» Entries tagged with "public defenders"

Switching Attorneys

I don’t like taking over cases from other lawyers. In a perfect world, I would begin representing every client before charges are filed and stay with the case to the very end. That said, like pretty much every other lawyer I know, a good-sized portion of my clients come to me from other criminal defense attorneys. They seem to be split evenly between people previously represented by public defenders and people previously represented by private attorneys. They’re usually looking for a new lawyer for the same kinds of reasons. I hear many people say they want a new lawyer because their lawyer does not return their calls. I usually take that statement with a grain of salt. A lot of lawyers don’t return calls as … Read entire article »

Filed under: Clients, Practice in General

Plea Bonuses

I overheard an amusing conversation between two lawyers this morning. One of them is a public defender, and the other is a contract attorney. The public defender was complaining about clients saying this: “You just want me to take the plea because you’ll get a bonus.” (NOTE: for those of you who aren’t familiar with the criminal justice system, I’d bet money that there isn’t a public defender’s office anywhere in the nation that gives its attorneys bonuses for pleading out cases). They had a couple of pretty funny responses, but my favorite was this one: “They actually don’t give me bonuses for pleading out cases. I get a bonus for losing at trial. So, what do you want to do?” It made me … Read entire article »

Filed under: Clients, Practice in General

Articles Comments

Web Design by Actualize Solutions