A person should ask what type of accomplishments have been achieved, how many cases they are currently handling, how long they have been representing DUI attorneys and how much of their practice is devoted to DUI representation. People need to know how they would be able to get in contact with their attorney. That can be a big factor, I hear a lot of complaints from people who want to fire their other attorneys and hire me because they can never seem to get in touch with their attorney and they’re constantly calling, leaving messages, talking to secretaries, talking to receptionists but they can never get in touch with their attorney or it can take them to days get back in touch with the client.
I actually put in my contract that I will get back in touch with you or I will get back in touch with my client within 24 hours. My clients have my direct cell phone and my direct email address. So they can feel free and call or text with any question that they might email, call or text. I do not put barriers me and my clients, they don’t have to go through sectaries or receptionists. I think part of this is meeting with the attorney and getting a feel for them. Do you trust the person that you are looking at? Do you feel that they are being honest with you? Do you think that there is a good rapport with the attorney?
Some people can meet with their attorneys face to face so they don’t have to rely on what they see on the internet or rely on what they have seen from their research. But sometimes you talk to an attorney and you just get a bad feeling about them. They’re only interested in the money or they really don’t know what they are doing. Sometimes you need to go with your instinct. People can get a good feeling or a bad feeling about an attorney regardless of anything they read on the internet. Some attorneys write their own testimonials, so simply having a number of testimonials does not mean that the attorney is really good or the attorney is really client oriented. Meeting face to face with the attorney is a good idea whenever you are dealing with hiring someone that is obviously going to cost several thousand dollars.
Can a Good Attorney Assess What My Situation Might be During My Initial Consultation?
That is what I try to do; I try to give people as much information as I can. Usually my initial consultation takes about an hour. I try to let my clients know everything that is going to happen with their case, how the system is going to proceed, what they have to be concerned about as far as their charges, what they are looking at, what’s going to happen with their licenses. I talk to them about alcohol counseling or drug counseling. The point of the initial consultation is really to put people at ease. There are some attorneys out there that try to use scare tactics and try to freak people out into hiring them. Telling the worse possible outcomes, I do not feel the need to do that with my clients.
I tell them a sentencing range; I’ll tell them what I think of their case based on what they tell me. If they have a breath test result or portable breath test result, I’ll let them know the likelihood of what I expect to happen with the case. I try to tell them not only the legal sentencing range but the likely sentencing range based on my experience. What I anticipate their case will actually turn out to be. A lot of people go into talks with attorneys to hope that the attorney will say, “Hey you’ve got a great case, I will get the case dismissed”. It is rare to get cases dismissed. On occasion, I will tell people that it’s such a good case and that the case will be dismissed but again there are no guarantees.
The majority of the time where I say that I have been successful in getting that case dismissed but clients need to be a little wary when someone says that their case will be dismissed or at least ask follow up questions as to why the attorney thinks that the case will be dismissed. I try to give my clients or my potential clients as much information as I can to hopefully put them at ease. I try not to hold anything back, I try to leave everything out on the table so that they can see what I would be doing, what they’re putting money towards and how the case is going to proceed through the system.
