In case you or someone you know has these kinds of problems, like criminal charges, then you need to find a criminal defense attorney that’s willing to fight for you and that also knows how to do his job. It’s really important to know how to find the best attorney. We’ve written this article to give you tips and tricks on how to make this decision.
The firm has to have experience in the field
Before making the final decision, you have to make sure you know how many people have firm helped along the years. Also, you need to make sure that the firm is familiar with the criminal charges that you have to deal with. If you don’t really know how much experience the specific lawyer has, you can ask one question, and that is how many years has the firm handled these specific kinds of cases.
Read the reviews and testimonials they give you
It’s true, the experience is very important, as we also specified above. However, it might not hurt to hear the opinion of former clients. This way, you’ll be able actually to see how the firm handled those cases. If the attorneys were patient enough with the clients and if everything went perfectly by working as a team.
However, not all law firms will offer you testimonials, so the best thing you can do is go to the official site. There you should find some. If you are having problems, you can also directly ask the attorney where you can find this info. There are many other ways to dig up some information about a law firm – for example, Google Plus or Yelp will help you with reviews of the former clients of the firm.
Don’t forget to check the ratings of the attorney
Not many people know that there are two official rating systems for lawyers. Before deciding with which law firm you want to work for your case, you need to review these next two: Avvo.com and MartindaleHubbell.com.
When it comes to the rating of a lawyer, we can say that it is calculated by using a mathematical model that’s based on the pieces of information that are written on the profile of the lawyer – such as the number of the years of experience he has in the field, his ability, history in industry and recognition and professional achievements. The rating starts from 1 and ends with 10, 10 being the best rating an attorney can get. You should keep in mind that not many lawyers can get the ten scores.
Martindale Hubbell is a really good source that’s been on the internet for years. There are two possible ratings that a lawyer can get: AV, BV or Rated. AV is the highest that a firm can get. To get this rating, a firm must be excellent in defending their clients in a period of 10 years. The firm should also get the best reviews from other lawyers, past clients, even judges.
Make sure that the firm has experience in local courts
Experience is compulsory. So when you’re looking for a law firm to work on your case, you should look at the experience they have in practicing criminal defense, and not only – they should have some experience in the court where your case is pending. Every court has different procedures and staff, so the attorney should be familiar with the local court, too. If the attorney knows how it all goes in the court in which your case is pending, then he’ll know how to handle the case, and that’s a big plus for you.
Are you hiring an attorney or a team of attorneys?
When you’re looking for someone to defend you in a criminal case, you’ll find out that some take more than one attorney, as these cases can be very difficult. It might be better for you and your case to get a team of lawyers, instead of only one, to work on your case. As a team, they can figure it out a way to defend you faster, and the years of experience that they have together will sure be helpful. If you choose to go with only one lawyer, then he will not be able to do all the work by himself. It’s way too hard to do it and do also win it. Also, keep in mind that he might have other cases, too, so yours might not be the priority all the time – and you don’t want that. Also, this means that he might not have time to come to your trial at all – because he is handling many cases, he has to be in many courts. So it might happen that your trial is in one court, at the same time that he has another trial in another court. He cannot be in the two places at once. He will have to send another lawyer to the court, and that lawyer may not know the facts of the case, and it might ruin everything – not because he’s not good, but because he’s not your lawyer. So our advice is to go for a law firm, and not a single lawyer.
The first impression is crucial
It’s very easy to see if a lawyer is worth a shot or not. You can see that from the very first call – we advise you to call the firm/the lawyer, and see how he reacts. Does he answer, or you will be asked to leave a message? In case he did not answer, see if he calls you back fast, or if you had to wait a long time (if he called you back at all). Your lawyer needs to be responsive and take his time to answer you’re your questions. The law firm should understand what happened to you, and that it’s not an easy situation what you’re going through. It’s normal to have lots of questions.
From the very first call, you’ll see if the lawyer’s worth your time. See if communication is the key. If not, start searching for another one.
It’s all about communication
As said earlier, is very hard to go through a criminal trial. You don’t need a law firm that’s going to make it even harder for you. You should be able always to ask them all the questions that you have – and they should answer all of them. See what the hours in which you can reach the lawyers are. See if there’s an attorney on call who is going to be able for you at all times, in case there’s an emergency.
When you speak to the attorney, he should be the one to give you his e-mail address and his phone number – it’s not you who should ask. If it’s a law firm, they should give you the e-mail addresses and the phone numbers of all the lawyers that work on your case. You should be able to talk to each one of them, so make sure you are given these pieces of information.
They’re going to ask you what happened…
…and you should be able to tell them. It’s very important to tell your side of the story. You’ll need to do your homework, and, eventually, do some digging, too. You need to have all the details flawlessly about what happened when they arrested you, and why did it happen. Also, you should talk to your lawyers about your social background and give them a list of all the persons who are willing to take the stand in the court and attest that you’re a good person. Also, a list of people that fall into the category of potential witnesses that can assist your defense.
If the lawyer does not ask for these, then it’s not a good sign and should start looking for another law firm.
There’s no guarantee that you’d win
If your lawyer is good, then he won’t guarantee you that you’re going to win. Something happened to you that leads to having a criminal trial to go to. You’re very scared. Some lawyers or law firms will take advantage of you being scared (you are going to be very vulnerable) and will guarantee you that you’re going to win, so that you can choose them and pay them the money. They will lie to you, and you should keep in mind that, in some states (let’s take California, for example), it’s against the State Bar rules. The way your case ends depends on many factors; he cannot know from the very beginning how your case is going to end. When a lawyer throws in your face the fact that he’s going to win your case, without actually knowing what’s what, this is a matter of ethics, and you should start looking for another law firm.
If you did not find that lawyer that’s worth your time, try a Fairfax Virginia Criminal Attorney.
You can find your next lawyer here:
“Virginia Criminal Attorney4015 Chain Bridge Rd. Suite #JFairfax, VA 22030703-718-5533https://www.virginiacriminallawfirm.com”
