You’ve been charged with a serious offense or have already been convicted or even jailed. You’re afraid and have experienced the crushing weight of the legal system.

Fritz Scheller -
Attorney at Law

is passionate about getting the best possible outcome for you, and has the skills and high-level experience successfully handling both Federal and appeals cases.

Don’t be discouraged.

How Your Case Is Different
And Why You Need A Different Kind of Attorney:

 

Most attorneys, even those who say they specialize in criminal defense, practice in a broad range of areas. The bulk of their experience comes from trials for mundane state offenses such as DUI, minor drug charges and petty theft.

However, once you’ve been convicted and need to appeal, or if you’re facing serious state or Federal charges, you need an attorney with a different set of skills.

“Our prime purpose in this life is to help others.”

― Dalai Lama

Biography + Background

Fritz Scheller’s lifelong passion has been helping others. Today he does that by standing beside men and women who’ve been accused of serious offenses; if convicted  they stand to lose their liberty — at the least, their lives will never be the same.

 It’s a family tradition. His grandfather was a judge, his father a professor at DePaul University and at The John Marshall Law School in Chicago.

After studying at the University of Texas as an undergraduate, Scheller attended the Stetson University College of Law — Florida’s oldest law school — where he was number one in his class and won the jurisprudence award for civil procedure.

Before graduating, Scheller transferred to the University of California at Berkley where he did community service and was in the top 1% of his law school graduating class.

Scheller became an assistant Federal defender in Orlando in 2000 and became a supervisor in 2002.

This experience gave him a deep understanding of how the Federal courts work and strengthened is commitment to fight for the rights of those accused of crimes.

In 2004, Scheller moved into private practice, working with noted criminal defense attorney Barry Cohen in Tampa and, after two years with the famously aggressive defender, opened his own practice in Orlando.

In addition to his work in Florida, Scheller has handled Federal cases in the Southern District of New York (Manhattan), the Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn), the Western District of Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh), the Western District of New York (Rochester) and the Eastern District of Virginia — a notoriously rigorous jurisdiction that oversees cases originating in Washington, DC.

His deep experience with Federal trial procedure led Scheller to become the CJ Counselor for the Federal Middle District of Florida, representing people who can’t afford to defend themselves against the Federal government in court.

This work, often involving difficult cases, keeps Scheller tuned in to changes in Federal court practices. He trains other attorneys and his written pleadings are well-known and used by lawyers in Federal courts across the country.

Scheller’s legal opinions have been published in premier law journals including Legal Arguments, Mercer Law Journal and Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law.

Areas of Practice

Fritz Scheller Law is focused on serious criminal offenses,  Federal cases and appeals. To be successful in these areas of the law, an attorney must have extensive trial litigation experience, a comprehensive knowledge of applicable law, meticulous investigative and analytical skills and the mettle to stand up to the power of a Federal prosecutor.

 Trials and Appeals

Original trials in which a defendant has not yet been convicted make up the bulk of the cases handled by Fritz Scheller Law. However, appeals — in which a defendant who’s been convicted seeks to overturn or modify a  conviction or sentence — also constitute a substantial portion of the firm’s practice.

Fritz Scheller Law has submitted appeals all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, which hears just 1% of the cases submitted.

 

Appeals

Pursuing an appeal is very different from defending a client in an original trial. There’s already been a conviction and your attorney is looking for mistakes made by the judge in the original trial that could convince a panel of appeals judges to overturn the conviction or modify the sentence.

Spotting these mistakes takes both extensive knowledge of applicable law and lengthy trial experience.

But not all good trial lawyers make good appeals attorneys. A good trial lawyer has to think on his feet and work the perceptions and emotions of a jury. Appeals are heard not by juries but by hardened, seasoned judges. It requires the willingness to do a week’s worth of research on a single point and then write 100 detailed pages of analysis compelling enough to a trained legal mind to overturn or reverse the trial court’s decision.

