State and Federal Courts. Mr. Doré trained attorneys and paralegals on Federal and State courts electronic filing procedures and court procedural rules in Federal and State litigation. He has handled commercial litigation procedural issues for matters pending in New York, and involving parties in California, Florida, Wisconsin and Washington, DC courts. He has coordinated cases related to international service of process under the Hague Convention and Inter-American Treaties; effecting service pursuant to those provisions in China, Italy and the Caribbean. Mr. Doré advised attorneys on White Collar criminal defense Federal and State, procedural rules, working alongside former Assistant U.S. Attorneys and coordinating cases with United States Attorney’s Offices for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. Coordinated investigations of entities infringing on copyright ownership and trade violations, including the dismantling of hundreds of counterfeit sellers of cigarettes. Mr. Doré also worked for the New York City Corporation Counsel conducting pretrial discovery and investigations for the Bronx Tort Division. Interview witnesses, including 50-H hearings, depositions of numerous prisoners at various New York State Correctional institutions. He has appeared and defended the City of New York in hundreds of cases at New York County Supreme Court, Bronx County Supreme Court and New York City Small Claims court. These appearances were at over 500 preliminary conferences and hundreds of depositions examining plaintiffs with actions against the City of New York. His advice was sought by Police Officers, Firefighters, Sanitation Inspectors, Public School teachers and other New York City personnel for pending litigations. In 2021 Mr. Doré was honored to be appointed to the AAJ Voter Protection Committee by President Navan Ward, Jr. President of the American Association for Justice.

Ryan C. Bueche is the rare combination of a lead trial attorney and a lead appellate attorney. Prior to entering private practice, Ryan worked for four different federal judges in the United States Western District of Texas. While in law school, Ryan completed a nine-month federal internship with United States District Judge Walter Smith in Waco. After graduating from law school in 2008, Ryan worked as a Federal Law Clerk for United States District Judge Orlando Garcia in San Antonio, and from 2008 until 2011, Ryan served as a Federal Briefing Attorney to United States District Judge James R. Nowlin in Austin. Upon completing those three federal clerkships in 2011, Ryan joined Germer’s Austin office, and he was elected to be a Principal in 2015. Since joining Germer, Ryan has focused his private practice on trial litigation and appellate litigation, and he specializes in defending companies and individuals in lawsuits involving product liability, intellectual property, personal injury, insurance coverage, complex business disputes, and employment disputes. In his role as a trial attorney, Ryan is licensed to practice in all State and federal trial courts in Texas, and he is also licensed to practice before the United States District Courts in Michigan and Indiana. Ryan has successfully tried multiple cases to verdict as lead trial counsel. In all of those cases, the plaintiff was seeking to recover seven-figure damages from Ryan’s clients, and all of the juries in those cases returned favorable verdicts for his clients. Ryan has also worked on larger litigation teams in “bet-the-company” lawsuits, including a case that resulted in a defense verdict for Ryan’s client in which the plaintiff asked the jury to award the plaintiff more than $1 Billion. Ryan also regularly serves as lead counsel in administrative proceedings, including contested hearings before the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles. As an appellate attorney, Ryan has successfully briefed and argued numerous appeals as lead appellate counsel in State and Federal appellate courts. Within several months of entering private practice in 2011, Ryan served as lead appellate counsel before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the Fifth Circuit issued an opinion in favor of Ryan’s client. Since 2012, Ryan has continued to regularly serve as lead appellate counsel for purposes of briefing and oral argument in numerous State and federal courts of appeals, including appeals to the following courts: • The United States Fourth Court of Appeals • The United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals • The United States Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals • The Texas Third Court of Appeals • The Texas Fourth Court of Appeals • The Texas Fifth Court of Appeals • The Texas Eighth Court of Appeals • The Texas Tenth Court of Appeals • The Texas Supreme Court Most recently, at the end of 2023, Ryan was lead appellate counsel in an appeal in which the Texas Supreme Court granted a Petition for Review and issued a ruling in favor of Ryan’s client, which is something that occurs is less than 6% of cases. Ryan’s broad appellate experience includes handling appeals involving product liability, commercial disputes, employment disputes, spoliation disputes, jurisdictional disputes, Anti-SLAPP disputes, and insurance disputes. Ryan also regularly serves as appellate support counsel for trials in State and federal court. For all of that work before trial and appellate courts, Ryan was given the honor of the Texas Super Lawyer Rising Star in 2017, 2018, and 2019, which is an award that is limited to 3% of attorneys under the age of 40.

