fort leonard wood military criminal lawyers

If you’re looking at criminal charges that could put you in front of a court martial, it’s natural to wonder whether you’re better off going with a court-appointed attorney or getting your own military criminal defense lawyer. To someone who hasn’t been in that situation before, the fact that the government will give you a free lawyer to handle your case makes it seem like a solid option.

In reality, it’s a mistake to go with whoever the court appoints just because they’re free. There’s often a considerable difference in the kind of quality you get when you hire your own lawyer versus when you let the court appoint your lawyer.

Why Hiring Your Own Lawyer Is a Smart Idea

Let’s look at the benefits of hiring your own private lawyer. For these benefits, we’ll compare them to what you can expect from a court-appointed attorney since that will be your other option. Although you could also decide you want to represent yourself, most people won’t and shouldn’t go that route. It’s unwise even if you have legal experience and a terrible decision if you don’t.

A Private Lawyer Can Start Working Right Away

There are many situations when you’ll know that charges could be filed against you well before it happens. You’re always better off getting a lawyer as soon as possible because this gives them the most time to look into the case and set up the right defense strategy. But that’s not an option with court-appointed attorneys.

Plenty of defendants require free legal counsel, which means court-appointed attorneys have a full case load as it is. There simply aren’t enough of them available for the court to assign them to cases that haven’t even happened yet. It would be a waste of time and money. This means that until you get charged and go to court, you can’t get a court-appointed attorney.

You can hire a lawyer the moment you think you need one. In doing so, you’ll be giving them valuable prep time, and in some situations, your lawyer could work on helping you avoid any charges.

You Can Choose Your Lawyer

By hiring your own lawyer, you can review qualifications and make sure you’re comfortable with that person representing you in court. On the other hand, if the court appoints your attorney, you have little, if any, say in the matter.

You can request that the court appoints you a new attorney, but this is unlikely to be honored unless there’s some issue that prevents your original attorney from providing you the best defense they can offer.

Private Lawyers Possess More Experience

This may not be the case 100-percent of the time, but the vast majority of the time it holds true. Court-appointed attorneys often do that as their entry-level work while they gain experience, and then make the transition over to being private lawyers. Keep in mind that since you can choose your private lawyer, you’re also able to choose one with the level of experience you want.

Experience is an important part of a lawyer’s overall skill. A more experienced lawyer will know how to investigate your case, look for any potential weaknesses in the prosecutor’s case and prepare the most effective defense. A less experienced lawyer could be lacking in any of these areas.

Trials, in particular, are one area where experience is crucial because your lawyer must be able to think on his feet. This is also an area where court-appointed attorneys often don’t have much experience yet, but private lawyers do.

Consequences Can Be Steep

The last thing you want to happen is that you end up with several penalties because you didn’t get the best possible legal representation. Depending on what charges have been brought against you, you may be looking at the loss of your job, benefits or much worse. For example, if you’re accused of selling drugs, or drug paraphernalia, such glass pipes, or other items similar, you could face charges.

We’re nationally recognized and our team has over five decades of combined experience. We can use that experience to deliver a high-quality defense that gives you the best chance of a good outcome.