The cops pick you up because you’ve been charged with a crime. At the first moment you get, whether on your own or through a friend or family member, you need to hire a criminal law lawyer. The last thing you want is to be appointed a lawyer from the government. You should have the opportunity to hire your own so that you are in further control of your own destiny. There are plenty of lawyers out there but they are not all the same. Learning how to hire the lawyer for your case can prove to be invaluable.
One of the most important things to remember is that you are under no obligation to hire the first lawyer that you meet with. That means that you can talk to half a dozen lawyers in your area before you decide on the criminal law lawyer that is going to represent you on your case. Take this time to ask lots of questions and do your research before handing over your livelihood and potentially even your life to just any lawyer.
You need a criminal law lawyer that has experience on the type of crime that you’ve been charged with. Murder, arson, theft – it doesn’t matter. Every lawyer has their comfort zones and you need to make sure you find a good match so that you can use that lawyer’s experience and knowledge to your benefit in the courtroom. A lawyer may still take your case to help themselves branch out, but you might not want to be a person’s test subject. Ultimately, the only one who has to deal with the sentence given by the judge is you. What this means is that the experience you look for can have a dramatic impact on whether you get a good sentence or not.
Lawyers are not equal. In addition to whether a criminal law lawyer has the same specialty, you need to find out about the level of experience in terms of winning cases. Every lawyer keeps track of these details and you have the right to find out how many cases they have won and lost. Many lawyers keep this information right on their website to help promote themselves. If your lawyer isn’t interested in giving up these details quickly, there is usually a very good reason for that – inexperience. Depending on how much trouble you’re in, you might want to go with a more seasoned lawyer so that your chances of winning improve significantly.
The only person who can choose a criminal law lawyer for your case is you. You need to hire someone quickly to help you get through all of the various hoops of the law, but that doesn’t mean that you have to settle for the first one you meet. Find out what they’re going to do for you and then take it from there. The more questions you ask, the more you’ll be in control of the situation so that you have all the information to make an informed decision.