My Only Criminal Attorney Experience
I grew up wanting to be a criminal attorney. I changed my mind after my first DUI case. I went to a small unaccredited law school. This meant I could take the bar exam but I would not have the job offers graduates from ABA accredited schools would get. But that was all right. I figured I would break into criminal law somehow.
I simply wanted to graduate. Then I wanted to pass the bar. I would think about getting work as a lawyer later.
Government work is the best place to get criminal law experience. Really, it is the only place. Most if not all criminal law lawyers in private practice worked for the district attorney office or the public defender to begin. But most if not all of those jobs go to graduates or ABA schools. But I was able to get an interview with the county I lived in. There was a state wide hiring freeze because of budget shortages. But it was lifted for one position in the county public defenders office. I got 88 out of 100 in the interview. I knew this was not high enough with all the competition for one job opening.
A week later, I received a letter from the state saying that the hiring freeze was reinstated. They did not even fill the one position before putting the freeze back on. I decided to take a continuing legal education course on drunken driving defense. The course was a three day program and after the course I thought there was really nothing to it and it should be simple enough.
After completing the course I ran an ad in the local shopper. My phone rang all day long. I went to court with my first client. The courtroom was in the city I grew up in across the street from the college I graduated from.
There was really no defense for my client. His alcohol blood level was above the legal limit. The cop stopped him as he was driving out of the driveway of the bar he had been drinking in all night. But as my instructor said some people like a lawyer to hold their hand as they are going through the process. That was my role that morning, hand holder.
Once done, the bailiff looked me up and down turned her nose up and walked away. I asked the deputy district attorney to confirm the charge against my client and asked her the sentence the state would agree to. I learned to do this in class. She rearranged her papers and without looking my way said I will learn when the judge started the case.
I was however treated politely by the female judge. I think she must have come up from the ranks of the public defenders office and knew what it was like dealing with bailiffs and deputy district attorneys. My client received the minimum penalty for his offense. His drivers license was suspended for one year. But I was able to get him to drive legally to and from and at work since his job required him to drive. But I decided that would be my only criminal case. As a criminal attorney one has to learn to be treated like the client he represents. That might be fine for some lawyers. But not this one.
Having a well experienced criminal lawyer Fort Lauderdale is greatly beneficial to the case. A Fort Lauderdale criminal attorney will use their expertise to fight for your welfare, guaranteeing the best possible outcomes.
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