Being charged with a criminal offence is a serious matter. It’s therefore crucial to carefully consider several factors when choosing the right criminal defence lawyer for the job.
The following paragraphs outline some of the main considerations in choosing a criminal defence lawyer, including ensuring appropriate expertise and clarity regarding cartoonwise costs.
Understanding Your Own Legal Needs First
The first step in deciding on a criminal defence lawyer is ensuring you understand what your legal needs are.
If you have been charged with a simple offence being heard in the Magistrates Court, you will likely only need to engage the services of a lawyer for a day or two to represent you in court. However, if you’ve been charged with a more serious offence, you will likely be retaining both a solicitor and a barrister for several months to defend you.
This initial assessment of legal needs should give you an idea of the kind of work you’ll be asking a lawyer to do and networthhaven how long you’ll likely need to engage them.
Finding a Criminal Lawyer and Evaluating Expertise
You must find a lawyer with expertise in the specific charges that you’re facing.
Firstly, you should be engaging a specialist criminal lawyer, not a ‘generalist’ who may not have experience defending your type of criminal matter. Simply having a legal qualification does not mean that a lawyer has a sufficient in-depth understanding of the criminal law to effectively defend your case.
Secondly, you may look on the lawyer’s website to see that they have case examples documenting their success in defending your type of criminal matter (eg. assault charges, drug trafficking charges, traffic offences etc).
Finally, you may look up testimonials from former clients of the law firm that you wish to engage. These testimonials may be on the law firm’s website, or be provided on online review websites. Some qualities of an effective criminal defence lawyer to look for in these reviews are:
- Clear communication.
- An empathetic and kind demeanour.
- Effective time management and excellent attention to detail.
- Confidence and appliancesissue experience
Initial Consultation: What to Ask
Your initial consultation with a defence lawyer is your opportunity to assess whether or not they are the right person to represent you. Some key questions to ask in this initial consultation include:
- Have you handled similar criminal matters to mine in the past?
- Are you a specialist criminal lawyer?
- What are the likely fees for representation?
It’s also important that you clarify whether the lawyer you are meeting in your initial consultation is the same lawyer who will be handling your case at any future hearing or trial. Large criminal law firms will sometimes organise initial consultations with senior lawyers before delegating responsibility to junior lawyers who will likely have far less expertise.
It’s important that you bring all relevant documents about your matter to this initial consultant, including:
- a copy of the prosecution notices,
- a copy of the statement of material facts, and
- a copy of your bail undertaking or the court hearing notice – some people may be denied bail, here’s why.
By bringing all relevant documents, a criminal lawyer may also be able to give you an understanding of likely outcomes based on the allegations being brought against you.
Understanding Fees and Billing
Before hiring a criminal defence lawyer, you should have a clear understanding of how legal fees will be structured as well as a general estimate of cost.
It’s important that you have a clear fee agreement (or costs agreement) outlining:
- The scope of the work to be undertaken.
- Whether fees will be charged on a ‘fixed fee’ or ‘hourly rate’ basis.
- Whether there are any contingencies that may impact the estimated costs for the work.
- How disbursements (such as photocopying costs or expert reports) will be handled.
- When and how the lawyer will issue an invoice for work.
- In what circumstances the agreement can be terminated and any costs associated with termination.
You should leave a costs meeting with a fairly clear idea of how much the representation is going to cost. If you’re not sure, either ask further questions or go to another lawyer.
Making the Decision
It is your decision who you choose to represent you in a criminal matter. It’s important not to feel pressured into engaging the first lawyer you meet to represent you.
It is perfectly reasonable to ‘shop around’ until you have a lawyer that has the right qualities suitable for you.
This can be particularly important for serious criminal matters that are likely to go on for months, as changing lawyers mid-way through a criminal trial can be a very costly exercise.
Bottom Line
Ultimately, you should choose a lawyer who best aligns with your needs and is someone you can trust, given their extensive expertise and experience.
In many cases, a defence lawyer is the person separating you from a serious criminal penalty, including a term of imprisonment.
Choosing a criminal lawyer, therefore, isn’t something that should be taken lightly. If after reading this article you still need more advice, check out these additional tips to find the right criminal defence lawyer for your case.
