Lawyerup09

Fiction Tool Box

http://www.fictiontoolbox.com/p/random-samplings-from-justice-4-sale.html

TEN MOST NOT WANTED (Clients)

JUST

SAY

NO & NO MEANS NO

 

Just say No! We have all heard it right? No means No! You’ve heard that one? Useful sayings we have all heard and undoubtedly said.  So you are scratching your head and wondering how this applies to lawyering. Before you turn the page and decide now is the perfect time to start using those sayings, hear me out.

With more and more downsizing in large law firms and the increasing number of solos by choice of lawyers, it may seem that the number of choice clients is on the rapid decline. We have all felt the sting of today’s economy. I recently read an article, which prompted this article; it addressed the top occupations to be in during this topsy turvy recession

At first glance, I have to say I was surprised to see lawyers listed. Yes, right alongside ‘health care professionals’, ‘career counselors’ (whatever they are) and internet media. I admit I am unaccustomed to this good press. I admit I am used to seeing and reading about lawyers side by side with Used car salesmen,  Those check cashing places that charge people like 20% of their entire check for the pleasure of cashing it-albeit they do not verify the funds; so I have been told.

The more I thought about it; the more reasonable it became. I mean just because the economy has gone to hell doesn’t mean that criminals have stopped breaking the law and committing crimes. Let me rephrase that please. I mean just because the economy is bad doesn’t mean that the police have stopped wrongfully arresting innocent people for the crimes that are still being committed. People have not stopped having car and motorcycle accidents. People still slip and fall during this economy, heck probably more often. Divorce is clearly on the rise.

Now the 64,000 dollar question is: Will these people pay top dollar for the good lawyers like you and me. Everyone is watching their dollar closely, whether that dollar was earned or stolen. So it is all the more important to be the best at what you do. Do not make promises that you cannot keep; do not promise your client the world before you even look at the facts of the case. Your working reputation will earn you word of mouth referrals from happy and satisfied clients. It is always better to get a client who was referred by a former client that a nut case who threw a knife into the telephone book and hit you with a bull’s eye. Come to think of it, people who like you would never refer some nut job to you.

 

The problem begins to creep up on us flying solo when halfway through the month you are having an unusual quiet day at the office. At first you think

OMG

is today a holiday and I forgot to give the staff time off. When you realize, no it is just Wednesday. Then you ask your paralegal for the third time today, before

noon

“Sally, can you get me a list of the new client appointments for the rest of the week? I think I will get a jump start on their intake, you know while I am having this unusual but welcomed down time?” 

“Um, Sally, did you not hear me?” looking down, she keeps tap tap tapping on her keyboard, secretly hoping you will just go away while at the very same time secretly hoping that she gets her paycheck this week, probably haven already given up on the visions of $$$$ in her Christmas stocking . Snap out of she finally tells herself, it is only July things will surely pick up by bonus, I mean Christmas time. We always go through spurts, why should this be any different?

TEMPTATION AND FRUSTRATION  competing with fear of the unknown take over and the next thing you know we find ourselves sitting across the conference table from creepy crawly client who gives us the heebie jeebies. For those of you who do not think you know what I mean by the heebie jeebies, well yes you do. You will recognize it next time, I promise you and then you will have a floodgate of memories of past scary, scummy sketchy, clients. You know it when you are talking to a client and you just have the strangest overwhelming outburst. You holler to the receptionist as she goes to close your door

“No, um Tiffany, that is not necessary. Please just leave the door open.” Puzzled of course, because all Tiff can think of is how many times you have reminded her to always but always close the door after escorting a prospective new client into your office. Then you know it, or when you feel the hairs on the arm stand up at attention or the prickly feeling of something crawling down your back, oh you know it. The time when you told the young ladies they could leave at 5:30 you would be fine. You only had one appointment left for the day; a nice gentleman was coming in to talk to you about a dispute with his neighbor. It should be relatively simple; you can handle it on your own. Oh yes, you know it when he arrives in his dirty overalls, carrying a sack that you learn contains the neighbors dog’s feces. He wants it examined. He is certain they dog ate his parakeet. Then he starts talking about the giant government conspiracy against him and the UFO’s that are brainwashing his dog. The heebie jeebies, that is what that feeling is, we all have had an experience with a client who gives us the heebie jeebies.

Temptation and Frustration and fear of the unknown and now we are sitting across from the master of Heebi and Jeebie and yet we are somehow signing on the dotted line of a retainer agreement.

