Have you ever used a court appointed attorney? and were you satisfied with the way they handled your case. The reason I am asking is my step daughters boyfriend got into some minor trouble and they don't have money, I told her to use a court appointed attorney. They believe that if they use a court appointed attorney they will not get good service. What do you think?
2007-02-24 17:09:10 · 8 answers · asked by whattheheck 4 in Politics & Government ➔ Law Enforcement & Police
Court appointed attorneys are required to represent the best interests of their client, not the court
When it boils down to it, good attorney, lazy attorney it's not always based on how much you pay them or if they are court appointed or privately obtained lawyer. Most of the time it hinges on how good the evidence is before it is ever handed over to a prosecuting attorney.
Even the best, highest $$$ attorney can't get rid of good police work and solid evidence.
If it is minor trouble, and funds are limited, take the court apptd. attorney and try to work out some sort of plea w/proscecutor. Maybe he will get off w/fine and/or probation & he can thank his lucky stars he is not in jail. Beyond what the attorney can do, he needs to show the prosecuting attorney that he his sincerely remorseful of his actions, and that he will do what is in his power to end up in the same mess or worse in the future. That usually goes further than anything a High$$ attorney can do to help.
2007-02-24 18:06:44 · answer #1 · answered by picture . . . perfect 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It really depends on the Attorney. I have a friend who started his career as a lawyer doing a lot of free cases as a court appointed attorney. Most of what you will find are new lawyers trying to get some experience so naturally they won't be as good as a seasoned attorney who can demand a high fee for his services. However, there are some who have bad ethics and don't put in any effort, but then there are some lawyers you pay thousands to that are just as lazy.
2007-02-24 17:19:45 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I don't think it would matter either way. they might not have as much experience but they might have more ambition. It all boils down to if there is a good case against the defendent or not. Evidence is evidence. My ex-husband has a court appointed attorney right now because he was jailed for felony failure to support his children. He had a big bucks attorney last year when he tried to defend himself for mentally abusing his children and the expensive attorney dropped his representation of my ex because my ex would not cooperate with the courts at all. That attorney had to sue him for attorney fees. So I dont think it would matter who represents you as long as you have an attorney that can explain the laws and consequences of different pleas that may be entered. Its almost like having an interpreter on your side if anything.
2007-02-25 05:26:32 · answer #3 · answered by Tink 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You always have the option of informing the judge that your court appointed attorney is not doing his job. A lot of court appointed attorneys are good at what they do, but if you do not have the money, then you don't have many options, and 99 times out of a 100, that crapy court appointed lawyer is better than not having one at all.
2007-02-24 18:01:08 · answer #4 · answered by On Time 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Almost certainly true. I was dissatisfied with mine and got a lesser sentence representing myself. What can you say for a system where the judge, the prosecutor and the court appointed defense attorney all draw their pay from the same source?
2007-02-24 17:14:03 · answer #5 · answered by Phartzalot 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's not really the fact that they all get paid by the gov't. It's the fact that they're overworked. If someone HAS to take on a client, there's only so much time they can spend on them when cases start backing up. They just don't have time to put in the proper amount of effort.
A DA can just dump a bad case. That's why they have such high winning percentages. They drop all the bad cases. Public defenders don't have that option.
2007-02-24 17:18:20 · answer #6 · answered by Linkin 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It depends on your luck. Some got a big shot / teaching lawyer doing his share of pro bono cases and even pulled in his/her interns doing some of the casework. Some got overworked junior lawyers. There's no way to tell.
If you don't think you got good advice you can always petition the court for another one.
2007-02-24 18:35:42 · answer #7 · answered by Kasey C 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
My sister is currently in jail and we are NOT happy with the quality of service the court appted lawyer is providing. In a conversation my dad had with him, he made it blatantly clear he will NOT go see her anytime prior to her court date and he is not going to explore any evidence that might be available. I talked to a friend of mine who is a lawyer who advised me to take action and change lawyers BEFORE we go to court. Don't wait to see if they do a good job. You want someone who is going to vigorously defend your daughter.
2007-02-24 17:16:28 · answer #8 · answered by TwinkaTee 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