Allen & MeyerandDefense & Service By Dan Baldwin

“‘The defense you need and the service you deserve’ represents our unique commitment to total service to our clients. We believe that our clients need the best legal defense available combined with the personal attention they deserve when dealing with such difficult circumstances. We are able to use our experience as former prosecutors and our

considerable experience in trial with many different types of criminal cases in a way that’s a great advantage to our clients,” says Steven Meyerand, partner in The Law Offices of Allen & Meyerand, PLLC. His partner in this two-man, criminal defense firm, Jared Allen, says, “We deliver on our commitment to personal service. As people have come to work with us, they have learned that we live up to our commitment by not only achieving a great result in their legal case but also providing them a level of personal service that exceeds their expectations.”

Practice areas for Allen & Meyerand include all areas of criminal defense such as, DUI and vehicular offenses, domestic violence, dangerous and violent offenses, drug offenses, fraud and theft, traffic violations and juvenile offenses. The firm opened its doors in April 2013.

“We have seen firsthand the confusing and often heart-breaking circumstances of people charged or about to be charged with a criminal act. The effects on the individual person and his or her friends and family can be traumatic. One of the main reasons we formed our firm is to eliminate or at least mitigate that trauma for these people,” Meyerand says.

“Our expertise is the law, but our passion is for people,” Allen says.

Former Prosecutors and Current Partners Allen and Meyerand met while working as prosecutors at the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. They worked side-by-side in a trial

group where they prosecuted felony cases together, such as drug crimes, property crimes and violent crimes.

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Seeing the often powerful effect such events have on people and families, was a key motivating factor in moving the young attorneys into criminal defense. “There are very few moments in your life that are as confusing or as upsetting than when you or a loved one has been arrested or charged with a criminal offense,” Allen says.

“When someone is arrested or charged, it’s a critical time and people are best served, we believe, by a team of attorneys who have experience on both sides of the process. Criminal charges are life-altering events that have an impact on people that often can’t be measured at the outset of a case. Helping people get through and beyond that crisis was a key element in our decision to make this move,” Meyerand says.

The move from prosecuting felony and misdemeanor crimes into defense attorneys was a natural one for each man from a legal perspective, but also from a personal and emotional perspective. Allen and Meyerand became defense attorneys for the same reason they became prosecuting attorneys and that is to help people in trouble.

As a prosecutor, Allen felt there were victims of crimes who were underrepresented and who needed a skilled professional to go the extra mile legally with them to make sure justice was truly served. The partners have the same philosophy concerning criminal defense cases.

Allen says, “We take the clients and we become partners with them in their defense and we become champions for their cause and we do everything we can to get the best result in their case. In every case, clients want to know that someone is fighting with them to get the best result. “We get to fight for our clients.  We get to tell them why our client’s

individual case is different from everybody else they see in the same type of situation.”The partners are committed to providing a higher and more personalized level of service than what a client would normally expect

from a sole proprietor or a small firm. Each client is fully represented by both attorneys, a level of attention made possible by their experience and expertise in the specialized field of criminal defense law.

Their goal is to offer every client a true legal team with a big firm level of service and attention that few people can afford. Each client knows that he or she has the constant attention of their attorneys and the constant availability of their attorneys.

Meyerand says, “Lots of people who can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on legal services can get the type of personal service that we strive to provide. We want to take that level of care and that level of service and try to extend it to a much wider group of customers. One of the things clients see is that very personalized service. They’re not calling the firm and speaking to anyone else about their case. They’re speaking to me; they’re speaking to Jared. When they come in to meet with us, they meet with the two of us to talk

It fuels us to try to be better at what we do

on a regular basis.

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about their case. When they go to court, they know they’ll be represented by an attorney who knows them and their case.”“In every case, we work together as a team. That’s a level of service that I think sets us apart and that really lets our clients see that

there is an added benefit to our firm that may not be found in some smaller criminal practices,” Allen says.

Accepting Challenges and Achieving Results Criminal defense cases can be challenging not only for the client, but for the attorneys involved. The stakes are high, personal and

filled with unknowns. The consequences of a bad outcome can involve the client’s freedom, reputation and ability to move forward in life the way they want to. In criminal law, the consequences are so high and they’re so personal that they tend to color everything that happens in a criminal case.

Meyerand says he actually enjoys facing the unexpected and not knowing what the next case, motion or action might bring. Regardless of how much the team prepares for a case, the unexpected will generally happen. A good criminal defense attorney relies on his or her knowledge, past experience, preparation and the ability to think, speak and communicate on their feet.

“The ability to be flexible and to be reactive to anything that can happen is an important factor in a trial, but it’s also essential to being an attorney. Very little of what we do can be scripted and ready to go from the outset of a case. It’s always a question of seeing the problem, identifying it and being able to react to it instantaneously. It’s one of the most challenging things about being an attorney, but it is also one of the most rewarding things about being an attorney. Some of those unexpected things work out in your favor and it’s very gratifying, very rewarding and you can get some very important outcomes for your client,” Meyerand says.

Allen notes that there is a significant emotional challenge to handling criminal defense cases. Soon after opening the office, both attorneys realized the amount of time and emotional energy that would need to be committed to a case. Each found it impossible to leave the cases in the office when they left work at the end of the day.

“I think that both of us embrace that pressure and that responsibility. It fuels us to try to be better at what we do on a regular basis. The best thing about a job is when that job challenges you and you enjoy that challenge,” Meyerand says.

Allen and Meyerand deal with the challenges of the job by embracing them. Clients are encouraged to call them any time day or night if there is a question about the case of if they are losing sleep by worrying about the outcome or some aspect of the case. “Chances are we’re concerned about the same thing and it’s something we can work through with them. It’s part of our firm’s philosophy that we

It fuels us to try to be better at what we do

on a regular basis.

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offer a personalized service that is not only based on providing a first-class legal defense, but also the personal service they would expect from someone who is really walking hand-in-hand and step-by-step with them through what—for most of our clients—is the most difficult experience of their lives,” Meyerand says.

Allen says, “We deal with that pressure and responsibility by embracing it. We realize these cases and these people are always going to be on our minds. We’ve learned to embrace it and that is the reason why our firm exists. We are totally committed to providing our clients with the best legal defense available and the personal attention and service they deserve.”

Meyerand says, “Once our clients get to know us and once they get to see the tenacity with which we will fight for them, they understand how important that commitment is, how valuable it is and how rare it is. Our clients know they have two attorneys who will be at their side fighting for them and alongside them every step of the way.”

At A GlanceThe Law Offices of Allen & Meyerand, PLLC2375 E. Camelback Road, Suite. 600Phoenix, AZ 85016(602) 620-6943www.amlawaz.comyourlegalteam@amlawaz.com

“The Defense You Need and The Service You Deserve”

Jared Allen • Juris Doctor, Seattle University School of Law, 2007• Bachelor of Arts in English & Political Science,

University of Arizona, 2000

Steven Meyerand • Juris Doctor, Michigan State University College of

Law, 2007• Bachelor of Arts in History, Oakland University, 2003

Practice Areas• DUI • Vehicular Offenses• Domestic Violence• Sex Offenses• Dangerous/Violent Offenses• Drug Offenses• Fraud & Theft• Traffic Violations• Juvenile Offenses

Professional MembershipsState Bar of Arizona