Facing criminal charges is never a pleasant event in life; however, it is something you will have to deal with if you were arrested and are being charged with a crime. When this happens, one of the first things you will need to do is find a good criminal defense lawyer to represent you, and this is something you should do no matter how serious or minor the crime in question is. When you start looking for an attorney to hire, here are some of the top questions you should ask before you agree to hire him or her.
What Experience Do You Have with This Particular Crime?
The first thing to understand is that there are many criminal defense attorneys to choose from, and each of these attorneys may only specialize in helping with certain types of crimes. For example, if you are facing a DUI charge, you should look for a lawyer that knows this particular branch of law. If you talk to a criminal lawyer and he typically only accepts crimes related to drugs, he or she might not be able to help you as well as a lawyer that specializes in DUI crimes.
One question you can ask the lawyer to learn more about his or her experience is how long the lawyer has been practicing. You can also ask the lawyer how many cases he or she has handled during this time. You can even ask the lawyer about all the different types of crimes he or she specializes in. Asking a lot of questions is a great way to learn more about the lawyer and whether or not you should hire him or her to help you with the charges you are currently facing.
What Is a Likely Outcome of This Case?
A second thing to discuss with the attorney is what the likely outcome of your case will be. For a lawyer to give you his or her opinion on this matter, you will have to describe in detail all the facts about the case. You should bring any documentation you have with you, including any type of evidence that proves your innocence.
The lawyer will ask you a variety of questions to learn more about the crime and about you. For example, he or she will want to know if you have any crimes on your record from the past. Knowing this is helpful, because courts often base punishments on a person's criminal history. If a person has a clean record, the court might be more lenient towards the person, simply because the person is not a repeat offender.
How Do You Calculate Your Legal Fees When Representing Someone?
The other important thing to discuss is the rates the attorney charges. Criminal attorneys may charge flat rates for services, which means you will know exactly what the services will cost before you even hire the lawyer. If you find an attorney that charges a flat rate, you should ask if there will be additional fees for anything. In other words, you should ask if the flat rate has any exclusions.
Other criminal lawyers charge hourly rates, and they may add up the hours for your visits there, the phone calls they have with you, and the time spent working on your case.
Facing criminal charges without an attorney is not a good idea, even if all the evidence proves you are innocent. Instead, you should look for a good attorney that has experience with the type of crime you are being charged with. To learn more, contact a criminal defense law firm, such as The Law Offices of Andrew Farmer PLLC, today.
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