Houston criminal defense lawyer Nathaniel Pitoniak is passionate about criminal law and offers tips on how to hire an attorney to represent you if charged with a criminal offense in the Houston area. The Law Office of Nathaniel Pitoniak
405 Main Street
Suite 451
Houston, TX 77002
832-315-6283
(Transcript)
Hi, my name is Nathaniel Pitoniak and I am a Houston criminal defense lawyer. I'm going to provide some tips on what you should look for when you're searching for a criminal defense lawyer.
The first thing you should consider is that person's experience. You want to go with somebody who is exclusively a criminal defense lawyer. In other words, you don't want to go with somebody who splits their time between criminal defense, family law, and personal injury. You want somebody completely devoted to and passionate about criminal defense law. While you don't have to hire a former prosecutor, this can be very helpful. This ensures that the person you're hiring has actual experience trying criminal cases. You should stay away from lawyers who promise to get your case dismissed or promise to get a not-guilty verdict. While of course, that's the objective of every criminal defense lawyer, any lawyer who makes these promises is behaving unethically. We are ethically prevented from making such promises. The truth is that no lawyer can know in advance what is going to happen in your case. The best you can hope for is to find a lawyer who you trust to do an effective job, putting in hard work defending your case and trying to obtain the best possible result.
Something else you should consider is the price that the lawyer quotes you. If a lawyer quotes you a price that's too good to be true, you should be leery. The price that a lawyer quotes you is a reflection of how much work that lawyer anticipates putting forth on your criminal defense case. As a general rule, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. You should ask the lawyer you're talking to whether the fee that they quote covers all the way through trial. I quote a flat fee which includes everything up to and including trial.
Probably the best advice I can give you is to sit down with the lawyer you're considering hiring. You want to determine what your gut feeling is about whether they're going to be an effective story-teller for you. Chances are that if you get a bad feeling from them, so too would a prosecutor, a juror, or a judge, and these are the people who will ultimately decide your fate.
I'm a former prosecutor and I devote my practice exclusively to criminal defense. I'm passionate about criminal defense. If you are suspected of a crime or have been charged with a crime, please feel free to call me at 832-315-6283 then we can discuss the facts of your case.
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