Finding a trial lawyer is not always simple. With the lifting of the ban on attorney advertising, many lawyers now have websites, put up billboards along highways, and even run commercials on television. Potential clients should not believe everything they hear or read. Instead, clients should undertake their own research to ensure that the lawyer like family lawyers in Orlando they want to hire is a true trial lawyer with the skill and ability to represent the client’s best interests in court.
Trial lawyers are a fading breed. This is the outcome of a number of variables. For starters, most cases settle before going to trial, thus opportunities for lawyers to gain true trial experience are few and far between.
The trial attorneys in the market is also related to the amount of lawyers who earlier made their living in other then-thriving practice areas and are now attempting to earn a career with criminal defence matters. One example is the real estate attorney who formerly made a lot of money executing real estate closings when the economy was doing well.
Due to recent market downturns, many of these lawyers are now marketing themselves as criminal defence lawyers as a last ditch effort to keep their legal practices. Many lawyers also limit their ability to gain trial experience. A lawyer who is primarily motivated by profits rather than client’s best interests is unlikely to gain much trial experience.
Because criminal cases are frequently paid on a flat fee basis, a lawyer can raise his profit line and optimise his hourly wage by reducing the number of times he must appear in court on a client’s behalf and the number of hours he must spend preparing the client’s case.
If, after two hours of labour on the case, including court appearances, his client pleads guilty to DUI rather than opting a trial, the attorney receives more per hour. There, the attorney must attend the same two court appearances as the more profitable attorney, plus several additional days on trial preparation and possibly one or two complete days in court actually trying the case.
Some attorneys may be tempted to persuade their clients to plead guilty rather than go to trial due to financial concerns or business objectives. Attorneys like family lawyers in Orlando who engage in this action for these reasons are engaging in unethical behaviour that may damage their professional reputation as well as their ability to practice law.
