Important Factors To Consider In Selecting A Criminal Defense Lawyer
Being accused of a criminal offense results in severe emotional, financial and mental stress. The accusation alone is capable of destroying lives. While our society is supposed to withhold judgment until a case is adjudicated, a person accused of a crime is usually assumed to be guilty. In fact, even when people are found not guilty, the criminal accusation often follows them and continues to create hardship in obtaining employment and prejudice in society. The first and most important action a person accused of a crime can take is in retaining a criminal defense lawyer to defend against the accusation. But the process of selecting a criminal defense lawyer is fraught with challenges. There are many lawyers with attractive websites and many more lawyers who advertise on various media outlets. So how does a person chose the best criminal defense lawyer for the job? Here are some key factors to look for in choosing the right criminal defense lawyer:
Trial Experience
Trial Experience is a very important factor in selecting the right criminal defense lawyer. There are numerous lawyers with experience in walking into courtrooms and negotiating plea agreements. In fact there are many lawyers who have so much experience in particular courtrooms that they have become friends with the prosecutor. A lawyer who is friends with the prosecutor will fear upsetting the relationship with the prosecutor and will be unlikely to aggressively fight. Fighting aggressively means he might damage the relationship with the prosecutor which means he won’t be able to get as good deals in the future for other clients. That means that this case must be forfeited to ensure a deal can be had in the next case. A criminal defense lawyer with trial experience will not be afraid to go toe-to-toe with the prosecutor. More importantly, the prosecutor will know that the lawyer is an aggressive fighter. Hiring a criminal defense lawyer with trial experience does not mean that the case must go t trial. But it does mean that the lawyer will not be afraid to go to trial and win, when necessary.
Legal Competence
A criminal defense lawyer must be legally skilled in the most up-to-date legal developments, techniques and science in the law of criminal defense to properly represent a client. Just because a lawyer is licensed does not mean that the lawyer has remained abreast of the latest legal developments in the criminal defense field. While many states require lawyers to get some annual professional education, the annual education requirement is not linked to a specific area of practice. Legal competence in criminal defense means that there is a connection between the education and the representation. In our firm for example, no less than 4 weeks out of each year are set aside for training to develop and teach trial skills; scientific skills such as psychological influences on criminal behavior, forensics and investigative techniques; and the newest developments in the criminal law. By investing such a large period time in remaining up to date on developments in the field of criminal defense and in enhancing trial skills, we achieve a level of competence rarely matched by other law firms. That works allows us to provide exceptional criminal defense representation.
Look for someone you trust.
Your life is in your defense lawyer’s hands. It is crucial that you have someone in whom you have complete confidence and whom you can trust with your future. Bring a family member or close friend to help you evaluate the defense attorney and make sure you get your questions answered, especially if you need help paying the fee.
Make sure your lawyer makes you a priority. Don’t hire a lawyer who doesn’t devote his full attention to you when you meet to discuss hiring him. Find out how you’ll be involved in the development of the defense of your case.
Finding someone who will openly and honestly answer your questions is critical—even if those answers hurt. Too much is at stake to hire someone who’d rather please you than give you an honest assessment of the good and bad of your case. You will be working closely with your criminal defense lawyer throughout your case.
Face-To-Face Meeting
In today’s Internet world, face-to-face meetings are often overlooked. Some people will choose to save time by calling different offices and talking to multiple lawyers without ever meeting in person with them. While this tactic is good for shopping around, phone conversations do very little to tell you about the character and reliability of your lawyer. Most criminal attorneys offer free personal consultations and will be glad to sit down and discuss your case at no charge. Hiring an attorney can be an uncomfortable and nerve-racking experience, but the right attorney should make you feel comfortable in their office – giving you confidence to move forward with your case.
Does The Lawyer Limit His Or Her Practice To Criminal Defense?
This is one of the most important questions to consider when choosing a criminal defense attorney. Just as the medical profession has become increasingly specialized, the increasing complexity of the legal system has led to more and more attorneys limiting their practices to certain areas of law. By limiting his or her practice, it is much easier for an attorney to keep up with new developments in the law and to master the skills needed to succeed in a given area of law. The jack of all trades is master of none. Therefore, you are usually better off with a criminal defense lawyer than a general practitioner who dabbles in criminal defense or an attorney who focuses on an area of law other than criminal defense.
Does the lawyer have a proven track record of success?
If a lawyer loses the vast majority of his trials, he is either not a good trial lawyer, is not good at discerning which cases would be best suited for a plea agreement instead of a trial or he may simply have the misfortune of always having clients with bad facts who insist on going to trial against the attorney’s advice.
If, on the other hand, a lawyer has won most of his trials, the odds are that he is a good trial lawyer. This is particularly true of criminal defense lawyers who consistently win, because the deck is usually stacked against the defendant.*
It is much easier to build a winning record as prosecutor than as a defense lawyer. A prosecutor with a losing record is probably a bad trial lawyer, while a defense attorney with a winning record is probably an excellent trial lawyer.
Price Is Not An Important Factor
While price is often the first question asked, it is not and should not be the most important factor. Price is of course always a factor because if someone does not have the money then a criminal defense lawyer cannot be retained. The question that ought to be asked is how valuable is your liberty and freedom. Imagine what a day in jail would be like. How about 10 days? How about a year or five years? Choosing a criminal defense lawyer based only on price ignores the value of experience, legal competence and accessibility. A criminal defense lawyer with a hundred or even fifty clients can charge less because he has many clients but such a lawyer will not have time to prepare a proper defense, will lack competence and will not be accessible. The personal nature of proper criminal defense representation means that a criminal defense lawyer must have time for the client which necessarily eliminates price as a factor.