Crime charges are quite serious. There are not parking tickets and you could face some serious consequences if the judge finds you guilty. That is why you should get all the help you can get. Obviously, finding a good criminal defense attorney is the first step.
However, it can be hard to find the best one for your case and in many cases the budget could be a problem. Therefore, here are some things that you should take into consideration before hiring an attorney.
Criminal defense experience
Sometimes, being a lawyer for years does not mean that the person also has a lot of experience with criminal cases. You might discover that your attorney has never worked with such cases, and there is not enough experience.
You will someone who has worked as a criminal defense attorney so far. Even if the lawyer is a good one, it does not help you if he or she worked only with personal injury cases, since that experience is not useful for you.
Won cases
Before you pick an attorney it might be a good idea to take a look at its history. If the lawyer has won many cases things can prove that he does his job. Reputation can represent a powerful advantage, even in court.
Additionally, you should take jury trials into account. Things are different when you are in front of a jury so make sure that your attorney has experience in this situation as well. In many cases you might not even reach your trial and your attorney will be able to strike a deal with the prosecutor. If your lawyers have done that in the past, then the entire process should be easy.
Focus on your specific case
While all these things are important, there might be other important things, and each case is different. There are always more things to think about and here are the questions you would want to ask a criminal lawyer. Make sure that you explain the situation clearly, because it is in your interest to state all the details.
It is also a good idea to ask lawyers if they have any experience with cases that are similar to yours. For example, if we are talking about driving under influence cases, there are many attorneys that specialize in these, so if a DUI is your problem you should find one of these lawyers. Usually there are attorneys specialized in all sorts of cases, so you should be able to find someone for any felony.
Find out who will work on your case
Sometimes even if you find an attorney, you might find out that he will pass off your case to someone else. That is why it is important to know the entire team and ask who will be working on your case. This is necessary especially when it comes to big firms, where’re there is a large staff and the tasks are divided.
