What follows is a guide to help you
select a New York City criminal lawyer. Of course we believe that we
should be your first choice for a New York criminal lawyer, but we can't
represent everyone, and it is important that you find a criminal lawyer.
Unfortunately, this guide covers more in
terms of what you should AVOID. Over the years, clients who have
retained us have occasionally told us what other lawyers said to them in
their efforts to get retained. Some of the stories we have heard
are incredible and an embarrassment to the profession.
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Beware
of Promises of Particular Results
The lawyer who promises a particular
result in a criminal case is either a liar or a fool. You do not want to
be represented by either one.
No lawyer, no matter how good, is in a
position to promise a particular result in a criminal case. Lawyers can
promise to do their best. Lawyers can believe in the quality of a case.
Lawyers can believe they will probably be able to get a particular
result. But a competent lawyer will never guarantee a particular result.
Not being willing to guarantee a result
is not a sign of weakness, it is a sign of experience and wisdom. A
competent lawyer will never guarantee a particular result.
Despite how much you may WANT a
guaranteed result, or HOPE for a guaranteed result, keep reminding
yourself that NOTHING in life is guaranteed.
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Beware
of Dramatic Claims about Quick Dismissal
Be especially careful when someone tells
you that he thinks he can get the case dismissed or the case should be
dismissed or he can't believe the case isn't dismissed already. When a
lawyer starts talking about dismissal in an initial consultation, you
need to be very careful. You may well be being told simply what you want
to hear.
Cases do get dismissed, but far less
often than and not for the reasons that most people think.
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Use
Common Sense
The more dramatic the claim, the more
likely it is to be either a lie or ridiculously reckless.
Try to avoid being satisfied just with
what you want to hear. Does it really make sense to you that your son's
attempted murder case is going to be "dropped" because of a
conversation your potential attorney is going to have with the ADA in
Court the first time on after arraignments?
The same rule of thumb that makes you
suspicious of get rich quick schemes pitched on "infomercials"
on TV ought to make you suspicious of bold claims about what a lawyer is
going to be able to achieve on a particular case.
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Beware
the Lawyer Who Approaches You in the Courthouse
Imagine going to the hospital to have an
operation. As you walk into the hospital, a person who you have
never seen before approaches you, asks you what kind of operation you
are having, and then tells you he will perform the same operation for
some ridiculously low price. You would laugh in that person's
face.
The same principle applies when a lawyer
approaches you in the Courthouse hallway. Think about why this
person is roaming the halls trying to solicit business.
Lawyers who attempt to solicit your
business in this way are violating ethical rules and are subject to
discipline within the profession. Do not encourage them.
Are you going to pay less than you would
pay for a responsible, professional, ethical attorney? Maybe.
These people often try to distract you from their misbehavior by giving
you what appears to be "a deal". How much do you think
such a lawyer is going to be interested in fighting for you? How
far do you think such a lawyer would be willing to go to defend you
given that he gave you such a rock bottom "deal"?
Do yourself a big favor. If an
attorney approaches you in the Courthouse hallway or entrance line about
representing you in Court, run the opposite direction.
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Beware
the "Connected" Lawyers
We have heard clients tell
us that there are lawyers who will suggest or quietly leave the
impression with potential clients that they have some special connection
that permits them to get dramatic results. Whether this suggestion
comes after a reference to having worked as a former Assistant
District Attorney or by way of some political references, it is absolute
nonsense.
We certainly have our
criticisms of some of the policies of the District Attorney's Offices in
New York City, but we also have no reason whatsoever to believe
that the local District Attorney's Offices let people they
believe to be criminals to "get off" simply because of some
underhanded "connection" with a defense attorney. This is
absurd. As much as the writers
for television dramas and movies might like to believe such nonsense,
that is just what it is, nonsense.
Being a familiar face,
knowing the people involved, and having local knowledge of how the system
operates are important to consider when hiring a lawyer. But the
lawyer who suggests that his local knowledge extends to some
extra power of "persuasion" is behaving disgracefully at best.
Besides, even if it were
true that someone had some kind of underhanded "pull" with the
Queens District Attorney's Office, how would you know that he would be
honorable with YOU? You are starting, remember, from the concept
that the person you are hiring is corrupt.
Hiring him would be like
making a deal with the devil. How could you be sure that the
way the lawyer maintained his "friendly" relationship with the
District Attorney's Office was by "rolling over" on some
select cases? Underhanded back room dealings are never one-sided.
One hand washes the other. Who is to say YOU won't be washed out
in the bargain.
So despite how tempting it
might be to believe in some kind of undercurrent of claimed or suggested
"pull", do yourself a favor and run the other direction.
Find a lawyer who
will stand on his own abilities and not on his political connections.
Political connections end or may require YOUR sacrifice.
Individual ability and
integrity will be there for you when you need them the most.
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What
to Look for in a Criminal Defense Attorney
Criminal Defense Experience
Although the official position of the
legal profession is that any lawyer admitted to practice law can, with
sufficient study, take on just about any legal matter, it is a
matter of common sense that experience is valuable and could form a
reasonable basis to choose to hire one attorney over another.
Therefore, consider whether or not the
attorney you are thinking about has experience handling criminal cases.
Find out about how long he has been practicing law and what percentage
of his practice is devoted to criminal defense. A person who has
been practicing law for twenty years but has handled only one criminal
case is in a different position from a person who has been practicing
for fewer years but has done nothing but criminal defense.
Find out whether the attorney you are
thinking about has specifically handled your particular kind of case
before. Some kinds of cases tend be extremely specialized.
Local Knowledge
Imagine you wanted to hire a personal
guide to explore Queens County. Your choices are (1) Daniel Boone,
legendary tracker and explorer or (2) a Queens bus driver. Daniel
Boone would be quite a character to meet and his skills as an explorer
are top notch. It sure would be interesting to talk to him.
There's only one problem. He doesn't know anything about Queens
County. It would make more sense to go with the bus driver.
The bus driver would be extremely familiar with Queens. The bus
driver has an important quality that, unfortunately, Daniel Boone
doesn't: LOCAL KNOWLEDGE.
Local knowledge is probably more
important than most people realize. Every County in New York City
operates slightly differently. There is something to be said for
having a lawyer who is a familiar face to the Court Officers, Assistant
District Attorneys, Judges, and other Court personnel.
A local attorney, for example, will know
the likely attitude of the judge and the assistant district attorney
about the case. A local attorney may have built up a reputation
for credibility with judges and assistant district attorneys such that
pre-trial negotiations may be smoother and more quickly productive.
A local attorney's familiarity with the judges may enable him to make
arguments in keeping with the judge's attitudes. Similarly a local
attorney's familiarity with the judges may enable him to avoid making
certain arguments to certain judges.
When you hire a criminal defense lawyer,
you are hiring a guide for your trip through the criminal justice system
where your case is being prosecuted. One
thing you might want to consider, then, is whether the attorney you are
thinking of hiring has the local knowledge.
On the other hand, it would be
unwise to take the general idea that local knowledge is good to an
absurd extreme. For example, in Westchester County, there are
dozens of small city, town, and village courts. It would be
unreasonable to expect that a lawyer could limit his practice to
criminal defense and survive by doing cases only in, for example,
Ardsley. A lawyer who only practiced in such a small locality
would most likely be practicing a wide variety of areas of law,
including possibly criminal defense. But if hiring a lawyer who
limits his practice just to criminal defense is one of your goals, then
you need to realize that "local" in Westchester means practicing in and
among all the courts within Westchester County. You will need to
measure your desire for local familiarity against your desire to
have counsel with sufficient expertise in the subject area.
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