Chartier & Nyamfukudza, P.L.C.

Where the firm puts its attention

Criminal defense is the entire focus of this Okemos, Michigan firm. It represents clients in both state and federal courts across Michigan, and it does not fold that work into a longer menu of services. That single focus is worth noting. Plenty of firms treat criminal work as one line item among many, and Chartier & Nyamfukudza, P.L.C. keeps to the one field.

Trial litigation sits at the core of the practice. The firm also handles appeals, habeas petitions, and post-judgment motions, among them 6.500 motions under Michigan court rules. On top of the trial itself, it takes on Title IX hearings, expungements, and licensing hearings. As a reviewer, I read that mix as a firm built around one type of law rather than one stage of a case.

Practice areas in plain terms

The four listed areas are trial litigation; appeals, habeas, and post-judgment motions; Title IX, expungement, and licensing hearings; and consulting. A defendant facing charges gets the trial work. Someone already convicted has a path through the appeals and post-judgment side. Expungement is the process of clearing an eligible record, and licensing hearings can decide whether a person keeps a professional credential. Keeping those under one roof means a client can stay with the same firm as a matter moves past the verdict.

The cases it takes on

The firm states that it has handled cases involving murder, criminal sexual conduct, drug distribution, fraud, and human rights violations. Those are serious charges. Murder and criminal sexual conduct sit at the heavy end of any criminal docket, and the firm names them directly on its own pages.

Drug distribution and fraud fill out the list. Together they point to work that spans violent felony charges as well as financial and narcotics matters. The firm does not publish case outcomes, and this review will not guess at any. What the site shows is the range of charges the attorneys have defended.

Human rights violations also appears on the firm's list of case types, which is a less common label to see on a Michigan criminal defense page. The firm does not spell out what falls under it, so this review leaves the term as the site states it. The wider point holds. The caseload described reaches across the more serious end of criminal law.

How the team is built

Two partners lead the firm, and both carry the title of litigator alongside partner. Mary Chartier is one of them. She graduated from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in 2002, and her work covers criminal defense, white collar matters, and appeals.

Takura Nyamfukudza is the other named partner. He earned a Bachelor of Science from Indiana University/Purdue University at Indianapolis and his law degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School. His practice centers on criminal defense and appeals, and he also handles white collar cases along with DUI and DWI matters.

Marisa Vinsky works as a litigator with the firm. She finished her law degree at Michigan State University College of Law in 2019. Her work includes criminal defense and cannabis law, a growing area in Michigan given the state's legal framework around cannabis.

The staff around the litigators

Behind the attorneys sit a firm administrator, paralegals, and a client relations coordinator. In my opinion, naming that support structure tells a client something useful: the firm staffs its cases with a team rather than handing them to one lawyer working alone.

Appeals and post-conviction work

Appellate and post-judgment work runs through the firm's stated practice. This matters because trial defense and appeals call for different skills. Writing a brief for a higher court is not the same job as arguing to a jury, and a firm that does both keeps that work in house.

Both partners list appeals among their own focus areas. The firm also handles habeas petitions and 6.500 motions, which are the route for challenging a conviction after a direct appeal has run its course. A client who loses at trial would not have to look elsewhere to keep pressing the case.

Work beyond individual clients

The firm does more than represent defendants. Its attorneys consult with and train other lawyers on litigation techniques and strategies. That teaching role says something about how the firm views its own trial work, and it is not a service every defense firm offers.

Consulting also appears as one of the firm's four listed practice areas. As a reviewer, I take it to mean the attorneys are comfortable putting their courtroom methods into words for other lawyers, which usually comes with real time in front of juries.

What a prospective client can weigh

The picture the website gives is consistent. This is a criminal defense firm, staffed by three named litigators, that works in trial courts and appellate courts across Michigan. It names the charges it defends and the types of hearings it takes on.

Some details are not on the pages reviewed here, and this review does not fill them in. What the firm does publish is a clear account of its focus, its people, and its caseload. For someone facing a criminal charge in mid-Michigan and weighing representation, that clarity is a fair place to start.