Felony Crime Attorney Hiring Checklist

Have you been charged with a felony? Felony cases in Georgia attract considerable consequences; you could be imprisoned for a year or more in minor cases. In serious felonies, you could be imprisoned for over 20 years without the possibility of parole. Apart from imprisonment, felony cases could considerably damage your reputation, especially in situations such as sex offense, child molestation, and juvenile offenses to mention a few. Noting the severity of the cases, hiring a felony crime attorney can’t be stressed enough.

While hiring a felony crime attorney offers a range of benefits, you shouldn’t select the first service that appears in your search. Common complaints, including communications issues, charges, competence, and ethics, are the highlights if you hire an unreliable felony crime attorney. Here is a quick checklist to help ensure that you hire the best felony crime attorney.

Background check

A quick background check can help you weed out poor services marketing themselves as felony crime attorneys but have no business in that line of work.  Academic background is a no-brainer, but beyond that, you need to ascertain that the attorney has handled cases similar to what your situation requires. Ask how long the attorney has been practicing criminal law, if they’ve appeared in the courthouse where your case is set to be handled, frequency of going to trial, and their relationship with the prosecutor’s office, among other concerns. Check if the attorney belongs to bar associations and other professional bodies as you do your homework to establish if they’re reputable.

Free consultation

Most people skip the free consultation stage, yet it is a gem. Most reliable and reputable felony crime attorneys offer free case assessments, helping you decide what comes next. Details such as your legal options (plea agreement, guilty plea, or go to trial), whether charged in federal, state or county court, foreseeable problems with the case in different stages, aspects that are in your favor, among others, can help you establish an attorney’s fitness to handle your requirements. The no-obligation case assessment helps you establish the best course of action, and through the process, choose an attorney you like and who is capable of meeting your needs.

Case logistics

While easily overlooked, understanding how your case will be managed plays a vital role. Suppose you aren’t aware of how your case logistics will be handled. In that case, you can easily be frustrated, especially as you might be making multiple calls or visiting the attorney’s office with little to no desirable outcome. Among the top considerations to help you understand the case management aspect include asking who’ll handle the case (will you represent me or will someone else be assigned that responsibility?), the availability (is the attorney working on multiple cases) who do I call in case of a question (the office, dedicated line, or someone else). Establishing case management logistics eliminates any misunderstandings that could affect the progress.

After vetting various attorneys, and narrowing the options to a few, for example, 5-10 services, don’t forget to consider the fee. Don’t, however, choose the cheapest service, or assume that the priciest is the best. Weigh what comes out of your pocket against the value a felony crime attorney delivers to ensure that you hire the best.