Repeat after me. Just say No. and No means No,

You can and should pass on some clients. The ones you should pass on and don’t are the one that will end up costing you more that you collect from them. They suck up all of your productive time that you could be spending on your good, easy going appreciative clients who pay their bill on time and actually trust you to do your job and take your advice.. The just suck the life out of you. And after you have done far more than you were paid to do, they will not be happy and you will be spending more time writing letters trying to appease them to no avail. Then after they fire you and demand their money back you will spend even more time having to answer a frivolous bar complaint.

So make it a rule. Just say no to the clients that will end up causing you to live off BC powder for the headache followed my Tums and Rolaids for the indigestion form ingesting too much aspirin.

Here is my list of the TEN MOST NOT WANTED (Clients)

 

10. Clients who make legal fees and cost a major issue. It should come as no surprise to you when this client haggles over every single cost. He wants to do the start now pay later plan. He will talk a big game about money; will tell you how much he gives his employees as a bonus. Talk is cheap and so is he. If he is already trying to negotiate the fee down; this is just the beginning of many headaches and months of no payment from  this cost avoiding client. Best case scenario, you refund his money and learn a lesson. Worst case scenario you have to sue him for payment (never a good idea) & count on spending money to travel to your state’s bar associations’ disciplinary committee to give your deposition and other cost involved defending against his frivolous complaint.

9. Clients with an issue that is beyond your area of expertise: Now is not the time to learn a new area of law. If you are a family law attorney and a client wants to retain you for a big tax law case. Resist the temptation to be drawn in by the $$$$$. You are just asking for a malpractice suit.

8. Lawyer Shopping Clients: So you and half the lawyers in town offer a free initial consult. Nip this consult in the bud when it becomes apparent that this lawyer has already interviewed 9 lawyers, crosses your name off the list while comparing you to the nine before you while looking at the list of 13 more after you. Now this is not a golden rule, there are always exceptions. When I first opened my private solo practice, I had a lawyer shopper come in. I was determined to land her. Imagine if you can this scenario/ One of the main reasons I went into practice for myself was to have more time for my kids, I even had a huge playroom in my law office for my kids after school and for the children of clients to use while we met. On this particular day my kids did not have school and had been at my office all day. This was a 5:00 PM client consult and my kids made about 20 guest appearances in my office. They came in unannounced; the staff could not control them. They were bored tired and hungry. They popped in to kiss me, hug me, tell me a joke, play peek a boo with the potential new client, kick me, tell me they loved me, hated me, wanted to go home. I handled it the best I could, but I never screamed at my kids. When the interview ended I just assumed “another one bites the dust…and another one gone…Imagine my surprise Monday morning when she was back with checkbook in hand to retain me (and this was a big fee) I asked her what prompted her to select me over all the others she interviewed. She was retaining someone to represent her son a juvenile charged as an adult with a very serious offense. She said it was my commitment to my family. I had tears in my eyes. Remember this is the exception, you can sell yourself to the client ;lawyer shopper, she will eventually chose someone to be her lawyer, but how often can you give away hours of your time for free to not be the one selected?

 

 

 

7. The Ping Pong Lawyer Client this is the client who has already fired one or more previous attorneys on this very case. A red flag should immediately go up. Normally this indicates a client who is not easy to please and will never be satisfied. You will find yourself spending hours of unnecessary time talking on the phone, meeting with this client as they continuously drop in without a scheduled appointment. They are what we call “hand holders” they need their hand held through every step. If they have a court date two months out (just a status conference) they will stop by the Friday before the Monday that you begin a first degree murder trial. They will demand that you stop meeting with the witness for Monday’s trial. Their case will always be more important than any other you have. If you dismiss them, they take it personal. They will threaten to fire you and when they do fire you, even though you have used up the entire retainer fee and then some they will demand all of their money back or threaten to report you to the bar. They will report you to the bar, but only after you have literally worked your ass off trying to please them.  Save yourself the trouble. First contact the previous attorneys and learn the real story. Again this is the rule and there are exceptions. I have cases I have taken when a client has fired a lawyer. There are certain lawyers in my area that have a reputation for taking money and doing little. If it is one of these very few attorneys I will consider it, but never if they have lodged a bar complaint (learned my lesson the hard way here. A 4 time convicted felon retained me, he was in jail and the judge refused to set a bond. It was a drug case. I saw the money and saw what appeared to be easy; he had a right to bail didn’t he? My warning sign should have gone off when I asked him who represented him on the manslaughter case he was acquitted of and he named the name of a very reputable and awesome attorney. When he said the name I did not mention to him that it was my husband, not yet. I asked him why he did not retain him again and he bad mouthed him. I later learned that was not the only acquittal my husband obtained, he obtained 4. The judge hated him as did the DA. We had a bail hearing and despite the prosecutor introducing no evidence, the judge still denied bail. Client filed a bar complaint. During the investigation of said complaint, I took a writ and won and he was released. I had to continue working for him. Bar complaint unfounded. It was my first and I worried myself to death. The hours I spent preparing and answering etc. were unavoidable.  He even lied about the amount of money he paid me. Luckily we had very good records and deposit slips. Another reason to document everything.

