Criminal Justice Lawyer: Handling All of Your Cases
Should I hire a Criminal Justice Lawyer for just one of my cases or should I hire them for all of my cases? This is a common question that a lot of people ask. In an effort to save money, people decide that they only want certain cases to be hired by such and such lawyer. However, there are a number of problems that can arise if you piecemeal your cases.
Common problems when one lawyer doesn’t handle everything:
Good Resolution for One Case may not be good for the other cases: For example, let’s assume you are on probation and you resolve several new felony cases with time served. Each new-law plea results in an additional 12 points on your violation of probation scoresheet. It’s important for your lawyer to be working to achieve a positive resolution in a way that benefits ALL CASES.
Not understanding the other case: It’s important for your lawyer to have a thorough understanding of every case against you. This is because negotiations for one case can hinge on the negotiations or outcome of another case. If the lawyer knows that the other prosecutor doesn’t have a viable case, then negotiations may be entirely different in your other cases.
A plea can actually affect your other cases: For example, when you resolve a VOP it’s important to not actually “admit” to a new-law violation. Instead, the plea should be a no-contest plea to the violation as a whole. A good Criminal Justice Lawyer will know how to work on both cases simultaneously, resolving the right cases at the right time, to minimize the risks.
Being up-to-date on the negotiations: Without a realistic understanding of how each case will be resolved, a resolution in one case may be more harmful than originally anticipated. For example, consider the case where a person wants to do straight probation OR they want to do a short prison sentence. However, this person doesn’t want to do BOTH. A probation resolution in one case would be to the client’s detriment if the other case was going to be a prison sentence; that is because the case would result in BOTH a prison sentence and a probation sentence, the absolute worst-case scenario.