Choosing a Houston Criminal Lawyer

While thankfully most of the smaller legal things in life such as buying a home or renting an apartment do not require the assistance of hiring an attorney, facing criminal charges does.  If you are looking for a Houston criminal lawyer, you are making a smart decision when facing criminal charges.  

Depending on the charges against you, your attorney will help you to understand and protect your rights through the entire process from filing any pretrial motions that may enhance your position or even result in dismissing any charges against you, to understanding what types of defense you can legally use, to negotiating plea agreements, to taking your case to trial.  Choosing to do all of this yourself is not a wise decision as the law is a very complex area requiring years of study and practice to master.

How Much Can I Expect a Houston Criminal Lawyer to Charge?

The amount you will spend defending yourself against criminal charges is not like any other investment you will ever make. A criminal conviction will forever place your good name in jeopardy. Anytime you need a criminal background check done for routine purposes such as landing a new job or getting a new apartment, you will run the risk of being rejected because of a prior criminal conviction. Unlike bad credit which can be repaired, having a criminal record may not ever be able to be expunged. Consider this when you are wavering over how expensive it can be to mount a viable defense.

The amount that a Houston criminal lawyer will require as a retainer to defend your case will depend upon the nature of the criminal charges that are raised. For more "minor" felony charges you can expect a retainer fee of anywhere from $5,000 - $10,000. For more complicated, serious charges such as sexual assault or homicide you can expect a retainer fee upwards of $25,000. Be wary if you shop around and have several quotes of say $20,000 and you find one attorney offering services for $10,000. A bargain with your life may not be worth it and your attorney won't be the one serving jail time with a criminal record if your defense fails.

Some attorneys will offer payment plans for their retainer fees. These may be a good idea for you if you have a steady stream of income while you are awaiting trial. Be careful, however, of retainers that require an additional sum due if you must go to trial. Many cases in the appellate system are there because someone felt they must enter a plea of guilty and did not have the ability to pay another trial retainer.

Remember that other than the retainer paid, there may still be more fees involved if you need to hire private investigators or provide expert witnesses at a trial.  These fees are always separate from the retainer.  Unlike civil law, though, you do not pay a criminal lawyer by the hour for the work done.  The fee is paid up front in the form of the retainer - or over time if you are on a payment plan.

There are many ways to find a Houston Criminal Lawyer from referrals from friends and colleagues, recommendations from the Texas State Bar Association, to internet directories that offer information about local attorneys in your area. When consulting with different criminal lawyers, its important to keep in mind that there may be a consultation fee for the attorney's time spent with you. When calling to make an appointment, you don't want the first question out of your mouth to be how much is the consultation fee? The reason is because you want the best defense possible and if the attorney is more concerned about whether or not you can afford to pay, they won't be focused as much on your case. Your main concern should be whether or not this is he right attorney for you. Should you decide to retain an attorney, they will generally wave the consultation fee, which is usually around $500.

When choosing an attorney, it is important to be up front about your case and not make excuses. Attorney-client privilege protects any communication you may have with different attorneys when making a decision on who to retain. Check their background and information on similar types of cases they have tried in the past. While its not necessary that they have experience with a case with the exact details as yours, their field of criminal law should be the same. You don't want someone who has only ever tried DUI tickets to try an aggravated assault case for example. The other thing to ask about is the percentage of criminal cases that the firm works on. If it is less than 50%, they probably don't have the experience that you will need. This is the rest of your life that you are investing in, take it seriously.

Public defenders get a bad rap on TV quite often.  If you qualify income-wise for a public defender, don't overlook this as a possibility for your case.  Keep in mind that public defenders only ever try criminal cases and thus they have a wealth of knowledge and experience to back them up.  On the average, public defenders actually perform better in criminal cases than private attorneys because of this deep level of experience.  On the other hand, there are duds in any field.  If you don't think the public defender assigned to you will represent you well, consult with private criminal lawyers until you find the right one for your case.