Alexis Austin Featured on KRDO 105.5 FM

KRDO Business Connections Interview Transcript 1-26-20

Intro Speaker 1: (00:00)
Welcome to KRDO’s business connection featuring KRDO’s advertisers and partners the best of Colorado Springs businesses. Sunday mornings at seven on KRDO news radio 105.5 FM ,1240 AM, 92.5 FM and streaming live at KRDO.com. Now here’s your host Ted Robertson.

Ted Robertson: (00:21)
Welcome to KRDO’s business connection. I’m your very hoarse host, Ted Robertson, recovering from a little bit of laryngitis here. Glad that you are with us this morning. I’m joined in studio by somebody new to KRDO and new to the field of criminal defense law and you’re going to love her. Her name is Alexis Austin. She represents Right Law Group and we’re going to talk a little bit about the why behind criminal defense. But first let’s get to know you a little bit. Alexis, tell us about you and tell us the why behind where you are now. How did you get here?

Alexis Austin: (00:53)
Good morning, Ted. First of all, thank you so much for having me on. I’m very excited. The “why”, I was actually a prosecutor in a number of different counties here in Colorado. I came out here to Colorado to attend DU law and then after that I went into the prosecutor’s office and prosecuted cases in Arapahoe County, Pueblo County, and now El Paso County. And during that time I was always trying to make sure I was helping everyone that I could. That includes people who came in as criminal defendants, victims, whoever. But what I saw is over time, my ability to help criminal defendants especially was not hampered, but it was limited because you have certain things that you have to do in the DA’s office where you’re meeting certain statistics and you have to operate in a certain way, especially with, as we’ve talked about at times in my office, we do see a lot of excess charging on criminal defendants and that’s not the right way to go about seeking justice. So what I do now is I represent people who have been charged with crimes, some are innocent, a lot of them are not innocent. But what we do is we’re getting down to the heart of what’s actually happening in their case. And my main goal is I’m presenting this client to the district attorney, not as just a file with a list of charges, but as a whole person and explaining what they have been through, what’s gotten them to this point, and making sure that they get the actual representation and the true justice that they deserve.

Ted Robertson: (02:07)
Let’s talk about Right Law Group. When was it founded and formed and, and its mission?

Alexis Austin: (02:12)
I founded Right Law Group in June, 2018 so we’re coming up on our second year here. It’s mission is to help put people on the right path in life. And we do that by talking with people, making sure we know their goals, and we’re not trying to get people out of everything. We’re not one of those defense firms that says everybody’s just being railroaded. We know that some people make mistakes, but we’re trying to truly work with people who want to get back on the right track. And that is our goal.

Ted Robertson: (02:37)
That was going to be my next question. So you started answering it already. What is the ideal client?

Alexis Austin: (02:41)
Our ideal client is someone who – well I’m sure a lot of us can say that we have not made the best choices in life. I mean everyone has probably had a speeding ticket. A lot of people get DUIs. We have a number of clients who have come back from service overseas, especially here in Colorado Springs with the military community, and they’re dealing with a lot of other issues. And then it comes out in the form of a criminal charge. So we see people drinking and then getting DUIs. We see people battling PTSD and then they have domestic violence cases. So our ideal client is someone who is either brand new to the system or who’s just had a round of bad luck quite frankly. And we’re trying to help them get their lives back on track. It’s not about shirking responsibility, it’s about doing everything that they can to get themselves right with where they need to be in their lives.

Ted Robertson: (03:24)
And what explains the spelling of Right Group because it’s not “w”, it’s a capital R as in correct. The right way to do things.

Alexis Austin: (03:32)
Right. The whole reason behind it is number one, our firm is very different than other historically legal entities. A lot of people do the vanity naming and I don’t mean that in a negative way, but you’re used to seeing Johnson, Johnson and whatever. What we’re trying to do is we’re building a group that encompasses our vision and our goals. So Right Law Group is about doing things the right way. We do it not only the right way for our clients, but we do it the right way for our employees and our attorneys. For example, all of our staff, we are all set up to work remotely from home or remotely, wherever everyone is most comfortable because we found that if our employees are happy, if our attorneys are happy, they’re more willing to give for our clients. And so doing things the right way, both in our company and for our clients is what we’re founded on. That principle.

Ted Robertson: (04:19)
Criminal defense is at the core of your firm, of your firm’s specialties. How many attorneys do you have in the firm and how many employees have you got?

Alexis Austin: (04:26)
Currently we have two attorneys. We’re looking to expand to another here in fall. I’m looking to kind of pass on my knowledge from criminal to defense and then become more of the business owner and manager. As far as staff, we have four people currently employed as staff. We’ve got two legal assistants and two paralegals that help us. And like I said, everyone is remote so we have to have group get together so that everybody feels connected. But we are very integrated based on our use of technology. We are talking all the time. We use different programs like Slack and text messaging and all of our systems are wireless and paperless. So we stay pretty connected even though we’re dispersed throughout the city.

Ted Robertson: (05:03)
Tell me about my experience. I’ve gotten into a little trouble and what is my experience going to be like?

