THE DISADVANTAGE OF A LOCAL CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY

By Ben Sessions on April 17th, 2017 in Criminal Defense

Many people that are facing serious criminal charges instinctively believe that they should look for the local criminal defense attorney that knows the judge and the prosecutor so that they can work out the best deal in the case. The problem with this kind of thinking is that it assumes that the relationship that the local criminal defense attorney has will actually work and it also assumes that you want a deal. After all, what if you’re actually not guilty (as you are presumed to be)?

There is a definite disadvantage of a local criminal defense attorney that virtually no one talks about, but that doesn’t make the disadvantage any less harmful. The problem is this: when you hire a criminal defense attorney that is a true local attorney, that personal only practices in a few jurisdictions, and they are required to deal with the same prosecutor on numerous cases. It is tough to draw a line in the sand and really engage in a fight when you know that next week you are going to be right back there with the same folks. You don’t fight with all of your might when you argue with your spouse because you don’t want a single fight to be the end of the relationship. The dynamics are not that different for lawyers that truly have a local practice.