Archive for the ‘Hiring a Lawyer’ Category

Choosing a Salt Lake Criminal Defense Attorney

Jan
13
Jesse, on the topic of  Hiring a Lawyer
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Hiring an qualified attorney can be a daunting task.  If you open the phone book, you’ll find full page ads for certain criminal defense attorneys.  If you ask multiple friends for attorney recommendations, you’ll likely get a few different answers.  What can you do to find the best Salt Lake criminal defense attorney for you?  Here’s a checklist of questions to ask any attorney before hiring them.

1. What experience do you have with representing someone charged with [insert the crime you are charged with here].
2. How long have you been practicing?
3. What percentage of your practice is focused on criminal law?
4. What outcomes have you achieved for other clients in similar situations?
5. What are the possible outcomes of my case?
6. What is the best strategy in my case?
7. Will you be doing the work yourself, or will you be working with a team?
8. What are you fees?
9. How much do you think my case will cost?
10. How will you keep me informed about my case? Email, telephone?
11. How long do you think my case will take?
12. Have you ever had your law license revoked?
13. Have you been the subject of a disciplinary proceedings ?
14. Have former clients made complaints about you to the Utah Bar?

In addition to those questions, make sure you consider the following:
1. Distance of attorneys office to your house or work
2. Attorneys personality matching your personality
3. Whether you feel you can ask questions freely or are intimidated by the attorney
4. Whether you feel confident that this attorney can help you

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Question: Can I change my attorney?

Oct
22
Jesse, on the topic of  Hiring a Lawyer, Question
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Photo: country_boy_shane

Photo: country_boy_shane

Q: I hired an attorney that I thought was going to help me, but now I’m not so sure.  In fact, I don’t like my attorney and want to get a different attorney.  Can I do that, or am I stuck with my bad attorney?  If I can change attorneys, what should I do?

You have an absolute right to choose your attorney.  If you don’t like your current attorney, you can fire him and hire a new one.  To fire your attorney, simply call them and say, “I no longer need your services.”  Then follow up by sending him a letter saying the same thing.  You can include the reasons you are firing him in your letter.  As long as you don’t have an outstanding bill with your attorney, you have the right to your file that is in the attorney’s possession.

That said, you should really ask yourself why you are firing your attorney.  Is it because they don’t communicate?  This is solvable if you send your attorney a non-threatening letter expressing your feelings.  Usually, the attorney will call you to respond (especially if you ask them to).

If you are a week away from trial, it probably isn’t in your best interest to fire your attorney.  Your new attorney will probably charge you to get up to speed on your case and won’t be as familiar with the case as your first attorney.  If your case is still at the beginning and you don’t like your attorney, then you can probably fire your attorney without any hardship to you.

In order to not get into a situation where you might not like your attorney, do your homework before hiring them.  Ensure that you will get along with them, that you trust them, and that you think they can handle your case competently.

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Dismissing Charges in Utah

Jul
28
Jesse, on the topic of  Hiring a Lawyer, Legal Process
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Sometimes prosecutors will dismiss charges against a criminal defendant.  This means that nothing will be filed against the defendant in criminal court and the defendant is no longer a defendant.  Prosecutors drop charges for multiple reasons.  The original arrest by the police officer that led to the charge might have been problematic.  There might not be enough evidence for prosecutors to prove that it was the defendant who committed the crime, or prosecutors might find evidence that confirm your innocence.  Sometimes, a key witness in the case will refuse to testify and prosecutors don’t think they have a strong case.

Hiring a good criminal defense attorney immediately after being charged is important because your attorney might be able to convince the prosecutor to drop charges.  This would not only save you time of going through a trial, but it would also save you money because the attorney’s job would be done quickly.

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Phone Books: Secret Tool of Criminal Defense Attorneys

Jun
02
Jesse, on the topic of  Hiring a Lawyer
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Photo by "How can I recycle this"

Photo by "How can I recycle this"

After you are arrested, you get one phone call.  Imagine if you want to call an attorney, but you don’t know one.  You can’t search the internet or call a friend to get a recommendation.  What are you left with?  The phone book that is sitting in your jail cell.

If you open the phone book, you’ll find full page ads for certain criminal defense attorneys.  You will find other criminal defense attorneys that don’t have big ads, just their name and a telephone number.  Obviously, the attorney with the bigger ad is the better attorney because he can afford the big expensive ad, right?

WRONG!

Don’t be fooled into thinking that you will get the best result from attorneys who spend lots of money on those full page ads, or fill their ads with words like, “aggressive”, “fight for you”, or “tough.”  Those are just advertising gimmicks that you shouldn’t fall for.

Many great attorneys in the legal community do not pay for phone book ads because they depend on a different kind of advertisement: word of mouth.  These attorneys do a fantastic job for a client,  then the client tells a friend about their attorney,  then the friend hires the attorney.  Would you hire a contractor or babysitter out of the phone book?  No!  You’d probably talk to your friends first and see if they have recommendations.

Attorneys who pay for large advertisements in the phone book aren’t necessarily bad attorneys.  But when choosing an attorney, don’t fall for the advertising gimmick.  Don’t ignore attorneys with the smaller advertisements or no advertisements at all.  Research your attorney before hiring one to defend your rights.

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