Alexis Austin: (05:08)
Well, the beautiful thing is we are available 24/7 so anyone can call in at any point in time. And what they get is they get to direct email from me after they call in saying, “Hey, I want to make sure I get you help as soon as possible.” They go through this process where they fill out a confidential form. It’s encrypted with 365-bit encryption. They give us their information and based on whatever information they provide, we analyze it and we can get them set up on our calendar, giving them a direct link to our calendar and they’re scheduled immediately so people can get through this process of getting an attorney on their side and able to come in for a free consultation within a matter of minutes.

Alexis Austin: (05:42)
Then what we have when people are actually in our firm, like I said, everything is electronic, so we give them all their information electronically. We’re completely open to communication. There are plethora of ways our clients can get ahold of us, so we have texting where our clients can text us anytime. We’re always responding, and myself and my paralegals and another attorney in our office, Brandi Joffrion, we all are available via text. So our clients text us, they call us, and we’ve gotten really good feedback from it because we are here as a supportive group. We’re not just that stuffy suit. Our clients know that we’re here to be their friends. here to walk them through their path, and make sure that they get the best care possible.

Ted Robertson: (06:15)
Okay. So along with you, Alexis, you have two attorneys, you have a four staff members, a myriad ways to communicate, but there’s something, there’s a special added element to this, uh, criminal defense soup that you’re putting together here. You like personal contact. You like to be with your clients from first contact, right through adjudication or when you’re in the courtroom, whether you go to court or not. You like that personal connection. Talk about that some more.

Alexis Austin: (06:44)
Well, that’s what’s so important in these cases. When I was a district attorney, a lot of what I saw was – it gets overwhelming and it’s nothing bad about district attorneys or public defenders for that matter. Lawyers in state-operated government organizations, they have a lot of files and that’s the problem is the person becomes a file because they have so much work they have to slog through. For us, what we’re trying to do is we don’t necessarily limit, but we make sure we take the time to get to know each of our clients to make sure it’s a good fit. One of the things I pride myself most on about our firm is we’re not here just trying to get everyone’s money and be this hot shot lawyer. We are trying to make sure we find the correct lawyer for them. So if one of our lawyers is not the right fit for them personality wise, if our technology doesn’t work for them, I give them at least three different names of people that I trust. They are usually my competitors quite frankly, but I know what different firms offer and what services they can provide to that client. So I’m making sure that I’m finding them the correct relationship. I would love it to be me, but if it’s not, I’m going to tell them that and hook them up with the person that can most help them. So yes, connection is key in our firm.

Ted Robertson: (07:44)
Yeah. A personal connection. So your client, as you noted before and you described very aptly, does not become a name and a file with a list of charges. They are the whole person presented holistically to the, uh, to the prosecuting side. There’s gotta be an advantage to that to you having come from that side of the law, I imagine, you know a lot of the prosecutors as well now. And how are your relationships with them and how does that benefit your firm and in turn your clients?

Alexis Austin: (08:08)
I do, I know quite a few of them, although most of them are now on the felony side, the higher levels. It’s interesting, a number of defense attorneys were previously prosecutors and you’ll see this advertisement, “former prosecutor now working for you”. Everyone says that kind of thing. But I take a different approach and I always tell my clients up front, my goal is not to be antagonistic and hurt your case by being just a brute in court. My goal is to make sure that I’m opening the lines of communication with everyone.

Ted Robertson: (08:34)
We have about 45 seconds left, which I don’t love, but that’s enough time for you to give us just a quick couple of takeaways if you’re in trouble, what? And then you’ve got a couple of quick new laws coming out in 2020 may affect people’s lives.

Alexis Austin: (08:48)
Correct. So if you’re in trouble, I highly recommend getting in contact with a lawyer immediately. For us, we do that by being available by phone and our number is (719) 822-6227. People can call or text that at any time. They can also go to our website which is www.rightlawgroup.com and reach out to us there. And there are a lot of new changes coming out. One of the biggest things is we have a number of laws coming in March where possession of different substances is going to be a misdemeanor, not a felony, offense. So a lot of people are asking questions about this and I’m happy to answer any questions people have about what those levels are and how we may be able to help them if they find themselves in that situation.

Ted Robertson: (09:25)
Your phone number one more time.

Alexis Austin: (09:26)
(719) 822-6227.

Ted Robertson: (09:29)
And a person can text you at that number.

Alexis Austin: (09:31)
They can text us. Yes.

Ted Robertson: (09:32)
Perfect. And the website.

Alexis Austin: (09:34)
Our website is rightlawgroup.com.

Ted Robertson: (09:39)
You are listening to the voice of the very wonderful Alexis Austin who is the founder and owner of Right Law Group here to protect you from the excesses of prosecutorial layering of extra charges, things like that. A favorite client – be open, be honest, own your problems, be transparent with Right Law Group and they will take very good care of you. That’s your favorite client. We appreciate our partnership with you so much. I’m looking forward to being back in the studio with you again, not long from now, and we don’t have to croak out an interview together. Sound good.

Ted Robertson: (10:12)
You’ve been listening to the business connection here on KRDO news radio, seven o’clock Sunday mornings at KRDO at 105.5 FM, 1240 AM, and 92.5 FM. You want to hear this interview again? Go on back to the website, KRDO.com select radio and click on podcast back next week at seven o’clock.