Criminal Law

• Criminal Defense
  Rick is a respected federal and state criminal appeals lawyer with experience in bringing all of these types of appeals and post-conviction motions. He has been ranked by Super Lawyers ten times, most recently in 2021. Contact him at his offices in Madison, WI for a consultation.
• DUI/DWI
  The defense lawyers at Coad Law can successfully defend you in your OWI/DUI drunk driving case. Drunk driving laws laws are complicated, and a lawyer can help you navigate the process to make sure your rights are defended, and you get the best possible result. The most common charges are operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating a motor vehicle with a prohibited alcohol concentration (PAC), and a refusal of a chemical test after the police read the Informing the Accused form. Drunk driving charges may stem from the use of alcohol, marijuana, or other drugs, including prescription drugs.
• Traffic Violations
  In a rare bipartisan bill in the Wisconsin Legislature, the penalties for reckless driving are getting more strict. In a recent vote, as summarized by the Associated Press, https://apnews.com/article/wisconsin-reckless-driving-legislation-530dfe547502d5ff618c66f41580f171, the legislature is seeking to curb a reported 32% year over year increase in reckless driving citations in 2021. Accordingly, the bill will double the fine …
• Sex Crimes
  Rick Coad understands how to effectively defend allegations of sexual assault. Many of the cases he has defended have resulted in dismissal, or reduced charges. Contact him today to discuss your case.
• Fraud
  What this means is that we can expect more aggressive government prosecution not only of corporations, but of the individuals within those corporations. New and evolving laws such as the False Claims Act, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and Dodd-Frank whistleblower reforms, along with expansive health care fraud laws, pose an increased risk of investigations and prosecutions of businesses and individuals.
• Burglary
  Burglary is a serious felony. It is charged when someone intentionally enters a home or business or any other type of building or dwelling, without the consent of the person in lawful possession and with intent to steal or commit a felony.
• White Collar Crimes
  Coad Law Office is located in Madison, WI, and defends people charged with white collar crime throughout the state, including the federal courts in Madison, Milwaukee, and Green Bay, Wisconsin.
• Theft
• Misdemeanors
  The two most common wildlife charges filed in federal court are violations of the Lacey Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Both carry significant penalties, including felony and misdemeanor provisions. Rick Coad has lent his expertise in defending individuals and corporations against these charges.
• Embezzlement
  Meanwhile, we have kept our same high standards of delivering exceptional results to our clients in court and administrative hearings. We have helped a number of clients avoid being charged with crimes after arrest by convincing the district attorney’s office that prosecution wasn’t warranted. Other cases resulted in referrals to deferred prosecution, amendments from criminal charges to ordinance violations, and outright dismissals. A good example of our work in state court was the deferred prosecution we secured for our client accused of keeping well over a $100,000 of his employees’ tax withholdings. The case was prosecuted by the Department of Justice. We take pride in our ability to navigate financial cases including tax fraud cases, embezzlement, and wire fraud, among others.
• Drug Crimes
  If you are charged with a criminal drug offense you need the help of an experienced defense lawyer. Drug offenses in Wisconsin state court range from possession of marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, or other illegal drugs, to possession with the intent to distribute or sell marijuana, cocaine or other illegal drugs. Rick Coad is a Madison, Wisconsin criminal defense lawyer who is skilled in defending all drug charges. If convicted, these offenses carry significant penalties. Your future is on the line, and you need a lawyer who is respected, skilled, and aggressive. We are dedicated to getting you your best possible result even in the most difficult circumstances. And we have a long track record of successful outcomes.
• Assault
• Murder
  Defense lawyers, prosecutors, and judges regard Denny as one of the best trial lawyers in Madison. No lawyer in Madison has tried more cases to a jury, or won more criminal jury trials than Denny. During his career, Denny has defended more homicide cases (five acquittals, two lesser verdicts and two cases dismissed prior to trial) than any other Madison lawyer. He has secured acquittals in numerous sexual assault trials, battery to police officer, burglary, drunk driving, forgery, theft, and sexual predator cases. He has had many clients in cases ranging from 1st degree murder to misdemeanors found not guilty by reason on mental disease or defect.
• Homicide
  Attorney Rick Coad has defended people charged with first degree reckless homicide and homicide by intoxicated use of a motor vehicle.
• Shoplifting
  Rick Coad is a theft defense lawyer who represents people charged with petty theft, retail theft & shoplifting. Contact him for a free consultation.
• Forgery
  Hiring an experienced fraud defense lawyer can be the difference between a good and bad result. Defending fraud cases requires a lawyer who understands how to deconstruct the investigation, which often times includes large volumes of reports and records, and find a way to get the best possible result. Rick Coad has defended people charged with various types of fraud, including forgery, contractor fraud, fraudulent writings, misrepresentation, check fraud, issue worthless checks, and many other fraud crimes. He has also achieved favorable results for clients charged with fraud in workplace settings. Rick understands how to defend fraud crimes and has a proven track record of success.If you are accused of fraud contact Coad Law Office for a consultation. Put our experience to work for you to secure your future.
• Money Laundering
  Attorney Coad represented a client from Oregon who was charged with being a member of a conspiracy to distribute marijuana in the Western District of Wisconsin (Madison).  He was also charged with money laundering.  The drug charge carried a mandatory minimum penalty of five years imprisonment.  After a thorough review of a large amount of police reports and bank and telephone records, Coad successfully argued to the U.S. Attorney’s office that his client was a peripheral member of the drug conspiracy, and that the amount of drug weight he should be responsible for was significantly less than the others in the conspiracy.  He negotiated a settlement for a plea to the money laundering charge, and successfully argued to the court for a sentence of just three months of electronic monitoring and a period of supervision.  Even in federal cases where the government’s proof of wrongdoing makes it difficult to win a trial, an experienced federal defense attorney can get his client a successful outcome.  Call Coad Law for a consultation in a federal drug case.

