Casinos and Used Car Sales: the Criminal Justice System Hiring a Lawyer, Part 1 of 12

Not every lawyer is the right lawyer for every case. Experience and reputation are the first criteria. Next, and just as important, is the type of case. In Spanish, the word (Abogado) for lawyer means, “Advocate.” This is a better description. When you hire a lawyer, you hire an Advocate. The person who represents and speaks for you to the Prosecutor and Court. Personality match does matter.

By reputation and experience, you will know if you hired the right lawyer. Experience includes losing cases. Some say that lawyers learn more through losses than wins.

I agree.

Good lawyers sometimes have to try cases they will lose, because the offer is unreasonable and the Jury or Judge has to decide.

Many times, the client is not guilty or overcharged.

Instead of asking a lawyer how many cases he or she has won, the question should be: when was the last time that lawyer tried a similar case.

Oddly, Clients are impressed by a lawyer’s answer about how many cases she has won. If a lawyer responds that he or she has won so may in a row, you should worry, the odds are, the lawyer is due to lose the next case.

What the client really means to ask is: what hope do I have?