An ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist
Can Make the Difference in Your Case

Attorney Andrew D. Alpert holds the ACS Forensic Lawyer-Scientist Designation as recognized by the Chemistry and the Law Division of the ACS. This means the American Chemical Society (ACS) has qualified Attorney Alpert to use validated science in his pursuit of justice. He is trained to use valid science in the courtroom and expose non-validated and invalid science.

Training That Can Mean a Successful Defense against Drug and DUI Charges

A lawyer must understand the science behind your drug charges at a level equal to the scientists presenting it to effectively defend you.

DUI, DWI, and drug crimes charges involve scientific terminology and data around evidence in the case. This evidence will largely depend on test results from the defendant, whether from breath, blood, or urine. To successfully challenge the prosecution’s case, your attorney will need to understand the science and be able to speak intelligently about it, to show how and where the findings are flawed.

Juries love data, and without the ability to challenge the data presented, your defense against scientific evidence is going to be difficult at best. Let’s look at just five examples of common issues that occur while testing for the presence of alcohol or drugs. Below are issues that may be overlooked entirely without an attorney who knows what to look for.

Common Problems Found in Forensic Chromatography Results an Attorney with the ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist Designation Knows How to Spot and Challenge in Court:

• Ethanol contamination that causes an inaccurate reading in test results
• Carry-over (or cross contamination)
• Failure to follow standard operating procedure (SOP)
• Broken chain of custody (the person must be connected to the results)
• Contamination from the surroundings or biological contamination (ss indicated by extra peaks in the readings)

A lawyer who does not have the ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist Designation is likely to miss these opportunities to successfully exonerate their client against charges based on bad forensic data. Read on to learn specifically what kind of training the ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist Designation involves.

About the American Chemical Society

The ACS is a non-profit organization chartered by Congress. It is the largest scientific society in the world and a leading source of authoritative scientific information. The ACS is considered the premier professional home for chemists, chemical engineers, and those in related fields around the world. The Chemistry and the Law (CHAL) division of the American Chemical Society consists of over 1400 members.

To help attorneys pursue justice through their knowledge of science, the ACS sponsors three immersive, hands-on courses, offered to lawyers through Axion Analytical Labs in Chicago, Illinois. Approved by the ACS Education Committee, these courses are as follows:

• ACS Forensic Chromatography Course: This course covers DUI ethanol-based analysis by HS-GC-FID. This course teaches the classroom theory behind liquid and gas chromatography and Flame Ionization Detector, Mass Spectrometry (EI and EC based), and UV-DAD work. Attorneys observe and learn, and then run tests themselves to solidify their understanding of how the instruments function.
• ACS Solid Drug Dose (Forensics Drug Analysis) Course: This course covers the instrumental analysis of solid drugs in their pre-consumption form using techniques including FTIR, GC-MS, Colormetrics, Microscopy, Thin Layer Chromatography, and more.
In this course, which applies to all illicit drugs and drugs of abuse, lawyers learn how seized drugs undergo analysis. They observe the use of instruments and use them to run their own tests in the analysis of seized substances believed to be drugs. The lawyers analyze solids, liquids, powders, and vegetable substances, as well as synthetic drugs like Spice and K2. The course addresses how an arresting officer can tell whether a white powder in a baggie is cocaine or just baking soda. The course covers the analytical techniques used, including balances, colormetric testing, TLC, microscopy, FTIR, and GC-MS. Because of its in-depth coverage of GC-MS, this course is a prerequisite to the DUID course.
• ACS Forensic DUID (Forensic Principles of DUID) Course: This course covers the pharmacology of drugs, including the driving issues in drugs and the instrumental analysis using GC-MS. Attorneys are instructed on the testing of biological specimens (urine, blood, hair, and oral fluid) for drugs of abuse/illicit drugs. Lawyers learn both quantitative and qualitative instrumental analysis. The course also provides for two additional days of pharmacology, including pharmacokinetics (the time course of the drug in the body) as well as pharmacodynamics (the impact of the drug on psychomotor function).

These three courses are lab classes involving hands-on sample development, testing, and data interpretation. This work is done according to the strict methods used in a forensic laboratory. Recognition of this training by the ACS goes beyond simple attendance, recognizing the attorneys’ retention of highly specialized knowledge.

To achieve the designation of an ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist, an attorney must complete coursework and pass a proficiency test.

Requirements Attorneys Must Meet to Attain the ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist Designation:

• Maintaining good standing with their local state bar
• Be in good standing with the ACS-Chemistry and the Law Division
• Answer questions asked by CHAL about their bar status upon demand that include compliance with bar status regulations
• Successful completion of the ACS Forensic Chromatography course (taken two times)
• Successful completion of the ACS Solid Drug Dose (Forensics Drug Analysis) course
• Successful completion of the ACS Forensic DUID (Forensic Principles of DUID) course
• Pass a knowledge and proficiency examination

Students come away from these courses with access to a curated library of materials, including, among other materials, industry guidelines and instrumentation manuals. They also gain entry into an active “Forensic Chromatography Lawyer” Google group to foster the ongoing exchange of knowledge among peers.

Don’t settle for a lawyer who gets lost in the science of DUI cases. If you are facing any type of DUI, DWI, or drug crimes charge, you need an attorney who understands the science behind cases involving chemical evidence and body specimen testing. Attorney Andrew D. Alpert can walk into a courtroom and effectively defend his clients in the midst of scientific terminology, data, and expert witnesses. Before you hire an attorney to defend you against a DUI, DWI, or drug crimes charge, contact Alpert Schreyer. He will discuss your charges with you, answer your questions, and explain how his scientific knowledge and hands-on training can bring you the best possible outcome for your case.