 

6. Client with unrealistic expectations  you know this client, this is the greatest lawsuit of all times. This should make millions and they are doing you a huge favor letting you in on it. They want to sue the city, state, county, Parish, school Board, Mayor, Governor, they have researched verdicts in California and New York and think their case is really worth 35 mil. Run do not walk, but run to the nearest exit of the airplane. Wait this is your office. Walk very fast to the exit door and politely open it for them and wish them well. Cover your ass and immediately send a letter of non engagement. Do not let this client think for even a day that you are their attorney, You will be pulling your hair out.

5. A favor for a friend or a friend of a friend or even worse, family or friend of family.  When you get your law license amazingly you will have so many more friends than you ever remember having. It reminds me of when my husband and I move to a place on the beach in Florida right after we graduated law school. We lived in Florida for five years, eventually buying a home on the water. Man did we have a lot of friends come visit. Come to think of it, not one of them came to visit us in Michigan while we were in law school in the blizzards and 30 below ice storms. When you do a favor for a friend or family and you end up doing it for a fraction of your fee or pro bono, you open yourself up to a client who will call you to explain every tiny detail, even if it is a simple lease. Since they did not pay you they often do not recognize when the relationship ends. I have one family member, god bless her sweet soul, and she has kids from hell. At any given day during the 20 years of my practice, I kid you not, no less than three of her either children, grandchildren, spouse of children spouse of grandchildren, best friend of same, boyfriend of, ex husband of, baby’s daddy and so are in jail at the same time, at least 3 usually 5 or more.  So seriously we have the grandmother (young to be a grandmother and she usually stays out of jail to work her ass off, her fingers to the bone to pay bail every single weekend. My ex husband, current husband and I somehow are always representing her two children, her one grandchild, her daughter’s boyfriends, her daughter’s baby daddy, her grandson’s girlfriend, ex girlfriend, her son’s first wife, second wife, current girlfriend and ex girlfriend, sister of current girlfriend, This family members current boyfriend, ex husband and get this now we have the ex husband of this distant relative’s new girlfriend. I am not kidding. When one case ends they get arrested again and just tell the judge we represent them and because our name is already on so many cases, it just goes on the next. These clients we did pro bono work for now really own us. They know where we live, our home numbers, cell phones, they show up at our house at 630 am (when they know we will be home and we cannot hide) They say the stupidest things to Judges like” well so and so used to be the DA here and he will get us off so I don’t care what I am charged with, really makes it hard. Just don’t mix family and business if you can help it. Their case is always an emergency you get 25 calls an hour the 4^th of July weekend, when you finally can’t take it anymore and use up a huge one and bite the bullet and call the Judge on his cell phone while he is with his family on this holiday to get a bond set, suddenly the phone calls stop, not even one thank you call. By now, you don’t care; the peace is a welcome relief.

 

 

 

4. The Angry Client-You can’t quite figure out who he is angry at, but who cares, it will be you soon enough. Words like conspiracy and government cover up should alert you. When he comes to the consult armed with a ton of paperwork, mostly letters he has written to complain about someone. He is a big letter writer. He writes the mayor, the governor, the president, the congressman, senators, FBI, DEA, and any other 3 letter organization you’ve never heard of. He feels that society and the justice system owe him something and eventually you will be on that list. The worst part he will begin to include you in his letter campaign, but up until now his 2000 letters per month have gone unanswered, but that one little letter to the bar must be answered, by yours truly. That is if you get off lucky and he does not go postal on you.

