Family Law

• Divorce
• Child Support
• Child Custody and Visitation
  Susan has developed a formidable family law practice which focuses on financially complex divorces, modifications, and contested custody and visitation issues. As these family law matters often involve allegations of criminal activity, including sexual abuse, domestic violence, drug and alcohol abuse and white collar crimes, Susan’s professional training and litigation experience enable her to identify criminal issues and either capably advise or represent the client accordingly.
• Paternity
• Premarital Agreement
• Spousal Support

Criminal Law

• Criminal Defense
  In my over 30 years of legal experience I have represented numerous clients in contentious custody battles, many of which have involved allegations of child sexual abuse, criminal conduct and complex medical and psychological issues. An attorney’s professional familiarity with these criminal defense issues, which impact custody decisions, is often critical to a favorable outcome.
• DUI/DWI
  When I entered private practice years later, I’d decided that it was unlikely that I could effectively practice criminal defense due to my bias — an occasional DWI or a nonviolent crime committed by a first offender was all the criminal clientele I anticipated.
• Sex Crimes
  I am Susan Roach, and I began my legal career as an assistant prosecuting attorney in St. Louis County over 30 years ago, brimming with dreams of protecting the community from the bad guys who had victimized our citizens. As my trial caseload was jammed with child sexual abuse and rape cases, my compassion understandingly rested with the crime victims on whose behalf I tried case after case, obtaining a 100 percent conviction rate. As far as I was concerned then — I’m now ashamed to admit — the defendants’ legal rights were non- existent, as I presumed they were all guilty.
• White Collar Crimes
• Theft
• Drug Crimes
• Murder
  Everything changed when an investigator I’d worked with previously contacted me regarding representing an 18-year-old African-American man who was charged with murder. I was flattered that he’d recommended me, but appalled at what he told me — “He’s innocent... we know he is... the right guy is out of our jurisdiction. There have been so many unsolved service station murders in that area that the authorities charged him to keep a lid on the political fallout.”
• Juvenile Crimes
• Arson
  I represented the first woman in over 100 years in Missouri for murder and arson, in which the state sought the death penalty. Two favorable outcomes arose therefrom: The Supreme Court confirmed that my introduction of polygraph evidence into evidence was correct and the Supreme Court dismissed the charges based on double jeopardy.
• Restraining Order
• Forgery
• Money Laundering
  I represented both a third-offense drug lord/businessman and a California businessman, each charged with money laundering in separate cases in Federal District Court.
• Manslaughter

Health Law

• Personal Injury
  W. Edwin Roussin is a member in good standing of the Missouri Bar, who began his legal career as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney in St. Louis County, Missouri after receiving his Juris Doctorate from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, Missouri. Thereafter, he entered private practice with a small Clayton based law firm where he honed his litigation skills in the Missouri State Courts, focusing on general civil litigation. Mr. Roussin developed a reputation for exercising tenacious advocacy on behalf of his clients whom he represented in personal injury, business and contractual disputes and family law matters. During the span of his over 20 year legal career, he has litigated hundreds of jury and bench trials, obtaining remarkable results for his clients, who were spread across numerous Missouri counties, including St. Louis City and County, St. Charles, Jefferson County, Franklin County, Warren County, Boone County, Pike County and others. Mr. Roussin has been active in appellate practice for many years, resulting in countless appearances before the Missouri Court of Appeals, where he has argued on his clients’ behalf effectively.