Hiring a Criminal Defense Attorney - Rule of Thumb #3

Know what you're buying.  As a good friend of mine has been known to say, the problem with lawyers is that we don't make anything.  We don't grow crops, we don't build cars, nor do we make ballpoint pens.  We don't make anything.  

This isn't to say we aren't useful.  Don't believe me?  Go ahead and have those three extra drinks on New Year's Eve and you'll find out just how useful a criminal defense attorney can be.  

The criminal defense attorney's usefulness is more akin to a tool.  But with that tool, you should be getting something, right?  There really are three things you are getting when you hire a criminal defense attorney; knowledge, skill, and time.

We are perhaps most analogous to that guy on the street from whom you get directions to someplace you've never been.  We know the correct routes to go, and perhaps more importantly, the routes you don't want to go.  We know how to navigate the system.  This comes in pretty handy, because while everyone might know they want to go from here to there, few people know how to actually do it.

But knowing is only half the battle.  I can tell you the confession you gave might well be inadmissible because it was obtained in violation of Miranda, but it takes skill to make that result a reality.  All attorneys are not created equal.  It's just like any other business.  There are good ones and there are not so good ones.  

The skill you are hiring is being able to take the knowledge and turn it into a result for you, the client.  The result is often different for each client.  In many ways that's good.  After all, what is a win for one client might be a loss for another.  

Of course, it is assumed that every attorney that can find their way to a courthouse can fumble their way through a guilty plea on the first setting.  There isn't really a lot of skill involved in that, and many times, not a lot of knowledge.  (No, you still can't get deferred for a DWI in Texas, and no, you're not probation eligible in federal court with 25 kilos of cocaine and a gun with two prior drug convictions.)

Finally, you're buying the attorney's time.  It takes time to get good results.  Couple this with the inherent time-consuming nature of the criminal justice system, and you're likely in for relatively lengthy journey.  Understand that is part of the process.  If it were up to the attorneys, we would be done with the case sooner.  But it doesn't work that way.  Besides, you really don't want to rush this stuff.  

Remember that when you are looking to hire a criminal defense attorney, you are going to have to spend some money and do some homework in making a decision.  You're attorney will be working to defend you from whatever it is you have allegedly done.  It takes time.  It takes skill.  It takes knowledge.  Realize this is what you are paying for.  If you've done your homework, you should be okay.

If you haven't done your homework, and you're not willing to pay for quality representation, then you probably don't care that much about the result.  But what the hell do I know?

Comments

[Health News]

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[Criminal Defense Lawyer Pensacola Fl]

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