Criminal Defense Lawyers – What You Should Expect From Them

2007-03-08 10:33:40

( Legal )



The last thing that you would have in mind in your day to day activity is to retain any of the criminal defense lawyers in your area. However, if you run afoul of the law, finding and retaining the services of a criminal defense lawyer becomes the top priority in your list.

There are two kinds of criminal defense lawyers, namely, the public criminal defense lawyer and the private criminal defense lawyer. The public criminal attorney is the government’s counterpart to the state or federal prosecutor. The public criminal defense lawyers represent those who cannot afford to retain the services of a private criminal attorney. The public defender’s office often hires fresh law school graduates who want to get courtroom experience very early in their career.

The private criminal defense lawyers, on the other hand, usually have a great deal of trial experience. In fact, most successful criminal defense lawyers come from either the prosecutor’s or the public defender’s office. A private criminal defense lawyer is usually the choice of those who can afford to pay attorney’s fees because they will likely be provided personal attention.

If you don’t have the money to pay for attorney’s fees, you would surely find yourself in the public defender’s office. But when the public defender’s office has too many cases at hand or a conflict of interest arises, the court will appoint a criminal attorney from a panel of private criminal defense lawyers or a designated law office.

You will most likely retain a private criminal defense lawyer if you can afford to pay the attorney’s fees. If there is an available state certified specialist in criminal law in your area, you would even prefer the services of that particular criminal defense lawyer.

When hiring a criminal defense attorney, keep in mind that you are entitled to a variety of protections, including the right to counsel, the right to confront witnesses, the right against self-incrimination, the right to testify or not to testify, the right to trial by jury, and the right to be advised of these rights by the law enforcers.

It does not really matter whether you retain any of the seasoned or inexperienced criminal defense lawyers. The bottom line is that your constitutional rights are protected and you are represented within the boundaries of the law.


All rights Reserved © Tradenet Services srl
Do not duplicate or redistribute in any form.