Hiring a criminal defense attorney for yourself or for your loved one can be challenging. However, it is one of the most important. It is important for you or for your loved one to get a reputable criminal defense attorney. Aside from reputable, the attorney should be the one that you can trust. If you are one of those who have no idea how to hire a criminal defense attorney, you can check out the following information.
There are several steps that you can follow if you want to hire a criminal defense attorney. These are as follows:
- First of all, you will need to find out if you need a criminal defense attorney. If you are currently facing a criminal charge, whether it is minor or major, you should seek legal advice. Please do it to understand the charges against you, even though you do not want to hire a criminal defense attorney to represent you in court. You should know the defense that is available to you from your attorney. Besides, you should also know any possibilities for a plea bargain and the upcoming steps that you would face if you were convicted.
- Then, find out the role of a criminal defense attorney. Criminal defense attorneys are the ones that represent those who are charged with criminal conduct or have had a lawsuit filed against them. Most of them specialized in either criminal or civil law. Usually, civil cases are brought by an individual or company. As for the criminal charges, they are brought by the local, state, or federal government.
- After learning about the criminal defense attorney, it is time for you to decide what kind of defense attorney that you need. For anyone who has broken a state law, it is better for you to choose an attorney that is good at state law. If you have no idea about the state law cases, they include traffic violations, broken contracts, robberies, and family disputes. If you are getting charged with breaking a federal law, you are suggested to hire a more experienced defense attorney that will be able to delicately spend a large amount of time on your case. It is the best option as it will involve federal law that is known to be more complex. As for the federal cases, they include but are not limited to cases that involve violation of the US Constitution, cases in which the United States is a party, bankruptcy cases, copyright cases, and patent cases.
- Once you decide what kind of attorney that you want to choose, talk to the public defender. It will be needed for you to know the things that set a defense attorney and a public defender apart. For your information, public defenders are the ones that are usually reserved for those who fail to afford private attorneys. Many of them have limited time and resources to work on your case. If your resources are limited and your charge is not that serious, you are recommended to discuss with the public defender assigned to your case.
- After that, find a specialized criminal defense attorney. Feel free to find an attorney that focuses on his practice in a certain area of defense that you need. In fact, a lot of criminal defense attorneys have the ability to not only handle routine criminal defense cases but also can focus in a certain area of defense.
- Then, you can select the qualities that are important to you. The qualities that we are talking about include amazing communication skills. These skills are important so that they can defend your case. Apart from that, you can also consider the one that has a good track record. The more experience the attorney has, the better.
- After finding the criminal defense attorney that you think the best, you have to calculate the cost of hiring them. In general, the cost is based on how complex the case is. If expert witnesses are needed or if there will be extensive motions made, you will usually be asked for a retainer. Attorneys are known to be smart. They know lots of ways to charge you. Some of the things that they may charge you include flat fees, hourly rates and fees for certain parts of the case.
- In order to determine if you feel good with the attorney, you are encouraged to meet them face to face. Go see them and decide if they have everything that you are looking for. To make sure that you get the best one, just arrange some meetings with some attorneys. Do not rely on only one.
- When you get the chance to meet these attorneys, make sure to prepare a list of questions to ask. Some questions that you can ask include:
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- Do you have any experience handling cases similar to mine?
- How much of my criminal case will you actually handle?
- Why are you the right attorney to handle this case?
- How many jury trials have you litigated?
- How quickly would you begin work?
- What information do you need to get started?
- How often do you work out plea agreements or ask for a lesser charge?
- What are your attorney’s fees, and how are they calculated? Do you offer a payment plan?
- Would you be willing to provide references from clients you have helped?
- Not only the attorneys, you can also determine the other members of your legal team. Just ask the attorney about their staff.
- Then, discuss the facts of your case with the attorney. One of the things that you can ask is how they would approach your case.
- Once you are sure to hire a certain criminal defense attorney and their defense team, make a contract.
- After making a contract to hire them, work with them well and make sure they will help you to win the case that you are currently facing. During this period, be open to them.
A bookworm and researcher especially related to law and citizenship education. I spend time every day in front of the internet and the campus library.