 

3. The client whose issue is always a life or death emergency. Beware you will be running around like a fire dog trying to put out fires, your own. You won’t have time for any other clients.

2. The client who knows more than you.  This client would do it himself if not already so busy with his real important things to do. He will come armed with laminated maps, plats, volumes of law (mostly outdated) he has downloaded and printed from the internet. Beware of the client who offers to do “much of the leg work himself” to save some of the cost & worse yet the client who has a girlfriend or boyfriend who is in college taking a business law class. Client will inundate you with silly out there off the wall questions and suggestions. Stay away. & Always beware of the client says “I don’t care about the money; I am not in this for the money; it is the principle of the matter

 

 

 

1. The Heebie Jeebie Client  - nuff said

 

 

Part 2 Secure e-mail

PART 11: SECURE E-MAIL

I KNOW I WAS SUPPOSED TO POST A BLOG OF Jan 11, 2008 ABOUT HOW TO SECURE YOUR E-MAILS, BUT UNFORTUNATELY WITH WORK, KIDS AND YES MY BIRTHDAY (AM I 27 OR 39 CAN'T DECIDE YET) I DID NOT GET A CHANCE TO UPDATE & WHILE LOOKING @ MY PREVIOUS POST I REALIZED THAT WHAT SO OFTEN HAPPENS THE END WAS CUT OFF SO NOW I NEED TO GO BACK AND ADD THE FEW DETAILS LEFT OFF, BUT IN AN EFFORT TO KEEP UP I WILL MAKE A SHORT POST TODAY ABOUT SECURE E-MAILS

This post is a continuation of a post about how electronic communication, IE: I-phones, cell phones e-mail , computers, My Space, Face-book, computers, credit card machines and the like can & will get you in hot water if you are accused of a crime or if you are involved in a divorce, child custody, visitation case etc:  This is a short post and I will follow up.  The sole purpose is to provide information on the two best secure e-mails I have discovered during my intense & thorough research of e-mail.

If you are wondering why the world of lawyers is so interested in this topic, just take a look @ "Who is Elliot Spizer" if by chance you do not follow the news or print media.

I have not confirmed the first part, but the consensus is  that if you must use an Internet browser you are much safer if you do NOT use Microsoft.  This would be difficult fo anyone; I know it would be for me as windows & Microsoft is all that I am familiar with.  However the experts suggest, using firefox or safari.  O.K down the the nitty gritty important stuff:

May I suggest, based on a thorough evaluation of all of the information that has been provided to me and the research I have conducted

1. Use PGP to encrypt your e-mail, I am sure most of you are familiar with encryption, in fact attorneys are cautioned that if we are using e-mails to communicate with clients via privileged information we must find a secure or encrypted e-mails server
2. Thunderbird has a plug in called "enigmail".   By all means please take the few minutes necessary to check this out, whether you are an attorney communicating with clients or you are a client communicating with an attorney or with anyone else that you need to keep your messages private

The one other private/secure mail ISP that I have been alerted to and have done some preliminary research on , can be found @

1.  http://www.novo-ordo.com

Any of our readers who have any information to pass on about either of these two, please share with our readers, as it is becoming more & more common practice, the norm I should say, for lawyers to communicate with clients via e-mail.

I am certain that if polled most clients would place inability to reach their clients when needed at the very top of their list of complaints.  While all attorneys should make an effort to keep clients informed of all necessary stages of the proceedings; I have found as I am sure many other attorney have as well that with our court schedule and demanding deadlines; it is often impossible to give  clients daily updates. 

 Often we do not have any new information to pass on.  I for one can attest to this:  When we have new information to share we do so immediately.  Often the question that a client (more often a family member of a client) has is one that we do not have an answer to.  If we need to make an appointment with the D.A. and coordinate a meeting with a probation officer, a parole officer, the alleged victim and so on... Please understand that we have to approach the D.A. when the time is right.

  It does more harm than good to your child, spouse, parent, girlfriend, boyfriend, cousin, etc. if the defense lawyer calls upon the D.A. when the D.A. has assured us they will get back to us.  We do not want to irritate or alienate the one person who can help us by continuing to call or show up.  It irritates someone if we continue to "check in" or "ask for a specific date and time that they will give us an answer" we are doing what we can and we are doing it the way we feel is in the best interest of the client. 

As difficult as it must be for you, remember patience is a virtue.  We do not want to make matters worse by calling over and over.  We must do as the D.A. ask and wait for them to respond to us.

