BRICS & WES, L3C
Civil and Criminal Defense Law Investigation |
Mediation Office
"Mere access to the courthouse doors does not by itself assure a proper functioning of the adversary process."-Thurgood Marshall
Albert" Al" Grandoit,
fChief Investigator/Capital Mitigation Specialist/ Mediator
Al Grandoit is a cross-cultural expert, investigative expert, mitigation expert, public policy mediator, host, human rights consultant, and Haiti Commentator focused on history, culture, religion, policy, politics, activism, and current events.
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​Al is a graduate of the University of South Florida with a degree in Political Science and minor in Public Administration, later pursuing his Master of Liberal Arts in Government at Harvard University E.S. After his undergraduate studies, Al worked for Florida's Department of Children and Families Servies and Office of the Attorney General investigating allegations of child abuse and neglect. Al later held supervisory and administer positions for children and family centered organizations and mediated disputes in the courthouses in Massachusetts. In New Orleans, Al worked as the senior mitigation specialist/investigator for Louisiana Capital Assistance Center. Al served on the New Orleans Independent Police Monitor’s police-citizen community mediation implementation committee and assisted in the training of its mediators and in program development. Al also served as the Interim Executive Director for Community Mediation Services NOLA.
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Al recently served as Board President for the Haiti-New Orleans themed nonprofit organization-Krewe Du Kanaval. Al is also served as Board Vice President and Interim Board President for the National Slave Ship Museum Initiative, and he currently serves on the board for Twin Sisters Reunited, which promotes the connection between sister cities, Cap-Haitian and New Orleans. He also serves on the board of Urban Conservatory in New Orleans. He has contributed to StoryCorps, WWOZ, WXPN, WBOK, 4WWL, WDSU6, NOA TV, OFFBEAT Magazine, WWNO, NOLA Homes Project 500, L’Union Suite, The Haitian American, and consultations include the Netflix documentary, The Pharmacist.
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Shelia Goldston is a licensed investigator specializing in civil law investigations. She has spent the last year focusing entirely on workers comp fraud investigation. She has more than five years of Administrative Assistance, traumatic brain injury care manager, and certified in basic life support, OC pepper spray, and CPR. Her experiences spans working with Tulane Hospital, Touro Infirmary, and organizations such as Arc of Greater New Orleans, Volunteer of America, New Orleans, and Orleans Parish Sherriff Office as facility monitoring clerk. She holds an associate degree in Criminal Justice and currently pursuing bachelor’s in Child Development and Family Studies at Southern University New Orleans.
Shelia Goldston
Investigator
William Hicks. William attended Virginia Hampton University to pursue his bachelor’s in psychology. While attending Virginia Hampton University William worked with Black Campus Progressives to raise social awareness and assist people of New Orleans post Hurricane Katrina. William later transferred to Dillard University to double major in psychology/African World Studies. While at Dillard University, William worked with Common Ground and ACORN and assisted with rebuilding residents’ homes and aiding the homeless. William’s has worked to help reduce sweatshops.
William Hicks
Record Abstractor
Diana Trimble
Record Abstracter
Diana Trimble is a dual citizen, holding both UK and USA passports and has lived in England, France, and Germany in Europe; and California, New York, and Louisiana, in the United States, with tours, conferences, and other travels taking her to over a dozen other countries. She first began working as a legal secretary to fill gaps between jobs as a musician, theatre performer, and freelance writer while gaining an undergraduate degree from San Francisco State University in Creative Arts. While living in Los Angeles (with a musical group under contract to Atlantic Records) she worked in entertainment law, ultimately rising to assist the VP of Legal Affairs at Columbia Pictures/Sony Entertainment. An interest in drug-law reform became personal after being the victim of a set-up involving planted evidence by a landlord in Oakland, California. With the help of a great lawyer she prevailed and the case was dismissed, a victory which left her with a passion for righting wrongful convictions. It also prompted a return to England where she worked for SIMPOL, a global democracy organization which she represented at conferences in India, Puerto Rico, and Denmark. She has campaigned for numerous social justice causes for over 20 years and prides herself on altering a pre-formed opinion, if the facts don’t fit. She continues to write freelance and perform professionally in New Orleans, with research remaining her number-one passion, useful in all endeavors: from music, to investigative journalism, to criminal justice.
Valerie Lynn Hanna
Attorney and Investigator
Valerie Hanna brings an informed global approach to investigations having studied in Montreal, PQ., and practiced law in Canada, and the state of California. Valerie has successfully passed bar exams in Ontario, Canada, England and Wales and California. Years of academic training from top notable schools including McGill University are the foundations for creative, and inventive approaches to problem solving and accessing information critical to your case. Valerie has developed a fine tuned sensitivity to the facts critical to a successful defense or in the alternative those required to satisfy either a civil or criminal threshold of proof. Valerie continues to maintain her attorney status with an active license in California. If you are looking for professional, informed, investigations that leave no stone unturned, Valerie is your go to investigator, who not only knows how to "find" evidence in a practical context, but also knows what is important to find, from a legal perspective.