At my firm, we are trial lawyers.  Its a lot of fun but it is also very stressful because we actually care about our clients (unlike some attorneys I know).  Thus, if I were to lose a trial, I would be very upset.  This month featured two trials for our firm and we got great results for both of them.

The first was my case.  My client was charged with possession of a handgun without a permit, possession of hollow nose bullets and resisting arrest.  It was a tough case as the resisting arrest charge made it look like he was guilty of the handgun charge.  However, I was able to show that the police did literally no investigation.  A rookie cop saw a black man with a gun and decided that it was case closed. 

I first picked a great jury that was eager to hear the “other side of the story” and I worked that into the theme of my case.  My client was well prepped for trial and he did a great job even though he has some learning and memory issues.  I was able to break things down for him so he could understand, process and remember key points. 

The tough part of the case came from the jury instructions.  The way NJ is set up, possession of a handgun is almost a strict liability crime.  If you pick up a gun for any reason, even to prevent injury to someone else, you can be found guilty of a crime that will land you in prison for five years regardless of who you are. 

In the end, the jury got confused on this issue.  My client was acquitted on the bullets and resisting charge and the jury hung on the handgun charge.  Now the State’s case got incredibly weaker, I am hopeful that we can work this out and keep a great guy out of prison.

The other case was even tougher.  The client was facing major cocaine distribution charges in addition to minor marijuana charges.  The marijuana charge wasn’t really at issue as the coke charge was the main focus since that charge would have landed him in prison for decades. 

The police allege that our client ditched the coke in the police car after he was arrested.  The arresting officer alleges that he checked the car regularly even though there was no policy that directed him to do so.  However, a mere three days after this case, such a policy was instituted.  Hmm, wonder why that was?  Thus, the trial turned on whether or not the jury bought the cop’s story.

In the end, skillful cross examination convinced the jury that the police were full of it when they returned a not-guilty verdict on the cocaine charges after just a few short hours of deliberations.

In the past five years, our firm has tried many cases with almost all of them ending in either a total acquittal, hung jury or an otherwise great verdict.  This has added to the firm’s impressive success rate that has been built up over 30 years.

I always like to check my web stats and see how people got to my blogs.  However, I was a little concerned today when I saw this search result: “low cost dwi attorney nj”.   First of all, I have no idea how that search term pulled up this blog.  Second, I  am not a low cost anything attorney. 

This is just my opinion and I’m not going to beat a dead horse here but I have to at least say it once.  Trying to cut costs on attorneys could really lead to very bad results.  I know, I see it all the time.  I think most people know this but to many people are just so concerned with saving money when it comes to lawyers that they think they can get something for nothing.

If you didn’t already know, lawyers are expensive!  But look at  it this way, if you had to get surgery that could save your life or improve your health, would you go with a guy in a back alley for $500 or a guy in a nice hospital for $5000?  For whatever reason, some people don’t make this connection when it comes to lawyers. 

Here is another way to think about it.  Look at all of the people that hire decent attorneys.  Are they all nuts?  If they were able to make the money in the first place, they probably know what they are doing. 

Now don’t get me wrong, spending more money doesn’t always equate to great results.  I just met with a couple who spent a ton of money on a celebrity attorney that didn’t seem to do much for them.  I would have charged them about an 8th of what this guy charged and I could have probably got a better result. 

I’ve met with so many people that wasted their money with cheap attorneys.  The saying “I wish I would have hired you first” is heard often.  But this is not about me or my firm.  Its about getting a good attorney and getting what you pay for.  If the attorney you meet with is a little more than another attorney, make sure you are getting some value.

Here is another quick example.  When I go to a court, I usually have only one file.  Other attorneys have 10 and they are running around like crazy.  Do you honestly think that the attorney with those 10 files can give the proper attention to all 10 files or is my client better off because he has my complete undivided attention?