• As I said, I bet if took a poll, then biggest complaint from clients and family members of clients is that you feel we lawyers do not communicate with you as often as you would like
• We simply cannot communicate with you every day
• when no action has occurred- we do not have new information to pass on
• We can and do send out letters (case updates) weekly or monthly depending on the circumstances to apprise you of the status of your case-even if there is no new action to report
• It is not necessary for you to telephone our office everyday
• even worse, it serves no purpose for you or a family member to just pop in our office everyday
• Our staff is working diligently to get the information you so desire to you, and unexpected interruptions slow them down
• This is especially true for solo practice offices
• Our staff is working diligently on your case; but also on a host of other cases
• stopping in without an appointment, demanding to be seen, cuts in to the the time we have alloted for clients who have appointments
• when you have a scheduled appointment you would not be happy if we had to keep you waiting for hours to accommodate someone who just popped in unannounced
• please show us and our other clients the very same courtesy you would expect

Having said that, while we cannot call you or write to you everyday.  E-mail makes communication between lawyer & client much easier.  We can always find time to send you a short e-mail to let you know you status (even if it has not changed).

That is why it is so important to ensure that our e-mails to and from you are secure

If anyone has any suggestions or tips for the best secured e-mail that you sue to communicate with your lawyer or client; we welcome your suggestions

In the meantime we will use the above encryption for attorney/client e-mails

Stay tuned for more on secure attorney client e-mails

COMING UP NEXT:  OUR ANSWERS TO YOUR  QUESTIONS ABOUT "SPOOF CARDS" WE WILL RESEARCH THE LEGALITY OF THESE AND POST OUR FINDINGS WITHIN THE NEXT FEW DAYS , SO CHECK BACK FREQUENTLY

Maintaining Privacy- A wise Lawyer would advise clients to follow this

Any Client or potential client who is concerned with maintaining privacy and preventing others from gaining access to personal information , and let me just say that if you are a criminal defense client this should be of utmost importance.  Likewise if you are a family law client and involved in a pending divorce suit or even worse a child custody suit; you should be equally as concerned with keeping your life as private as possible.

A wise lawyer will advise clients that anything they are doing with an electronic communicative device IE: Cell phone, blackberry, I-Phone, Pc, Laptop, credit card processing machines can & usually will be discovered @ the worst possible time.

To prevent your Social Security number , income information, communication with your lawyer, or any other secrets from falling into the wrong hands:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~For the Love of Peter Skeeter Jumping Jeter, the snoopy doopy doggy dog~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~Do not reveal them in e-mail or on-line~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No, I am not so archaic and old that I expect you to use a coin pay telephone to communicate; I'm doubting any of you over the age of 35 even remember the pay telephones.

Yes, I do understand the electric world is addictive, why do you think I spend countless hours learning to blog?  Well I do that because we live in a very strange land now, and it is becoming more and more foreign to me each day.

We live in a foreign land where lawyers, who are not known for generating more work for themselves; yet these same lawyers all have multi paged web sites with graphics and shocks and bolts and words I cannot even spell.  As if that were not enough as soon as the lawyers like me finally caught on to the need , the requirement, the must have buzz, gotta gotta have a website or we will become obsolete old timers still clinging to our yellow pages.  Yes, I am quite sure that my kids, the very ones who are laughing hysterically at the fact that mom & dad did not have mobile phones at age 7; heck I am still trying to explain my old party line to them, but the puzzled looks have confirmed that I need not even try.

 

And yes the very same kids laughing @ me right now because I did not have a cell phone growing up "yeah, right sure mom, like we believe that.  How did you call your mom or dad when you needed them when you were a kid?"  I tried to explain that I hoped they would be @ home and I would dial our home phone.  I lost them though. 

 My little boy Bennett, genuinely seemed worried for me "Mommy what did you do if you could not reach them" In my attempt to alleviate his worried face I only made the situation worse, " Oh don't worry sweetie, mommy never had any problems getting a hold of my mom when I was a kid" then as I turned to grab a coke I added and I knew as soon as i added it I was sunk, " the only time we ever  had a problem when I was a kid was id the line was busy"

 His saucer eyes popped up landing directly on my face, now he was utterly confused, "what, what do you mean, mom, are you tricking us?  What are you talking about? How can a phone be busy."  In rapid succession he shot off" How can the phone be busy, what does it do? A phone doesn't do anything to get busy, it can't move or anything, huh, right?" I knew I would not win this one and so I told a little fib, "yea baby I was fooling with yu.that phone did not get up and go make a sandwich, it was not busy at all" Whew!!!! conversation ended.