Appeals in Federal courts are the most difficult. They require not only a high level of legal scholarship but also a high level of writing ability. Federal appeals judges pick apart motions word by word.

 

Federal Prosecutions

It’s scary when you’re staring down the barrel of a Federal prosecution. The Federal government has extraordinary investigators and skilled prosecutors who win 98% of the cases they bring to trial.

We’ve won 60% of the Federal trials we’ve defended — a success rate that’s 30 times the average.

If you believe that you’re the target of a Federal investigation, you need to consult an experienced attorney immediately: Your liberty and your economic well-being are in serious danger.

Fritz Scheller Law is very experienced in defending clients from Federal prosecutors, and is especially skilled in arguing mitigation — a critical specialty in Federal cases.

 

White Collar Crimes

These are primarily economic crimes committed in the course of running a business or practicing an occupation. Fraud, bribery, Ponzi schemes, insider trading, embezzlement, cybercrime, copyright infringement, money laundering, identity theft, and forgery are all considered white collar crimes.

Although usually not associated with violence, the effects on the victims can be just as severe as a physical attack. For this reason, law enforcement and prosecutors treat these offenses very seriously. These crimes are notoriously difficult and costly to prosecute — and defending yourself against an allegation of white collar crime can be just as difficult.

If you’ve been charged with a white collar crime you should call an attorney experienced in defending white collar cases as soon as you know you’re being investigated.

Beginning your defense before you’ve been charged gives you the best chance of achieving a favorable outcome.

Fritz Scheller Law is superbly equipped to investigate and defend you when you’ve been charged with a white collar offense.

 

Business Violations

Business can be charged with violations of administrative and civil regulations. They can also be charged with crimes, and when that happens, the owners, officers and investors are often the targets of criminal prosecution. Like white collar crimes, business violations can be complex and highly technical.

 

IRS Tax Cases

The Internal Revenue Service administers the Federal tax code, which has grown to about 75,000 pages of regulations. The chance that you may run afoul of something on one of those pages is pretty high. However, most people are never investigated or prosecuted for minor violations.

However, if the IRS targets you, you’re in for a fight. The IRS can levy civil penalties, charge you with criminal offenses, freeze assets, confiscate property and bank accounts and bankrupt you with enormous fines.

And that’s for making an error through negligence.

If the IRS believes you intentionally defrauded the government, it may charge you with a crime. It was a Federal auditor who took down famous mobster Al Capone in the 1930s after prosecutors had tried and failed to convict him on a variety of other charges. Convicted of tax evasion, he spent eight years in a Federal penitentiary.

If you’re being investigated by the IRS, you need to speak to an attorney experienced in tax prosecutions immediately.

Drug Offenses

If you’re found guilty of the manufacture, possession, transport or sale of a prohibited substance such as cocaine, methamphetamine, oxycodone or marijuana you will likely face harsh punishment: incarceration in a state or Federal jail, stiff fines, forfeiture of property and loss of professional licenses or accreditations.

A skilled attorney who knows how the courts apply the law in drug cases is essential success in defending yourself against these charges.

 

Firearms Offenses

Especially for those with previous criminal records, firearms charges are extremely serious.

If you’re a convicted felon, it is illegal for you to possess a firearm. Even if you legally possess a firearm, if you’re convicted of having that weapon while engaged in drug trafficking or committing a violent crime (a 924c charge) it can increase increase your sentence from an additional five years up to life in prison.

 

Battery

There are varying degrees of charges that can be brought in the area of battery, but it generally involves touching another person with the intent of being offensive or causing harm. The simplest cases are usually classified as misdemeanors while more serious cases — such as when the victim is permanently injured — are felonies.

 

Immigration Removal Proceedings

If you’re not a United States citizen you may be subject to administrative proceedings that could result in you being forced to leave the U.S. Formerly known as deportation, the process is now called removal. Typical causes for removal proceedings might be if your visa has expired and you have not left the U.S., or you’ve committed crimes in the U.S. during your residence. Immigration law is highly technical, and the hearings are held before an administrative law judge appointed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

If you’re facing removal, your attorney should be intimately familiar not only with the law but with the intricate steps of the administrative hearing and the removal process.

