We know what you want from us. You want us to make a case to the judge or jury that gets the charges dropped or reduced. We’ll do everything in out power to achieve that result, but in order to give us the best chance to do that, we also need some things from you. Here’s a look at four things your defense lawyer wants from you during your case.
Helping Your Lawyer
We don’t expect you to head to the library to research case law, but we do expect you to do some things to help us with your case. Here’s what we want from you.
1. Honesty – We need you to be completely honest with us. We’re not here to judge you, we’re on your side, so be completely honest about what transpired. For starters, there’s the whole lawyer-client confidentially agreement where we’re not even legally allowed to pass on what is told to us in confidence. Even if you incriminate yourself to us, we’re here to help you beat the charges or get them reduced. But the main reason we need you to be honest is so that there’s no surprises at trial. If you had five drinks and got pulled over, we can work around that and target other weak spots of the state’s case, but if you tell us you only had one drink but your BAC was 0.18, we’re going to look like fools arguing that you only had one drink. Honesty helps us build the best case given all the facts.
2. Communication – If we ask you to give us a call back, or we send you a text asking you a question, get back to us as soon as possible. We’re not going to waste your time with things that aren’t important, so if we’re waiting to hear back from you, it’s probably essential to your case. We’ll try hard to communicate well with you if you promise to do the same.
3. Commitment – You probably won’t be needed at every appearance or hearing, but if we need you to show up to court or to attend substance abuse counseling, follow through with these commitments. These appearances are key steps in your trial and your recovery, and skipping them can set you back because it shows the court that you don’t take it seriously. If something crazy comes up, give us a call as soon as possible, don’t just make excuses after the fact.
4. Trust – Finally, we need you to trust that we have your best intentions at heart. We’re never going to take a plea deal or force you to do something you don’t want to do when it comes to your case, but you have to trust that we have you best interests at heart. If we think a deal is in your best interests given the evidence, we’ll let you know and we’ll hope you trust our advice. Along the same line, if we see that the state has a shaky case against you, trust us that we can win it in court. You’ll make the final call, but we work best with clients who trust our process.
For more information, or to set up a free case review with one of our lawyers, click here or call (952) 224-2277.
