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Choosing a Criminal Defense Attorney
Trust
Trust is probably the single most important factor in choosing a
criminal defense lawyer to represent you. Also, you want someone who
is honest, listens, and cares about you and your case.
Board Certified in Criminal Trial
Law
Statistically speaking, 99 out of 100 Florida lawyers are not
board certified.
If your life is at stake, you owe it to yourself to hire a board
certified criminal trial lawyer. Many folks think that a lawyer is a
lawyer. Some think "well, he advertises that he does criminal
defense, so he must practice criminal defense." When lawyers are
looking to hire their own lawyer, one of first things they look for
is board certification. Board certification is an independent way of
verifying the lawyer specializes in his area of certification. Don't
take my word for it. Check out this info from the
Florida Bar about board certification.
Do I like him?
All things being equal, I do business with people I like. Take your
time and talk with the lawyer in person. See if he looks you in the
eye, shakes your hand firmly, and makes you feel at ease. If you
can't meet him in person, go with your gut feeling after speaking
with him on the phone. If you don't feel comfortable, go on to the
next one.
Passionate
You deserve a lawyer who is passionate about his work. To some
lawyers, their career is just a job. It is a way to pay the bills. I
have bills to pay as well. However, I wake up every day looking
forward to defending the bill of rights and the Constitution. I love
my career. If I won the lottery, I would still practice criminal
defense. If I was only concerned about making money, I would
practice personal injury, not criminal defense.
Price
Price is probably one of the worst criteria to choose the right
criminal defense attorney for you. You get what you pay for. If a
lawyer is cheap, there's a reason. This is no time to skimp with
money. Call your family and friends. Get some credit cards together
and hire the best lawyer that you can. He probably charges more than
you want to pay. However, he may be worth it many times over.
Especially with your freedom, you don't want to have the cheapest
lawyer in town representing you. What would you pay to keep out of
prison for a year? 5 years? 10 years? Can you really put a dollar
value on that?
Experience
Experience is certainly a factor. You want your lawyer to have some
criminal defense experience. Many excellent criminal defense
attorneys have a lot of experience. However, an experienced criminal
lawyer might also be a horrible lawyer. You don't want to be stuck
with a horrible, yet experienced, lawyer. Your freedom is in his
hands. Some older, yet experienced, lawyers may not be up for the
fight. On the other hand, a lawyer fresh out of school could be
fantastic for you if you get a good vibe off of him. You probably
don't want to be his first client. However, he may have the
enthusiasm and work ethic you're looking for. Jury trials require a
criminal lawyer to be on his toes all the time, have knowledge of
criminal procedure, case law, jury instructions, know when to make
objections and when to shut up.
Communication
A great criminal defense lawyer listens
and gives you straightforward answers to your questions. Also, he
must memorize vast amounts of material, condense it and then
effectively communicate it to the jury. The lawyer must speak plain
language to be an effective communicator. Many lawyers use big words
that some people don't understand. That's not communicating. That is
being arrogant and ignorant.
Guarantees
Beware of lawyers that guarantee a particular result. While you
understandably would want a guarantee as to the outcome, it is
unethical for any lawyer to do so. The only thing I guarantee is
that I will do everything in my power (both legally and ethically)
to fight the criminal charges against you.
Low-Volume Practice
Does the lawyer have the time to devote to your case? Do they have a
low-volume practice, so they can give you, the client, the
individualized attention that you deserve? When I was a former
assistant public defender in Palm Beach county, I handled over 1,000
cases. Typically, I handled 50 to over 100 cases at a time. It is
difficult to work cases up like they should be worked up with such a
high-volume. Unfortunately, the legislature has determined that
spending money to hire more assistant public defenders is not high
on their priority list. Some private lawyers have associates that do
all the work on their cases. That enables them to be a high-volume
practice and make more money. It is impossible for me to be in two
places at the same time. Sometimes, I have another lawyer stand in
for me, but only to reset the case to when I can be there. When you
hire me, you get me. I try to keep my case load to 10-20 open files
at a time. I've found that's a good number for the clients and me.
Advertising
Many lawyers send out advertisements in the mail to people who get
arrested. I don't. If you've been arrested, you know exactly what I
am talking about. You probably got 50 or more solicitations from
lawyers, some of them are not even criminal defense lawyers,
who want your money. I want your money too. However, I do not send
out direct mail solicitations. Why? I do not like receiving
direct mail, so I'm not going to send you any. Remember that stuff
about the golden rule your momma taught you? My clients are people
who do not respond to direct mail. They are more astute. Most of my
clients are referrals from other lawyers and former clients.
It's hard to tell much about a lawyer from a yellow pages ad. Try
to confirm more about them through the web. A word on "former
prosecutors." Some are great lawyers. However, hiring someone
just because they are a "former prosecutor" makes no sense.
They may still have the prosecutor's mentality that "these guys are
all dirt bags and need to go to prison, but at least I'm getting
paid better now." Here's a pervasive myth- one some former
prosecutors exploit - you will get preferential treatment because
they have a "relationship" with the prosecutors. The prosecutors
cannot be bought. The relationship, if there even is still one
there, is not going to amount to a hill of beans. Everybody who
really practices criminal defense "knows the prosecutor." That does
not mean you're going to get any preferential treatment from them if
you hire a former prosecutor. You won't.
Leadership in the Community
Does the lawyer take a leadership role in the community? I'm
president-elect of the Florida
Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Palm Beach Chapter.
Also, I'm currently the president of the criminal practice committee
for the Palm Beach County Bar
Association. Also, I'm a life member of the
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. I play guitar
and sing throughout Palm Beach county with
Inspirit. I perform at
Alzheimer's communities, old folk's homes and other places. Inspirit's mission is to "bring the joy and healing power of live
music and the performing arts to those isolated members of our
community who are living in a restricted environment."
Criminal Trial Lawyer
You want a lawyer who takes cases to trial and doesn't charge extra
for it. Many lawyers that call themselves trial lawyers have not
tried a case in front of a jury in years. As a
board certified
criminal trial lawyer, I have tried over 100 jury and non-jury
trials to verdict.
Continuing Legal Education
You deserve a lawyer who keeps up with changes in the law. The
Florida Bar requires lawyers to have 30 continuing legal education
credits every three years. Every year, I exceed the required amount
of CLE credits. I usually have almost three times the required
amount of CLE credits by the end of the 3 year term. I even teach
other lawyers about special jury instructions at conferences like
the national NORML (www.norml.org) conference in Key West, Florida.
Only Practices Criminal Defense
Does he practice exclusively in the area of criminal defense?
You are still reading? Ok, I will tell you what my grandpa Paps
used to tell me. Paps was a decorated World War II veteran who
stormed the beaches at Normandy. I lived with my grandparents when I
was a teenager and learned a great deal from them. Anyway, Paps
always told me "When I was in the military, they taught us - you
have to tell 'em what you're gonna tell 'em, then tell 'em, and then
tell 'em what you told 'em." So here it is:
Trust
Trust is probably the single most important factor in choosing a
criminal defense lawyer to represent you in criminal court. Also,
you want someone who is honest, listens, and cares about you and
your case.
Contact Grey Tesh
How to choose a criminal lawyer
Choosing a criminal defense attorney
How to pick a criminal defense lawyer
aaacriminaldefense.com has its principal office at 1610 Southern Boulevard in West Palm Beach, Florida, Mr. Tesh represents clients charged with serious federal criminal offenses before Federal Criminal Courts in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Stuart, Martin County, Port St. Lucie, Vero Beach, Jacksonville, Tampa, Orlando, Tallahassee, and all federal courts throughout the United States of America.
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