First and foremost comes experience, the most important quality of a criminal defense attorney. But generalized experience only goes so far, and should not be your primary metric; what you’re looking for is a criminal defense attorney with specific experience trying cases of the variety of crime of which you are accused. As an example, if you had heart problems, it would be foolish to seek a referral for a proctologist, even if that doctor had decades of tenure and hefty qualifications. You’re entrusting yourself to an expert, so it only makes sense that you should entrust the right expert. Not all experience is valuable, however. You wouldn’t want a lawyer with many cases under their belt, having lost them all! Check online review sites such as Yelp, Avvo, Legaladvice, LawyerReviews, and others, and read client testimonials and judgments. More than just winning cases, you’re looking for a trustworthy and personable St. Louis criminal defense attorney who will work well with you and remain professional at all stages of your case.
Experience goes beyond specific expertise, as well. It is advisable to find a criminal defense attorney with experience trying cases in the exact courtroom your case will be heard in. An attorney with local court experience is more likely to have an existing professional relationship with sitting judges and prosecutors. And while, in theory, these relationships should not influence your trial, they can still afford professional decorum, respect, and even leniency. As such, having a criminal defense attorney that knows the ins and outs of your local court system, especially the specific courtroom in which your case will be heard, can prove to be invaluable. That communication should serve you, as well. Your criminal defense attorney should be in regular contact with you regarding your case, whether by phone, email, letter, or personal visit as often as necessary. Your lawyer should go over each aspect of the case, including what will happen during the trial, what witnesses will be called, what evidence will be presented, and what you will be asked in deposition and on the witness stand. Your attorney should help you feel secure in the process while not making specific promises regarding the outcome of your trial. Making promises regarding the outcome of a trial is strictly against the law, regardless of what those promises may entail.
Something your St. Louis criminal defense attorney should promise you, on the other hand, is that they will join you each time you need to appear in court. You may need to make an appearance in the courtroom multiple times as your case progresses, and this may cause problems if you hire a single, individual lawyer, rather than a practice or firm such as People’s Counsel. While an individual defense attorney may have any number of scheduling conflicts that prevent them from appearing in court on certain dates, hiring a firm circumvents this issue simply by having a number of different attorneys, one of whom will always be available.