Employment Law

• Employment Discrimination
  Expungement effectively erases any court record of a criminal case, allows people to regain their civil rights, and prevents employment discrimination. These bills provide a valuable opportunity for individuals who were convicted of a criminal offense to show a court that they are deserving of a clean record.
• Sexual Harassment
  We successfully assisted more than a dozen University of Wisconsin – Madison students in matters as simple as underage drinking, keeping their records clean, and in more complicated matters alleging sexual harassment and Title IX violations.

Property Law

• Property Damage
  Coad Law Office is located in Madison, WI, and defends people charged property damage throughout the state, including: Dane County, WI, Columbia County, WI, Walworth County, WI, Jefferson County, WI, Sauk County, WI, Dodge County, WI, Iowa County, WI, Green County, WI, Rock County, WI, Waukesha County, WI, Fond du Lac County, WI, Richland County, WI, Juneau County, WI and many others. He serves clients in Middleton, WI, Sun Prairie, WI, Waunakee, WI, Portage, WI, Monroe, WI, Janesville, WI, Dodgeville, WI, Juneau, WI, Mauston, WI, Richland Center, WI, Jefferson, WI and Fort Atkinson, WI.

Health Law

• Personal Injury
  Rick Coad is an attorney in Madison, WI. He focuses his practice on criminal defense, appeals, and personal injury. The results he achieves for his clients have earned him recognition by Super Lawyers ten times.
• Auto Accidents

Trusts and Estates

• Estate Planning
  2022 was a good year for Coad Law and its clients. At the beginning of the year we invested in developing another practice area to serve individuals and families in the Madison, WI area – estate planning. While different in substance from much of our work, it is yet another way to help our clients protect their families and secure their future through avoiding the conflict in court we normally assist with. We developed a process to deliver estate planning in a timely, cost effective way, to deliver what our clients need. It has gone so well that we started it as a stand alone practice, Capitol Estate Planning. We look forward to seeing it grow.

Finance Law

• Bankruptcy