In hiring a criminal defense attorney, 3 questions are sometimes overlooked that really shouldn’t be.
The first question before hiring a criminal defense attorney should be: does that attorney practice and know the district attorneys and the deputy district attorneys in the district where your case is? For example, does that attorney practice in Arapahoe County? Do they know Arapahoe County district attorneys, and are they comfortable and familiar with the process that happens in Arapahoe County?
The second question that is overlooked many times is: does that attorney practice that particular area of law? If you are hiring an attorney for a DUI case and DUI allegations and that attorney practices civil litigation or divorce or something altogether unrelated, that would not be potentially the attorney that you would want to choose. If it’s a very complicated white-collar fraud type of a case, you would want to make sure that you hire an attorney who’s familiar with the process, with the judges, with the law and the facts that would need to be proven to match those allegations or defend against the allegations.
The third question that is overlooked many times is: how often has this attorney gone to trial? When was their last jury trial? When was the last time that they were actually in trial? Because the vast majority of criminal cases are settled or entered into a plea agreement, there are many times not jury trials that people are going to. Many times, the risk is too high, the cost is too high, or the time that’s put into it is too much, and many cases settle for a variety of reasons. You want to be able to find an attorney who has tried cases recently and is familiar presenting a case and a defense to a jury and to a court.
Have you been arrested? Do you need legal representation? Contact the offices of Miller & Steiert today to receive the legal advice you deserve.