 

Human Growth Hormone / Steroids

Human Growth Hormone (HGH) and anabolic steroids have come under intense scrutiny by state and Federal prosecutors. In addition to the headline cases involving athletes, many cases have been brought against compounding pharmacies and others.

Unlike most other drug cases, the use of HGH and steroids is prosecuted under the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act rather than the Controlled Substances Act. If you’ve been charged with trafficking or sale of Human Growth Hormone (HGH) or steroids, you need an attorney with experience not just with drug cases, but with HGH/steroid trials.

Fritz Scheller Law has successfully defended complex cases alleging the sale of HGH and has experience with the intricacies of these cases.

 

Child Pornography

Child pornography is illegal contraband under federal law, which defines child pornography as any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a minor (someone under 18 years of age).  There are also state statutes banning the making, selling and possession of child pornography. Penalties are severe. If you’re charged with violating the Federal statute — which may require nothing more than using a computer that was shipped from out of state — you’re facing a minimum 5 to 15 years for a first offense and substantial fines for possession and up to 30 years for producing child pornography.

Visual depictions include photographs, videos, digital or computer generated images indistinguishable from an actual minor, and images created, adapted, or modified, but appear to depict an identifiable, actual minor.  Undeveloped film, undeveloped videotape, and electronically stored data that can be converted into a visual image of child pornography are also deemed illegal visual depictions under federal law.
           The legal definition of sexually explicit conduct does not require that an image depict a child engaging in sexual activity.  A picture of a naked child may constitute illegal child pornography if it is sufficiently sexually suggestive.

 To succeed in complex trials and Federal appeals court, being aggressive in the courtroom is not enough. Exceptional preparation, thoughtful analysis, high quality writing and effective presentation are all required.

In warfare, the greatest victories are won before the battle actually begins through research, preparation and choosing where and how to attack.

Likewise, in court, what happens before the trial usually determines the outcome.

Especially in state cases, we too often see people who are charged just because they’re arrested. The police often fail to do a thorough investigation.

At Fritz Scheller Law, our approach encompasses all of these phases of representation, from a thorough investigation right through trial and appeal.

If you’ve been accused or convicted of a crime, Fritz Scheller Law is committed to providing you with the vigorous and effective defense guaranteed you by the U.S. Constitution.

Our Approach

INVESTIGATION

A successful defense always begins with thorough investigation. What did law enforcement miss or ignore in their investigation? What did prosecutors misinterpret? Fritz Scheller Law employs expert investigators, including former FBI agents, who have the skills and the determination to find the facts.

LITIGATION

When the facts are known, it’s time to build a defense that’s solidly grounded in the law and the events that led to your accusal or conviction. Especially in Federal court and in appeals courts, emotional pleas will not succeed. Your attorney must effectively present a compelling reason under the law to dismiss or defeat the charges against you.

MITIGATION

In cases where the prosecution’s evidence and arguments are strong, it may not be possible to defeat the charges. Especially in Federal court, it’s the defense’s obligation to present evidence that mitigates the offense. Why did the defendant commit the crime? Are there extenuating circumstances — sickness, a dependent spouse, history of charitable work — that might sway a judge to hand down a more lenient sentence?

At Fritz Scheller Law, we are very compassionate with our clients. We understand that the legal jeopardy they’re in affects every part of their lives. We try to see them through the process by seeing them as a whole person, not just as a defendant in a criminal case.

Contact Fritz Scheller

200 East Robinson Street

Suite 1150

Orlando, FL 32801 -1970

t: 407. 792.1285

f: 407.649.1657

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© 2019 Fritz Scheller P.L.  All rights reserved.

Don’t be
discouraged.

How Your Case
Is Different

And Why You Need
A Different Kind of Attorney: