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Retaining A Lawyer For Resisting Arrest NJ

By Laura Cooper


You may not ever envision yourself being arrested. However, if you have been suspected of breaking the law, you could find yourself placed in handcuffs and hauled off to jail. During the actual detainment process, your brain may tell you to do everything the arresting officer asks of you. Your instincts, however, might prevent you from following through on this advice. When you have been detained and charged with resisting arrest NJ residents like you are given the opportunity to defend yourself before a judge or jury. Your defense may best be presented by a qualified criminal defense lawyer.

Before you hire a lawyer, it can be helpful for you to know for what qualifications to look in potential counsel. To start, you want a lawyer who specializes in criminal defense. You do not want to hire an attorney who practices bankruptcy or personal injury law, for example. You need someone who is intimately familiar with the criminal defense codes in your state.

Further, you may be encouraged to search for counsel who has handled cases like yours in the past. You do not want yours to be the first one he or she handles in court. You may want to ask how many similar cases the lawyer has handled and what kinds of results he or she has gotten for clients facing situations like yours.

Once you find out this information, you can then move on to how much the attorney will cost you. By law, you have to be provided with an attorney if you cannot afford one. This right is guaranteed by the Constitution and is part of your Miranda rights that will be read to you when you are arrested. The county or state will pay for your lawyer if you cannot afford to hire one for yourself.

When cash is not an issue, however, you still may want to know what you will be paying for and how much the total case will cost you. A typical attorney will usually charge a flat retainer fee and then an hourly rate for most clients. The hourly rate can cost hundreds of dollars. The fees cover everything from copying of documents to send to court to courier services.

Additionally, before you sign a contract putting a lawyer on retainer, you could ask to get all of these costs listed and itemized for you. You can refer to this document during your case to find out how much all of it will cost you in the end. This itemization also lets you prepare to finance your case including taking out a loan to pay your lawyer fees if necessary.

Most law firms also allow prospective clients to meet with attorneys to vet them during an initial free consultation. This consultation is held before the client signs the retainer contract. It usually lasts for about an hour and is used as an opportunity for clients and attorneys to get familiar with the case at hand.

After being arrested for resisting arrest, you might wish to retain a lawyer immediately. You may use some caution before putting one on retainer, however. These qualifications may come to mind during your overall vetting process.




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