What to Look For:
✤ Experience
Experience says a lot about a lawyer. The more experience they have, the more knowledge they have about the local criminal processes, procedures, laws, ordinances, and all other aspects of the criminal justice system in your town. You want to look for criminal defense attorney that have at least 10 years of experience in your state. This generally indicates they know which arguments are successful in court, and most likely, have long-standing relationships with the local court houses and prosecutors.
✤ Testimonials and Reviews
Look around online for local criminal defense lawyers, and then research their client testimonials and customer reviews. This will give you a good idea of which lawyers are reputable in your area in which are not so popular or experienced quite yet. Aside from online testimonials and customer reviews, you one also ask around. Ask friends, family members, and coworkers if they have any recommendations for a good criminal defense attorney. Only ask people that you trust since DUI charges are a sensitive topic that is usually kept confidential, especially at work.
✤ Consultations
It is recommended to look around for law firms that offer consultations to discuss their services and your case. It is a good sign if you find a lawyer who is willing to meet face-to-face, and an even better sign that they offer to do so for free. In fact, free consultations is a common service offered by most criminal defense law firms. Ones that don’t offer free consultations may be questionable.
✤ Cases Won
Track records are important to look for when looking for criminal defense representation. Choose an attorney with a good track record, one with multiple DUI cases won. If they don’t have some case history available for clients to see, or they refuse to provide such information, they may be questionable to work with.
✤ Website
Is a criminal defense lawyer is serious about their career, they usually have a website. Look at websites to learn more about lawyers and their practice. Websites generally have information about office locations, contact information, practice areas, case history, testimonials, pictures, and much more. This is helpful when deciding on a criminal defense attorney to represent your drunk driving case.