Hiring a criminal defense lawyer
Here are some tips and tricks on hiring a lawyer to help you avoid costly and painful mistakes.
Imagine you’ve been charged with a crime. It is a serious and devastating event in anyone’s life. You are probably under an enormous amount of stress and anxiety about your future. At this point, there is one crucial decision that could decide your fate.
And that decision is what lawyer to hire to defend you from the criminal charges. This is not a decision that should be made on the spur of the moment. Do your research and choose wisely. In this post, we’ll guide you through some questions to ask when shopping for a criminal defense lawyer.
1. What areas of law do you practice?
Many lawyers are generalists, meaning they handle a wide range of legal issues. One day, they might be writing someone’s will, handling a divorce, or assisting on a real estate closing. The next day they may be in court defending a client from an OWI charge. That’s all fine and good.
My point is simply that you should be aware whether your lawyer is a part-time criminal defense attorney or is that lawyer 100% dedicated to criminal defense by doing that work full-time. If it were me, I would want to hire a lawyer who practices exclusively in criminal defense. Why?
The answer is because success in the criminal arena can largely depend on having the right tools and intel to handle your case. If a lawyer only does criminal work, chances are they will know more about the tendencies and habits of the judges and prosecutors who you’re up against in your case. A full-time criminal defense attorney will have a better working knowledge of the outcomes that you can expect given their experience with the kinds of charges you’re facing. A full-time criminal defense attorney will know the pathways to get evidence to build up your defense and undermine the case against you.
Bottom line: Find out if criminal defense is a lawyer’s part-time or full-time occupation before you hire them.
2. Where is your office located?
I’ve always said that in Madison or Milwaukee, you can’t throw a stick without hitting a lawyer. They’re everywhere! There is plenty of work to keep criminal defense lawyers busy in those cities. However, if you’re in rural Wisconsin, you might have noticed that there aren't that many attorneys around. Where do you go for help?
Unfortunately, many will decide to pay tens of thousands of dollars to bring a lawyer up from Madison or Milwaukee to take their case. It is a risky gamble to make. Just because you pay more for a lawyer, doesn’t mean you’re going to get a better result.
If you live in rural Wisconsin, there are many reasons to hire a lawyer who is focused on practicing outside of the city. A rural lawyer will have a better understanding of how the prosecutors and judges think in that area, not to mention the folks who will serve on a jury. A lawyer used to practicing in the city might not think to ask to excuse potential jurors who need to attend to milking cows or be in the field planting or harvesting. Though it may seem minor, it’s that kind of thinking goes a long way to winning support for your case.
Bottom line: If you live in a rural county, find out if a lawyer does most of their business in rural Wisconsin before you hire them.
3. How many open cases do you have?
This is a really important one. Folks who have been through the criminal justice system or who have family that’s been through it will understand. Some law firms do a volume business, meaning that they will horde as many cases as they can, collect payment up front, and put in the minimum amount of effort needed to settle them. While that may be acceptable to some, it may often end in a disappointing experience. Why is that?
When your lawyer has 70 or 100 cases to push forward, their attention is pulled in way too many directions. You may have difficulty reaching your lawyer to talk about the things that matter to you, such as reducing your bail, getting your driver’s license back, collecting evidence, or even just updating you about where your case stands. In short, communication suffers when a lawyer is overloaded with cases.
It also hurts when it comes to building up a defense for your case. When a lawyer is overloaded with cases, they may miss deadlines or need to ask the court for extensions to get their work done. Or worse, they might miss a court date altogether. It happens. If you want a quick and fair resolution to your case, then you may be disappointed by hiring a lawyer that is too busy.
Bottom line: When communication and preparation suffers because a lawyer is too busy, it may mean that they’re not going to be ready when it’s time to fight when your freedom is on the line.
4. Will you be the lawyer handling my case?
Here is a scenario that I’ve seen play out in county courthouses all over Southwest Wisconsin. Someone in town is charged with a crime, let’s say an OWI. They get a letter in the mail from a big-time Madison or Milwaukee lawyer. Maybe even someone they’ve seen on TV. Or they do a Google search for “OWI attorney” and the first 10 results are ads for a big city firm with a well-known lawyer. Long story short, our hypothetical neighbor hires one of those firms thinking that they’re going to get the firepower of a big name lawyer out of Madison behind their case. It doesn’t work that way.
What typically happens in that scenario is the big name lawyer never shows up for your case. They send an associate to do all the work and to make all the court appearances. You might never even get to talk to or see the big name lawyer, even though you’ve paid a pretty penny to get their name on your case. That can be a rude awakening for many people.
Don’t get me wrong. Those big name lawyers are famous for a reason - they’re tenacious and they win! Just don’t be surprised or disappointed if you get that lawyer’s assistant working your instead.
5. How do you charge for your services?
Many criminal defense lawyers (but not Valley View Law) require you to put up a significant amount of cash before they will agree to take your case. That is the industry standard. The reason for it is that the lawyer needs assurance that they will still get paid even if you lose your job or have to go to jail because of the charges being brought against you.
Beyond that, there can be differences in how lawyers charge. Some lawyers require you to pay up front a non-refundable, non-cancelable flat fee to secure their services. This fee will usually cover that lawyer’s work up to a certain point in your case. For example, in an OWI case, a law firm may collect an up front payment of $10,000 or even $20,000 to get your case up to (but not through) trial. Another fee may be due for trial. Whether you win or lose, you don’t get that money back. Other lawyers will charge by the hour, and if they get a result, any leftover balance on your up front payment will be refunded. It’s important to understand what’s going to happen with your money if you win, lose, or have to fire your criminal defense lawyer.
At Valley View Law, we understand that financial hardship that defending yourself against criminal charges may cause. That is why we offer a payment plan for clients who don’t have enough money sitting around to pay 100% up front.
6. CCAP them!
The Wisconsin court system runs a very handy website that allows you to look up court cases anywhere in the state. It’s called CCAP for short. Not only can you track progress on your case through CCAP, but you can also do research on the lawyer that you’re thinking about hiring. Through the “Advanced Search” function on CCAP, you can search your potential lawyer to see the cases he or she has handled recently or currently has on his or her docket.
If you look closely at the search results you can even see how some of your potential lawyer’s cases have panned out. Do they always settle? Have they taken a case to trial recently? Are they handling any other cases in your area?
Armed with this information, you are in a better position to make an informed decision about whether or not to hire that lawyer.
Conclusion
When it comes down to it, maybe the most important factor in picking a criminal defense lawyer may be something intangible. You want to hire someone who you believe genuinely cares. You will know you have picked the right lawyer if he or she is someone who will take the time to get to know you as a person, listen to your concerns, and accept your input about your case.
We at Valley View Law are dedicated to defending the good people of rural Wisconsin who are accused of a crime. We are 100% focused on criminal defense and practice exclusively in rural parts of Wisconsin. We would be honored to defend your freedom and protect your rights. Call us any time for a free initial consultation about your case.
