The Merits of a Free Criminal Law Consultation

What You Will Get Out of Your Free Criminal Law Consultation

You’ve already taken the first step in protecting yourself by choosing to work with a Calgary criminal defence lawyer. The next step is to ensure that you are well-prepared for your first free case assessment. During your consultation, you have the opportunity to gain valuable insight into your situation and how your lawyer will proceed with your case.
While it is crucial that you remain in control of your case for its entire duration, your lawyer should set aside enough time during your consultation to conduct an initial assessment of your case. He or she will ask you questions about your case, such as what occurred and what you have been charged with. This will help him or her determine how to best represent you throughout the legal battle you are facing.
In addition, your Calgary criminal defence lawyer will likely try to learn a little more about you. This way , he or she can take a more personal approach when handling your case from day one. Your lawyer will want to find out more details about why you are being charged with your specific crime and how long you have been dealing with the legal process thus far, as well as any additional details that apply to your case.
Your free criminal law consultation is also a time for you to ask questions and gain information to start developing your understanding of the process. In addition to the questions you have received answers to throughout the initial consultation, you can also ask about things like the amount of time your case will take, how long it may take to settle, and how successful the lawyer has been for past clients. Your lawyer should be able to provide you with a wealth of relevant information about yourself and your case.
Making sure you understand the process before you get started can be extremely beneficial when working with a criminal defence lawyer.

Why You Need a Free Criminal Law Consultation

In any criminal defense matter, the words "free" and "consultation" are a winning combination, and probably only "free" and "trial" could take the cake. Of course, trial is a good thing, but no one wants to go to trial. People want to settle cases, be found innocent, or get a charge dismissed. They certainly don’t want to risk a trifecta of the death penalty, life in prison with hardly any chance of parole, or a very long term in an extremely high security facility federal prison. That is why people seek lawyers who offer a free consultation. The benefits of getting a free consultation with an attorney include a lot of obvious things, but the simplest benefit of all is that it’s free. The advice is free and there is no obligation to hire anyone who won’t give you free and unbiased legal advice about what may happen with your case, what you should do, how to get it dismissed, what you should say after charges are brought against you, and what your options are on trying to take the case to trial. In that 30 minutes or so, you can learn a lot about your rights under an illegal search and seizure or unlawful arrest, your rights under numerous provisions of the state and federal constitutions, and what the law says about whether a particular action is considered a crime or not. You basically get an education in criminal law from an expert in the field, and all you had to do was spend 30 minutes talking to them about what happened in your case. Many people with criminal charges also have civil cases resulting from the same set of facts or circumstances. For example, if you were arrested for something that additionally led to you being sued in civil court, your time spent with a lawyer will help you understand more about the civil issues involved in your case and what you might faced as well as what the 2 types of cases have in common, and what the civil case might have that the criminal case does not. When it comes to criminal matters, consultation terms apply in the same way they do to any professional who has worked hard to gain skills in their field. Any good lawyer surely spent 3 years in law school and a decade or two practicing law, and therefore, their time is valuable. This is underscored in a free consultation where you get their advice and insight into your case, and you didn’t have to pay for it. It’s a good thing, and worth its weight in gold.

A List of Common Questions For Your Free Criminal Law Consultation

No free lunch, right? Well, that can be true when it comes to an initial free legal consultation. In fact, if you have found a reputable criminal law firm that is genuinely willing to meet with you for no charge, you will likely have the ability to ask lots of penetrating questions that run the gamut, from the seemingly mundane to the more complex. You might not be able to afford a meal in exchange, but you are getting something very valuable. Of course, you won’t get something for nothing—except for the chance to get the right representation.
The client who comes prepared with the following questions will find the attorney across the table eager to respond and ready to go to work for them. Ultimately, both sides should walk away from the consultation feeling good about the possibility of working together.

Are there any other fees besides the retainer?
What is the retainer?
When will you need the retainer by?
Is there a payment plan option?
Do you represent clients on reduced fees or pro bono?
Ask about the lawyer’s experience, credentials, legal interests/approach.
Walk through the likely scenarios that could play out for the case if you hire the lawyer. Specifically, ask how a conviction would impact your life.
Ask about the effect of a prosecutor’s plea deal.
Ask about the likelihood of plea deals and what factors weigh into whether they occur.
What happens if they lose?
Where will the hearings/trial be held?
How familiar are you with the judge/other attorneys related to the case?
Once the retainer is paid, what will communication look like?

