Many of the clients who come into my law office are struggling to fully grasp the full value of what an experienced and dedicated private criminal defense attorney can do for them. People who are charged with minor offenses are often tempted to go to court without an attorney in order to save them the expense of having to hire an attorney. By the same token, many people who are arrested for more serious crimes may consider having the public defender's office appointed to represent them because they do not want to make the substantial financial commitment that is often required in order to obtain private legal representation for those types of cases. What many people do not realize unfortunately is that by retaining an experienced and dedicated criminal defense attorney they are making a direct investment into their own future and that of those who depend on them.
Any lawyer will certainly tell you that it is just as good an idea to perform surgery or a medical procedure on yourself as it is to act as your own attorney. No matter what the charge and what the offer to resolve is, there are many considerations which must be taken into account when resolving a criminal case and only your lawyer is going to advise you of the wisest course of action. In addition to being much more suited to challenge the charges against you in court, a criminal defense attorney is a also a professional negotiator. Your attorney is likely going to have some familiarity with the judge and prosecutor on your case and a client who is represented by an attorney is in a much better bargaining position that someone who is representing themselves. I have also observed that individuals who attempt to deal with minor criminal charges such as Petit Theft or Shoplifting often times end up missing a court date inadvertently for one reason or another. Many people have had capias' issued and were taken into custody and spent time in jail because they missed a court date. When you hire a private criminal defense attorney he or she makes all of the court appearances on their client's behalf so missing a court date is nowhere near as likely. When an unrepresented person is not in court and their case is called by the judge, then a warrant or capias will be issued for their arrest. When a person who is represented by an attorney is not present, most judges will attempt to contact the attorney as opposed to issuing an arrest warrant.
For many people private legal representation is simply not an option because of financial limitations. For those defendants, Florida has many excellent attorneys who are employed as public defenders that can be appointed to a defendant's case if they financially qualify. I myself was once employed as an assistant public defender and I can attest that some of the finest criminal defense attorneys in the state of Florida are assistant public defenders. I can also attest to the fact that there are many unpleasant realities which hinder an assistant public defender's ability to give each and every one of his or her cases the attention that the client deserves. While I feel that I did good work for my clients as an assistant public defender, the clients which I have represented since opening my private practice have experienced a more thorough and attentive level of legal representation. This is simply a reflection of that fact that as a private criminal defense attorney, I have much more time to devote to each of my cases and many more resources available to me. I will often sit at my desk for an entire afternoon researching one specific issue in a client's case. Why? Because I can. The daily life of an assistant public defender in most busy jurisdictions does not permit for that level of individual attention to be devoted to each case. In the March 2013 Florida Bar Journal, Gideon's Promise , statewide statistics are presented demonstrating that at the time there were 1,511 assistant public defenders in the State of Florida and that those attorneys would handle about 761,689 cases which means that based upon those numbers, on the average an assistant public defender has only two hours to devote to each case.
Budgetary constraints have forced public defender's offices statewide to operate with as minimal as staff of attorneys as possible and in addition, funds are often not available to pay for investigators and court reporters which can further hinder an attorneys ability to effectively represent his or her client. There are many excellent assistant public defenders and there are some who are not as effective. By the same token, there are many excellent private criminal defense attorneys out there and some who are ineffective but being in private practice at least gives a lawyer a chance to dedicate themselves to each and every case. If a private attorney feels like they have more work than they can handle, then they are free to hire an associate or decline new cases. An assistant public defender has no such luxuries. While employed as an assistant public defender myself, I would often have multiple trials set for the same day. I can remember more than one instance where I was set to go to trial on 4 or 5 different cases on the same day. No lawyer is going to be as effective under those circumstances as they would be if they had the time and resources to labor over every minute detail of every case before it goes to trial the way that most private criminal defense lawyers do.
When selecting legal representation for a criminal case it important to take all considerations into account. Is it worth saving a few hundred or a few thousand dollars when your entire future and ability to provide for a family hangs in the balance?
