Attorney Profiles

Barry Shoults is a graduate of Lapeer Public Schools. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the University of Michigan - Flint and then received in 1981 his Juris Doctorate from the Detroit College of Law, now the Law School at Michigan State University. He was admitted to the practice of law in Michigan Courts in 1981 and in Federal Court in 1984.

He worked his way through college and law school at various jobs including selling building supplies for Church’s Lumber. He started his legal career working for Legal Services of Eastern Michigan in Flint which provided legal aid to the poor of Genesee and Lapeer counties before starting this law firm in Lapeer in 1982.

Barry Shoults is a member of various sections of the Michigan State Bar Association as well as the Lapeer County Bar Association of which he was President from 2004 - 2005. He is one of the few Lapeer County attorneys who is a member of the Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan. He is also a member of the Lapeer Area Chamber of Commerce, the Lapeer Downtown Business Association and Calvary Bible Church.

Barry Shoults was the Mayor of Lapeer between 1981 - 1989 during which he was on the Downtown Development Authority and the City Planning Commission. Prior to that he served on the Lapeer County Planning Commission, the Genesee-Lapeer-Shiawassee County Regional Planning Commission, and the Genesee-Lapeer-Shiawassee County Health Systems Agency. He was elected City Commissioner in 1973 and served one term as an elected County Commissioner (1977-78) during which he influenced the decision to build the current court house in downtown Lapeer.

Barry Shoults has taught seminars on the state regulations regarding the use of the evidentiary breath test called the "Breathalyzer" and on "How to Get Along with the Friend of the Court" He has also appeared on the television program, "Ask a Lawyer" when it was being produced by Channel 28 in Flint.

Renee Picard earned her Juris Doctorate in 1996 from the University of Denver College of Law, Denver, Colorado. This came after earning her Bachelor of Science in Public Law and Government from Eastern Michigan University in 1993. She was licensed to practice law in the State of Michigan in 1996 and was admitted to Federal Court in 2005.

Before coming to work at the Law Offices of Barry Shoults & Associates in 1998, she had worked at a children’s legal clinic, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, and a personal injury firm in Southfield, Michigan. She was also published for an annual survey for a Colorado Juvenile Case Law Update.

Renee Picard was the 2006-2007 President of the Lapeer County Bar Association and of which she has been both an officer and member of the Scholarship Committee. She is a member of the Appellate Section of the Michigan State Bar Association.

Ms. Picard enjoys volleyball, jet-skiing, the Rocky Mountains and the Detroit Red Wings.

Heather Brooks-Szachta earned her Juris Doctorate in 1997 from Wayne State University Law School in Detroit, Michigan. This came after earning her Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the University of Michigan-Flint in 1992. She was licensed to practice law in the State of Michigan in 1997 and was admitted to Federal Court in 2005.

Before coming to work at the Law Offices of Barry Shoults & Associates in 1999, she gained experience at the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office, the Wayne County Neighborhood Legal Services Clinic, and a litigation firm in West Bloomfield, Michigan.

Heather Brooks-Szachta is a past Corresponding Secretary and newsletter editor of the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan in Oakland County and has served as a Special Events Coordinator for the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation.

Ms. Brooks-Szachta resides with her husband and three children and enjoys the theatre, reading and spending time with her family.