What Is A Criminal Defense Attorney?
What Is A Criminal Defense Lawyer
A criminal defense lawyer, commonly called a defense attorney, is a lawyer that is tasked with defending their client who is accused of criminal activity. A criminal defense attorney will often help the defendant through the investigation, charges, sentencing, and appeals process. Usually a criminal defense lawyer will specializes in a particular area such as DUI attorneys, domestic violence attorneys, child abuse lawyers, sex crime attorney, homicide attorneys, and many more.
Criminal defense lawyers are imperative to help defendants navigate the complex and often confusing legal system. A criminal defense lawyer defends their client against anything as small as a “petty misdemeanor” all the way up to a severe “special felony” or a “1st degree felony”. Their job is to make sure that your rights are protected during the investigation, trial, and sentencing. They make sure that no legal loopholes were used to convict you and provide you with the strongest legal defense possible.
What Does He Not Do?
A criminal defense lawyer is for protecting and defending your from criminal charges. That means that they don’t handle personal injury cases, wrongful death, class action lawsuits, civil suits, divorce cases, or similar suits. Sometimes, a criminal defense lawyer will have experience in areas other than criminal defense (e.g. family law or personal injury) and may try a case in that area. The best way to know what types of cases your lawyer practices is to look at their services page. A general rule of thumb for criminal defense lawyers is that if you’re being charged with a misdemeanor or felony then you’ll want a criminal defense lawyer.
Can A Criminal Defense Lawyer Help Me?
When you’re charged with a crime you’re head is running through all of the possible consequences and outcomes. How is this going to affect me? But, I’m innocent. How am I going to pay for this? Do I need to get a lawyer? And countless other concerns.
So, should you get a lawyer? The short answer is – yes. The long answer is – yes, you should. Having a criminal defense lawyer (even for small crimes) can help prevent long lasting and major ramifications from happening in your life. Criminal convictions can limit your ability to get a job, vote, or own a gun. Similarly, a conviction could result in termination from your current employer under certain circumstances.
If you’ve been charged with a crime and are curious about whether or not you need a criminal defense lawyer contact us to see if we can help. Our experienced team of can help protect your legal rights and provide you with the best defense possible. Give us a call today and see how we can help you.
Bradley Corbett
Bradley Corbett is a criminal defense attorney in San Diego. He graduated from Brigham Young University in Provo Utah in 2004. Later he enrolled at Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego where he participated in a prestigious internship program with the Los Angeles County Public Defender. Since then he has handled over 2,000 cases.