When I started getting into trouble I became pretty acclimated to legal procedures. Calling my attorney and working out bail was just another way to spend a Saturday night. Unfortunately, the stiffer the charges, the more difficult it was to talk my way out of a bad situation. After so many charges, I found myself slapped with a long jail sentence, and I realized that I wanted to turn things around. Fortunately, my lawyer was able to walk me through yet another process, so that I could make the right changes. My blog discusses how to emotionally cope with legal issues so that you can start living a good life.
Trademarks are crucial for protecting your brand and standing out in a competitive market. However, navig
It’s unavoidable — as we age, we start thinking about our eventual passing and what will happen to our es
Being falsely accused of a crime is a nightmare scenario that most people dread. It's an incredibly stres
Workplace sexual harassment is a pervasive issue that affects employees in various industries. It is esse
Navigating through a divorce or separation can be a challenging experience, especially when it comes to p
Most of the time when you will need an attorney in your life for affairs such as handling your will or helping out with the legal logistics of purchasing a house, you have used a civil affairs attorney. By contrast, if you are a defendant who is being prosecuted for a local, state or federal crime, you will need to hire the assistance of a criminal defense lawyer. Although in many small towns, a lawyer will fulfill the roles of both of these types of lawyers, elsewhere, you will have to look into hiring an attorney who specializes in one or the other. This brief article will investigate 4 things you should look for when hiring a criminal defense attorney: experience, specialty, rapport and whether you should hire an attorney from a large or small firm.
Experience
By experience here, the definition is rather amorphous. It does not refer merely to the number of cases for which the attorney has been hired, but rather, a variety of factors. The most important thing you should be looking for is the attorney's success rate. A good attorney will not take each and every case that comes his or her way. Rather, a good attorney generally will take cases for which he or she has the experience and knowledge to win. One should not feel ill at ease to ask what the attorney's track record is. Similarly, an attorney should have experience in the specific courthouse where your trial is taking place, or, at the very least, working knowledge and relations within the courthouse. It helps to have an attorney familiar with the courtroom staff within the court in which you are being tried. This helps breed a sense of familiarity and comfort, for the attorney him- or herself and you.
Specialty
Remember, an attorney is not a catchall for someone who specializes in every type of legal case in existence. Some are better and more well-trained in certain cases than others. Feel free to look around and ask potential attorneys what their specialty is. For example, if you are the defendant in a trial revolving around a DUI, ask around to find which attorneys specialize in drinking and driving cases. Ask about their success rate and how many trials, in total, they have defended someone for a DUI. This can be said of every type of criminal case. If an attorney is unwilling to give you an answer, or gives you vague answers and defers the questions, you may wish to take your business elsewhere.
Rapport
Although this may seem like a vague phenomenon that may vary from person to person to lawyer to lawyer, this is one of the most important categories that you should factor in before hiring an attorney to represent you in a criminal case. If you do not feel at ease with a lawyer or if you do not feel like disclosing the details of the case with your lawyer, you should take your case elsewhere. The human element that exists between client and attorney is often times overlooked; however, if you're not comfortable with your attorney, he or she cannot help you to the best of his or her abilities.
Small Or Large Firm
This seems to be one of the first questions that people ask when they are looking to hire a criminal defense attorney: should I hire an attorney from a large or small firm? The answer to that question is simple: most practicing criminal defense attorneys actually practice in small firms. Most large firms are reserved for those practicing civil cases.
There are a variety of factors that should go into hiring a potential criminal defense attorney. Hopefully, this brief article has given you the lowdown on factors that will help you choose the lawyer that's right for you.
Share