How to
Choose a Criminal Defense Lawyer
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There are lawyers for every conceivable legal
problem. However, if you face criminal charges or you are under
investigation, your legal situation is totally different from any
other legal problem. In a criminal case, your opponent is the
government – and the GOVERNMENT WANTS YOU PERSONALLY!
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Most attorneys specialize in an area of law that deals with the amount of money as the ultimate outcome. The amount of money exchanged determines "victory" or "defeat". Criminal defense attorneys, however, do not deal with an amount of
money. Instead, they deal with your, and your family's, personal
future, whether it involves the loss of freedom (i.e., jail or
prison) or other restrictions on your freedom (probation,
psychological counseling, chemical dependency
treatment). |
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Unfortunately, many people who face serious
criminal charges simply do not realize that all lawyers, like
doctors, are different. For example, you would not see a
dermatologist if you felt chest pains and needed an internist, even
if both doctors went to the same medical school. Similarly, some
attorneys purport to specialize in criminal defense even though
they handle civil matters such as divorce, business, and wills for
90% of their income and time. The 10% devoted to "criminal defense"
may be "O.K." if you are only fighting a speeding ticket and do not
care about your insurance rates – but not where your future is at
stake! |
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Every good criminal defense lawyer must be a good, experienced trial attorney. Every lawyer, like every doctor, has his or her first trial or surgery. Experience is the key to success - and EXPERIENCE EQUALS RESULTS! Would you want to be your doctor's first surgery patient when your future may be determined by the results? Not Likely. Therefore, when your personal future is at stake, try to find the
most experienced criminal defense lawyer. An experienced attorney
will get the most respect from the prosecutor's office and your
judge. Your attorney is in a superior position to advise you
whether to go to trial or not. If the case is not likely to result
in a jury saying "Not Guilty", the attorney can do the
investigation, handle the necessary pre-trial motion work, and
usually obtain far superior results for you by knowing exactly when
to negotiate. |
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