Your initial priority after you've been accused of a crime should be to hire yourself the best criminal defense attorney you can locate. How can you find the best attorney for your situation? There are four important questions you need to ask of each potential representing lawyer.
Question 1 - How Will The Lawyer Handle The Case? - You'll need to explain the case to each legal counsel you see. Let them know what charges you are facing and give them the circumstances surrounding the arrest and charges. Once you are done, ask them how they plan to handle it. There are two things you need to watch out for with their answer:
- Ensure the lawyer understands your case clearly
- Ensure they've paid attention to all details of the case
Question 2 - What Is Their Plan Of Action? - The legal counsel you are speaking to should be telling you what kind of action they plan to take. You want to know what your criminal defense is going to be. You also want to know how they plan to proceed in defending you in a clear, concise and easy to understand manner. Even if the criminal defense attorney is good, you can feel stressed out from the entire situation when you don't understand the proceedings and what is happening.
Question 3 - What Are The Attorney Fees? - Remember that each lawyer will bill you differently. Some ways they may charge include:
- By the hour
- By phone call
- Charge for miscellaneous expenses
Make sure to get a ballpark amount so you understand about what it will cost to defend you. You need to make sure all the terms are clear including when you'll need to pay your first payment or if the lawyer requests a retainer for his/her services. While you want the best and most experienced criminal defense lawyer, you need to know what their costs are overall.
Question 4 - How Will Your Attorney Keep You Updated On Your Case? - You need to question the counsel how he/she plans to keep you updated on the case. Some lawyers will make sure you're contacted all the time while others contact you with they have information they need from you or have to share. You want the type of lawyer who will inform you of everything and how the case is progressing; it doesn't matter if there's no report at all. Make sure you stay in the loop and your lawyer keeps you there. If the only time you want to hear from your retained legal counsel is when they have something important to tell you, let them know this upfront.
While you're asking these four important questions, pay attention to how the lawyer makes you feel. Are you comfortable with their process or with them? While your case is ongoing, you'll be sharing all kinds of personal and private information; do you feel comfortable with telling them this information. You want a lawyer who won't make a judgment about you so don't settle for just any lawyer. Find one you are comfortable with all the way around.