Whether you’re facing charges such as theft, DUI, trespassing, or any other criminal charge, it’s important to have a solid defense by your side; one that will guarantee you a fair fight, and one that will win the fight. But with so many criminal lawyers practicing in the United States, it can be hard to find the best one for you and your case.
By most experts, there are four major skills a good criminal defense lawyer needs to have. So stick around and find out what are the skills that make a criminal lawyer good at their job.
1. The Ability To Investigate Your Case
The single biggest difference between a good and an average criminal lawyer is the ability to conduct a proper investigation towards a criminal case. Almost 100% of the time, a lawyer plays catch up behind the police and/or the district attorney. This is because a person can be convicted of a crime after months of investigation, and the investigating body has all the evidence, and strategy, on how to win a case against the defendant. This is where a good criminal lawyer will make his presence known. A good lawyer will investigate on what the police might have missed, any witnesses that say otherwise, phone calls, records, the list goes on. The best criminal lawyer will work tirelessly on finding evidence that will prove the defendant innocent.
2. The Ability to Negotiate
There are two main factors that each criminal defense lawyer focuses before taking a case. Namely, the ability to negotiate consists of these two factors which are: what does the defendant deserve, and what is the likely outcome if it goes to trial. A good lawyer will have excellent negotiating skills and will be able to bring the best possible outcome, in the case the strength of the case is greatly in favor of the prosecution. This by no means is a small task. Yes, the job of your lawyer will be to make you a free man, but sometimes that cannot be achieved, and it all depends on the lawyers negotiating skills at this point to limit the damage.
3. The Ability Provide Technical Legal Defense
Most police officers are good at their job of investigating a crime, no matter how big or small. But one thing that police officers are bad, and often hate to do, is to write a police report. For an example, one of the biggest crimes in the Los Angeles area is theft, so good Los Angeles lawyers will challenge the police, and find flaws, in their police reports. They will challenge the prosecution, challenge the police, and challenge their strategy.
4. The Ability to Win a Trial at All Costs
The toughest skill a good criminal defense lawyer has is the ability to win at all costs. Sometimes the only possible outcome is to win, and nothing less. This takes countless hours spent on researching, digging for evidence that will help the defendant, challenge everything presented by the prosecution to the judge, and so on. A truly good defense lawyer will be able to come out with a win even if the odds are massively stacked against his client. A good criminal defense lawyer will relish the chance to go to trial and win, although this is not always the smartest decision, but none the less win.
