If you are faced with a criminal charge, the consequences of being convicted can be dire. If you are not careful, you might get a huge fine or imprisoned. Hiring an attorney might save you from such a fate.
The problem is that many folks do not know how to hire these legal professionals. Therefore, in this post, we’ll provide you with important tips on how to hire a criminal justice attorney who can ensure your acquittal rather than conviction. With that said, let’s get started…
Determine Their Response Level
The fate of your life lies in the hands of the justice attorney you hire. Therefore, they must be responsive whenever you contact them. Their response time should always be fast. Upon initial contact, the first meeting should take place the next day.
When they are this responsive, it shows that they are interested and ready to deal with your case. Furthermore, their responsiveness shows you how fast they can get you out of an emergency. A delayed response might be an indication that they have other cases at hand. As such, they might not readily give your case the level of commitment it deserves.
Confirm Their Specialization
This might sound redundant given you’re looking for a criminal justice attorney and not just any type. However, you must find out if they specialize in this area. This is because many attorneys carry out general law practice. Such legal counselors might not be experienced enough to deal with difficult criminal cases.
Since this is important, how do you determine that they are criminal law specialists? You can read this article to learn the process of becoming a criminal lawyer. First of all, you need to find out how many criminal cases they’ve dealt with. Furthermore, find out their total success rate to determine if you can commit your fate to the hands of such a counselor.
Ensure That They Understand Local Court Procedures
Each court has its procedure and guidelines. The legal representative must be aware of the procedure and follow it. Therefore, before you hire a representative, ensure that they know the local court procedures. It’s also wise to hire someone who knows how the local court judge operates.
Check Reviews
You don’t pick a lawyer because they are well-dressed (most of them are usually well-dressed). Instead, you choose one that has a proven track record. Online review is one way to find out how good a lawyer is.
However, when using this verification method, you need to apply caution. Some online review sources are not reputable. Therefore, we recommend that you only check third-party review websites that are reputable such as Better Business Bureau, Google Review, and Yelp.
When you read reviews, do it carefully because some reviews might be fake. You can visit https://elfsight.com/ to learn how to spot fake reviews. Therefore, you need to pay attention to what people are saying.
It’s almost impossible not to have at least a bad review. If you see such, don’t strike out the counselor. You can only avoid one that has multiple or overwhelming negative reviews. The reviews will give you an overview of the professionalism and results of the attorney.
Get Referrals From Family And Friends
One of the easiest ways to get a criminal justice attorney is to ask your family and friends for referrals. You can also ask a lawyer you know that doesn’t handle criminal cases for a referral. Adopting this method will save you time and energy involved in searching for an attorney.
Find Out About Their Charges
You’re not hiring them for free, so it’s only right that you know how much you’ll be paying. A shady lawyer might use vague terms to try to get you to pay more money. You must be on the lookout to ensure that you don’t get scammed into such a scheme.
To avoid such, we recommend that a contract called a representation agreement is drafted. The contract must in clear terms reveal the terms and conditions of the agreement and charges. Verify that there are no hidden charges.
If you find any pricing that looks strange, you need to question it. How do you know if the pricing is strange? If the price is too high or too low, you need to question it.
If the price is too low, it might be that the lawyer is not reputable and credible. As such, he is looking for a way to secure clients. Another reason why the price might be too low is that they are planning to include hidden charges. Whatever the reason might be, you need to be wary of low prices.
On the other hand, if the price is too high, it might be that the attorney is leveraging on how popular they are rather than the success rate of their cases. While this is not a bad thing per se, however, you need to be certain that you’ll be part of the success rate. You can do this by engaging in proper dialogue and requesting a guarantee of success before you hire them.
Ask The Attorney For References
A good criminal justice attorney must have a proven track record. Therefore, before you hire them, ask them to provide you with a minimum of three references. Ensure that they only give you the contacts of clients who had similar cases. If they fail to provide you with references, we advise that you look for another legal representative.
After getting the references, it’s time to reach out to them. You can check here to learn how to start a phone conversation. Find out if they were satisfied with the representative. Your discussion with them will help you decide if you can go ahead and hire the attorney or not.
Conclusion
When you find yourself with a criminal case lawsuit, getting a criminal justice attorney is usually the first thing on your mind. But how do you ensure that you secure the right lawyer? The article above has provided tips on how to do this.