Brian Roller has been litigating all types of cases – large and small – in jurisdictions throughout the country for more than 15 years. Brian was born and raised in the State of New Jersey, before leaving for undergraduate education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Brian returned to the northeast, where he attended law school in Manhattan at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. At Cardozo, Brian was a member and editor of the moot court team. Today, Brian is an experienced litigator who is proud to represent individuals and corporations as they pursue justice from those who have wronged them. Brian’s extensive background and experience cover everything from personal injury actions against individuals and their insurers as well as municipalities and wrongful death actions, to complex commercial litigations in both state and Federal Courts across the country. Before becoming a lawyer, Brian had the unique opportunity to work at Good Karma Broadcasting, LLC and participate in the management of a start-up radio station group that was focused primarily on sports talk programming. Brian’s roles with the station group ranged from the executive producer of the sport’s station’s programming to reporter, sales liaison, interviewer, problem solver, and everything in between. This entrepreneurial experience provided Brian with a unique insight into the numerous and often complicated problems faced by businesses and their managers. Brian’s varied experience in business and in the law provides him with a rare perspective of the problems that the firm’s clients face, and an eye for the efficient solutions they seek. As an attorney, Brian has successfully fought Fortune 500 Companies on behalf of his clients, as well as smaller businesses and individuals. Brian has been able to obtain a final and satisfactory resolution of all kinds of complex disputes through various means including pre-trial motion practice, litigation, arbitration, mediation, and negotiation. Today, Brian uses his extensive litigation experience primarily to help individuals who have been injured or killed due to the negligence of others. Brian began his legal career working as an associate in New York for the prestigious national law firm of Katten Muchin Zavis Rosenman, LLP. Brian is licensed to practice law before the courts of the State of Florida as well as before the courts of the State of New York and is admitted to practice in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York, and the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Brian has also been admitted pro hac vice to practice in many other Federal and State courts around the country to represent clients in particular cases. Brian was trained in complex commercial litigation but has more recently represented many satisfied clients in high-stakes personal injury litigation. Outside of the office, Brian is a proud husband and father of three. Brian is also an avid sports fan and has a particular passion for the University of Wisconsin Badgers.

R.J. Suzuki is licensed to practice law in the State of Arizona and the United States District Court. Fluent in Spanish, Mr. Suzuki is a member of Los Abogados, the Arizona Hispanic Bar Association, and the State Bar of Arizona. He was a former Trustee on the Maricopa County Bar Foundation. Upon graduation from the University of Arizona College of Law, in 2000, Mr. Suzuki was selected to serve as law clerk to the Honorable Howard Fell of the Arizona Superior Court in Pima County, who was assigned to the court's criminal calendar. Mr. Suzuki next accepted appointment as prosecutor in the Office of the Maricopa County Attorneys Office. During the next three years, as Deputy Maricopa County Attorney, Mr. Suzuki investigated and litigated felony matters as part of the Major Crimes Gang and Repeat Offender Program Bureau. From the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, Mr. Suzuki accepted a position as Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Arizona. In his nearly two years prosecuting federal crimes, Mr. Suzuki was responsible for the resolution of numerous federal felony and misdemeanor cases in Tucson and Phoenix. Mr. Suzuki primary focus is in criminal defense in City, State and Federal Courts. Mr. Suzuki provides aggressive and professional representation for his clients.