If it is your first time calling in seeking a consultation, one of our legal assistants will gather some basic information. Our assistant will ascertain whether your issue is one that we can help you with, and if so, which attorneys are available. They will then connect you directly to one of us. If all attorneys are in court or otherwise unavailable, our assistant will take your contact information and email it to the attorneys so one of us can call you back. Existing clients and customers that call in will speak with a legal assistant who will attempt to help them with whatever questions they have. Our knowledgeable legal assistants can usually answer approximately 90% of client questions. If there is something they cannot answer because it requires an attorney response only, or if they do not know the answer to a particular question, they will get an attorney on the phone to answer that question directly. This streamlined process allows our attorneys to focus on the cases rather than answering questions that can often be easily and better handled by assistants.
Will I Meet With You Before Deciding If I Want To Hire Your Firm?
Approximately half of our clients choose to have a traditional in-person meeting initially so they can feel comfortable about who they are hiring. Some clients prefer to put a face with the name or voice from the phone. However, half of our clients do prefer to sign a contract electronically using Adobe Sign software that allows them to E-sign by using their email, and clicking and typing their name. They can sign the contract electronically and then simply make a payment over the phone. This method will allow us to start working on their case immediately. Either way is fine with us; it is really a personal preference as to what makes our client most comfortable.
What Can Someone Expect Once They Have Retained Your Services For Their Criminal Case?
Once our services have been retained, a client can then expect to truthfully answer a lot of questions. We love asking questions to nail down the exact parameters of the situation, to be able to explore the viability of potential defenses and to identify the prosecution’s strongest arguments so we can prepare to counter them. Once we fully identify the issues and potential defenses, then we actually sit down and talk with you about the range of possibilities in the case. In most cases, we break it down in terms of best-case scenarios versus worst case scenarios and then detail what we expect could happen based on our prior experience with the type of case, a particular prosecutor or officer, or specific court.
What Should I Bring With Me To My First Meeting With My Criminal Defense Attorney?
During an initial meeting with a criminal defense attorney, you should bring any paperwork that is related to your arrest. Paperwork may be citations or warrants, an incident report, breath test results, license suspension papers, etc. Additionally, bring paperwork that is related to the defense such as evidence you might have that could disprove some of the prosecution’s claims. One thing that is always helpful in these cases is to write out a narrative of the events with as much detail as possible directly after your arrest, or as soon as possible thereafter, because often fine details and memories will fade rather quickly. This will be of great assistance to you and your attorney when the case comes up for a hearing or a trial. For this very reason police officers write down their incident reports within 24 hours of an arrest, so when it comes time for the trial, sometimes as far out as 2 to 3 years later, they can rely on those reports to refresh their memory.
How Often Can I Expect To Meet With You During The Pendency Of My Case?
We will meet with you as often as you need to discuss your case. However, please note that we will contact you immediately whenever there is a significant development in your case such as new information from the prosecutor or additional evidence in the case, etc. In addition, I send out written client updates at the beginning of each month that will provide you with the current status of your case, including your next court date scheduled and what it pertains to. Sometimes an update may communicate that there has been no change to your case or that we are still waiting on a ruling from a court, but there will be plenty of updates so that you can fully see that we are working on your case. You will always know exactly where we are in the process and where we are headed.
Will Anyone Else Be Working On My Case If I Hire You?
Generally, the attorney that you hire is the attorney who handles your case from beginning to end. There are a couple of exceptions. First, if there is a conflict, a different attorney may handle the case. For example, one of our attorneys has a father who is a judge in our practice area, so of course, she would never practice in front of him, as that would create a conflict. A client may talk to her about any case but another attorney would then take the case to avoid any conflict. Another attorney in the firm may handle a simple court date, such as an arraignment if the attorney working your case has to be in a different court (this gets you out of court faster rather than having to wait.) Another exception could occur if one particular attorney has a significantly better relationship with the judge or prosecutor, he or she may step in to handle that part of the proceeding. Finally, if one of our attorneys has more experience or expertise in a certain practice area, the file may get transferred to help out on that particular issue, as our goal is to always provide the absolute best service to our clients every step of the way. Consider this example, I take on most of the appeals for the firm as I have handled considerably more of them than the other attorneys in the office, so if an appeal is necessary, that file will almost always get transferred to me. Our excellent legal assistants do a lot of the legwork on the cases for us, such as serving subpoenas, obtaining incident reports or videos, sending you notices about your court dates, keeping you current, etc. and they are especially adept at talking with clients and working through whatever issues may arise.
For more information on Initial Consultation With Criminal Client, an initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (678) 726-5400 today.