How to Prepare for Your Criminal Law Consultation

The consultation process begins with a phone call to our office. Our client specialist will ask you a series of questions about your recent incident. Your specialist will be able to issue an initial quote on the phone for a free criminal law consultation. After the client specialist determines whether our firm is able to take on your case, they will then email you our retainer agreement along with a list of documents that are needed to properly assess your case. Later this request will be forwarded to the attorney who will be handling your case.
In every case, you need to gather as much documentation as possible before proceeding to your consultation appointment. In almost all cases, our attorneys will not be able to predict what the outcome of your case will be, until you have had your first court appearance. However, through the appeal process we are able to sometimes have your case reversed or dismissed. When taking on a new case, we ask whether any of the following documentation is available: Reports: This could includes police reports, reports by employees of the Valencia County Detention Center, and reports by the New Mexico State Police. This information is crucial in determining whether or not the District Attorney’s Office has the evidence necessary to pursue charges against you. The reports will also reveal potential defenses to your case . DNA and other Scientific Evidence: With the current advances in DNA technology, the State of New Mexico has begun to use DNA evidence to augment their cases in an effort to obtain higher convictions. If you are arrested for a sexual offense or a crime that requires bodily fluids, an appropriate sample may have been collected. In some cases, this evidence must be preserved. Your attorney will be able to discuss DNA preservation timelines after your free criminal law consultation.
Audio and Video Evidence: In free criminal consultations, our firm is sometimes provided audio and video files that relate to our clients’ cases. The attorney needs to review this evidence, prior to accepting the case.
Photographs: It is very important to collect photographs of the scene of the incident that gave rise to your arrest. In some cases, our clients have very disorienting memories of their arrest. Seeing the potential crime scene on a map or looking at photographs in advance of your consultation aids your attorney in assisting you. In the event that this evidence is available, we ask our clients to document the photographs and, if possible, email them to our client specialist.
While in some cases it is impossible to gather this information, this list is provided to better prepare our clients to meet with us.

How To Find A Criminal Defense Lawyer

When you read all the ads, you realize that there are a lot of potential lawyers you could hire. The most important thing is to hire a lawyer who has experience in the specific area of law you need. Don’t be fooled by lawyers who promise practice in many different areas of the law. It is unlikely that he or she would spend the requisite time to become highly proficient in so many different fields of law. People seem to have the idea that lawyers are like doctors in that if you have heart trouble you see a heart doctor and for a back problem you see a back doctor. Lawyers don’t typically practice like this and most lawyers are generalists. A lawyer may say he or she practices in many areas of the law, but they may have not been a primary component of their practice. The other thing to consider is that there are different kinds of specialists. You may find a criminal lawyer who has worked on federal drug cases as a U.S. Attorney, but who has never tried a DWI case. Or a lawyer who does only DUIs and misdemeanors, but who has never handled a felony or a drunken boating case. There are times when a single practitioner who has years of experience would serve you much better than a team of lawyers with less experience and a lower hourly rate.
Try to find out at least one thing about several lawyers you are considering in order to make a good decision. For example, have they won any prominent cases and, if so, what were some of the results? Do they have any specialties or certifications? Have they ever gone to trial? Are they members of any criminal lawyers associations? Do they do anything other than the practice of law in the community? Their answer should give you some insight that they may not keep their nose buried in the latest issue of Law Review and not pay attention to things going on around them. Try to get opinions on other attorneys from other lawyers, but remember the rule: "If you ask three lawyers (or doctors) for an opinion, you will get five answers." So take them with a grain of salt.
Now that you’ve done all your research, you’ve finally found the lawyer you feel comfortable with and you’ve scheduled a free initial consultation. While there is no question about the information you must give the lawyer in order to receive adequate advice, there is no reason to give any information that is not relevant to his or her representation of you. The first thing you will do is fill out a conflict-of-interest form. You should tell the lawyer’s assistant if there are any conflicts such as a lien or an insurance company he/she needs to know about. This will help avoid any conflicts later on if this is a big enough case that the lawyer probably should not take it if the lawyer had a conflict.
The purpose of the free meeting is for you to be able to sit down with an experienced lawyer and find out whether you want this particular lawyer to work for you. It is not for the purpose of developing strategies to beat the charges. You should be ready to tell the essential facts and circumstances of your case, but in a very brief fashion. After hearing the information, the lawyer will tell you what he or she thinks, good or bad. You should not expect much in the way of a strategy since the lawyer does not have an entire case file in front of him or her.
The fee structure will also be discussed. You should know ahead of time whether you want to pay an hourly rate, a retainer plus hourly, or a flat, fixed or earned-on-demand fee. In other words, what matters to you in terms of method of payment and how much. When the meeting is over, if you are not compelled to hire this lawyer, you move on to find one with whom you are comfortable.

Conclusion: How to Make the Most Out of Your Free Consultation

A legal consultation can be the beginning of a strong working relationship between you and your criminal defense attorney. But how do you make sure that you get the most out of the process? First, it is important to remember that all lawyers are bound by the attorney-client privilege and cannot disclose information from your confidential consultation. So you should feel comfortable being honest about your situation.
Then, be open to questions. While you may think you have all of the information the attorney needs at hand, your attorney will know which details are important for the case. Anticipate that your attorney will want to know about circumstances in your life and background that led you to the current situation. It may seem unnecessary, but the more detail you provide, the better prepared the attorney will be to take on your case .
Listen carefully to the offer presented to you. With so many legal options, you may not even know where to begin when it comes to determining how to proceed. A good criminal defense attorney will explain the various fee structures that are available along with an explanation of exactly what services you will be paying for. They should be also able to explain the difference between criminal and civil litigation and the distinction between a felony and a misdemeanor; perhaps even between felony charges in your state versus those in another state where you may have been charged with a crime.
Finally, if you’re not comfortable with the offer that’s been made to you, or don’t trust the attorney to do the job you need them to do, don’t feel you have to accept their offer. You have other options and there are no shortage of attorneys out there who may be able to help you.