So yes, I know the electronic world is cool, addictive, easy, and so many other words, bottom line is it is easy.

Computers can be a far better way to reach out and touch someone than Ma Bell ever was.

It is necessary for you to learn the best ways to protect your privacy, particularly if a court proceeding could be in your future.  Let me suggest some things:

                      

1. avoid cell phones at all cost
2. Avoid sending e-mails-----------except for the most innocent & dull messages
3. Just bite the bullet & avoid the Internet completely
4. Avoid using Credit Card & debit Cards

Credit cards & debit cards create a dangerous paper  trail and there is absolutely no way to avoid it

But: if you insist on using electronics to communicate & to make purchases please read & follow the below listed ideas.  They can at at a minimum help slow the process of others gaining access to your private information.

                             

• get a brand new computer, below we will discuss how you should pay for it.  You might as well get a lap top because it is much smaller and it is portable

Keep it away from you spouse, your friends, co-workers, and your children.  In fact do not even let anyone know that it exist.  The one caveat here is that if your problems you are facing do not involve your husband and everything is good between the two of you; then you can make an exception and let him know about your new purchase. 

If you and your spouse are getting along and your court problems do not involve a family law suit against him/her; there is not reason to deceive your spouse and  risk creating a rift between the two of you.

1. Learn how to cover your tracks, IE: clean up the cookies; clear the history; wipe the hard drive clean, and do all of these precautions often.
2. Do not keep incriminating information on the hard drive
3. Do not save any pictures, downloads, attachments, or copies of any e-mails.
4. Learn, if you do not already know, that even if you do not save a picture or a document or a download to a yahoo account for example.  Once you view it, it is mixed in with your yahoo documents, easy for even the novice computer user to locate

• Get a secure e-mail address account
• Get a web based e-mail account
• web-based e-mail is particularly nice & the least likely to be a target for a subpoena
• By web-based, I do not mean AOL on-lineThink Gmail or Yahoo
• Do not access the account from the family computer, your office or work computer, any other computer that you can be tied to
• use only the new lap top that you have just purchased
• Purchase the new laptop with cash only or better yet a pre-paid untraceable, unidentifiable visa credit card (unless the place of purchase is going to require you to show identification with the pre-paid visa purchase then you will have to come up with the cash.
• Do not download any emails
• Just view and write
• use the account to communicate with your attorney, your special friend, Tamara, or Candi, or Misty or Stormy whatever, and anyone else whose communication needs to remain secret.
• Do not use your real name when you

Necessary Questions to ask when Hiring a Criminal Defense Attorney

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO ASK WHEN HIRING A CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY:

1. What experience do you have with my specific kind of legal matter?
2. Have you ever gone to trial ( & how many times) on a _______ "First Degree Murder case?"
3. Do You anticipate the need to bring in outside counsel to sit as second chair with you?
4. Just exactly what are the Cost & Expenses that the contract says I will be responsible for in addition to the retainer fee
5. How Much do you anticipate I will need in addition to your retainer fee to cover such expenses as
   • an investigator
   • Expert Witnesses, such as Doctors, Mental Health Professionals, Crime lab techs etc.
   • Evidence inspection, testing
   • Photo copies, DVD's , Power Point presentation, Demonstrative Evidence for trial
   • Crime Scene Re-constructionist
   • Finger Print expert
   • D.N.A. Expert
6. Does this retainer fee cover the expense of any writs taken prior to or during trial or any other legal research and writing, preparation of legal memorandums, briefs, etc that may be filed with an appellate court for review
7. Do you have the time to devote to a case a serious or as complex as mine?
8. How is your staff paid for the time that they contribute to my case?
9. How informed will you keep me on the status of my case?
10. Based on the information that you have, what do you see as the best-case result for my position
    • What Would be The Worst Case result for my situation
    • What do you see as the benefit of going to trial vs accepting a plea (assuming one is offered
    • What do you see as the downside of going to trial
11. What is your policy on returning calls and or e-mails
12. If the client is incarcerated, what is your policy on making visits to the jail and your policy on accepting collect telephone calls from the Jail?

Thing you need to know or need to ask if you are a client of a criminal defense attorney