Attorney Sarah Toney has attended over 80 hours of lab and course work at Axion Labs to have better training in the area of forensic science.
Starting in September 2011, Sarah was in the 4th lawyer group to ever have completed a course at Axion in Forensic Chromatography. There, she learned how the machine which tests blood, called a chromatograph, works. She had hands-on labs with the machine, which is used every day in hospitals and crime labs to analyze blood for alcohol or other things.
In January 2013, Sarah was in the 1st group of lawyers to ever take Forensic Drug Analysis. In this course she learned about the chemical makeup of solid drugs, as well as how to test for drugs of abuse including illegal drugs. She performed hands on tests in the lab, including colormetric tests, to determine the names of solid substances she was testing.
Finally, in January 2014 she was again the 1st group of lawyers to complete the third forensic course: Forensic Driving Under the Influence of Drugs. There she learned how to test bodily fluids for drugs of abuse, and had instruction on pharmacology of the body. This was to better understand how long each drug stays in the body as well as it's effects on the body.
Each of the courses must be taken in order, and Sarah is still the only lawyer in Illinois to have completed all 3 courses.
Sarah is a firm believer in being the best lawyer she can be. She believes this training makes her better able to understand the lab testing which goes on in criminal and DUI cases. The time and expense to take these courses was worth it if helps even one client.