How to Select a Criminal Defense Attorney in San Diego?
When you are charged with a crime, whether it is a Felony or Misdemeanor, DUI or Murder, selecting the best lawyer for you and your case may be the hardest part. 
- Hire a San Diego criminal defense attorney that has experience in the particular area of defense that you need and has handled cases similar to yours.
- If you can, hire a private attorney. Public defenders have very little time and resources to work on your case specifically. They are often juggling over two hundred cases and this may jeopardize your ability to have effective representation in court.
- Determine what qualities are important to you in an attorney. Do you want someone with little experience, who may try to make up for it by charging a smaller fee, or are you looking for someone with a long standing law practice, with well-established credentials?
- Find out what legal organizations the lawyer belongs to. At the very least, he should belong to the County and State Bar Associations. It is best if he also belongs to the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) and the State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
- Determine if he is a lifetime member or has ever held an office in any of the organizations of which he is a member. Bar association commitment and/or activities are good indications of how the lawyer’s colleagues feel about him.
- Check out client reviews on places like Yelp.com, or Avvo.com, etc. The reviews of former clients are a good way to get honest information from someone, other than the attorney, about how he performs in the actual representation of his clients.
- Don’t be fooled by advertising slogans, such as “former deputy district attorney” or “aggressive trial lawyer.” Meet the lawyer and decide if you have confidence in his skills and feel comfortable with his analysis of your case. Also remember, if what the lawyer says or promises to do sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Is he scaring you, or promising too much just so you hire him? Or is he giving you an honest evaluation of your case? Which you may not want to hear, but will likely work out best for you in the long run.
- Ask who will work on your case if you hire this attorney, and what their experience level is. Will the attorney that you speak with be the one working on your case, or will it get handed off to another person in the office that you may have never met.
To discuss your case confidentially with William Daley, call our office today at (619) 238-1905 for a free consultation. William Daley is a San Diego criminal defense and San Diego DUI lawyer with over 30 years of experience defending his clients and getting their charges reduced or dismissed.
When you are charged with a crime, whether it is a Felony or Misdemeanor, DUI or Murder, selecting the best lawyer for you and your case may be the hardest part. Hire a San Diego criminal defense attorney that …
110 W C ST, STE 1407
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 238-1905
