San Jose Criminal Law Office

Question: Why should I hire a criminal attorney?

Answer: In a serious criminal matter, you have no choice except to hire an attorney. If you are in jail or have no assets and very low wages, the county will provide you with a Public Defender. Public Defenders do only criminal defense, and have a large office with supervision by very experienced attorneys and support staff for paralegal and investigation. But they also have high caseloads, are often very hard to reach, and cannot spend the time on each case that you would like unless it is considered high priority by the supervisory attorneys.

If you are not in jail or “indigent,” the court will tell you that you must hire your own attorney. This often leaves a person unsure of how to locate the best attorney for the case. Do you ask a friend? Check the phone book? Look on the internet? When looking for an attorney in a criminal case, make sure you look for an attorney with experience in the type of case that you are facing. You should be looking for someone who has experience in criminal defense, and devotes all or most of his/her practice to that field. You need to be prepared to discuss the whole situation with the attorney, and decide together whether your matter is likely to proceed to trial, or if a settlement would be the best course. An experienced criminal defense attorney will look at the charges against you, potential additional charges that could be amended at a later time, and measure the fact situation that the prosecution can prove against the elements of the crime—in other words, look at the case to see if you are likely to win at trial. An experienced attorney will let you know up front what sort of an investigation needs to be carried out, and if there are legal issues that could be land mines for either the prosecution or the defense.

An experienced criminal defense attorney will not agree to take every single case in every single jurisdiction, just to take your money, but will let you know if he/she is a fit depending on your time constraints, and the jurisdiction where the case occurs, as well as your budget.

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