What is the next step after the free consultation?

After the initial phone consultation with one of our criminal defense lawyers, we often times will want to meet you in person.

We find that it is helpful to be able to look a client in the eye, get to know you, and figure out your goals and what’s really important to you.

Legal representation involves much, much more than just the law and knowledge of the criminal justice system.

Good lawyers will tell you the truth about the strengths and weaknesses of your case, and the likelihood of achieving a favorable result.  Make no mistake, criminal defense is serious business.  Peoples’ lives can change even with allegations of a criminal charges in NC.  We take our roles as criminal defense lawyers VERY seriously – Bill Powers 

Our law office and defense lawyers understand the importance of developing relationships with the people we help.  Clients place their lives and livelihoods and futures in our hands.  That’s why our telephone number is:  (704)-342-HELP

Getting to know you is not just a matter of being nice or professional.  It can make a difference in our presentation of your case in court.

Why is there attorney-client privilege with a North Carolina criminal defense lawyer?  Does attorney-client privilege only apply if there is legal representation? What should you tell your criminal defense attorney?  

We need clients to trust us, to share everything about their case, and feel confident knowing we keep secrets.

That way we can anticipate, and when possible, prepare for, or even avoid, complications.  That’s what experienced criminal defense lawyers do.  We prepare.

I often explain to clients, as defense lawyers, our approach is very much like what generals do before battle.  First do our “recon” or reconnaissance.  Next we plan, extensively.  We arm ourselves with information and exhaustive knowledge of the facts of the case.  Make no mistake, defending clients facing serious criminal charges in North Carolina is serious stuff – Bill Powers 

That’s why attention given to finding a defense attorney or law office should roughly be the same you would expend in finding a doctor or surgeon for a serious medical case. It should take time, careful consideration, and thought.  As experienced criminal defense lawyers in Charlotte NC, we want to make sure you feel comfortable going forward.

 

How important is good legal advice?

 

What documents should you bring to your defense lawyer?

Our law firm prefers to meet people in person, if possible.  We like to get you into our law office in Charlotte, NC as soon as possible for several reasons:

• Once an attorney-client relationship is established with our law firm and defense lawyers, you can tell law enforcement these four important words:  “Please call my lawyer”
• It’s extremely important IMMEDIATELY gather evidence before it gets lost or disappears
  • Video evidence may be forever lost
  • Scene can change due to weather conditions or cleaning
  • In Charlotte, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department destroys or otherwise “records over” video evidence collected at “intersection cameras” sometimes within 10 days
• Witnesses disappear.  It’s extremely important to get names, telephone numbers, and contact info of  any helpful witnesses to your criminal charges.  That is particularly true in cases involving assaults, assault and battery charges, communicating threats, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest criminal allegations.
• Criminal defense lawyers often find it helpful to your defense to speak with on-scene witnesses in Assault of Female charges, Domestic Violence, and Criminal Domestic 50B Restraining Orders.
• Preserving and securing materials that are helpful to your defense, including witness statements, photographs, video recordings, cell phone records and social media postings, can prove invaluable during cross-examination of witnesses.
• It doesn’t matter if felony vs. misdemeanor, collecting evidence and extensive, advance and immediate preparation, helps criminal defense lawyers.

Our law office appointment tends to be at least 1 hour long. Sometimes it takes several days, especially with cases involving murder or manslaughter charges in NC.

It is meant to be a thorough discussion of your charges.  This legal consultation remains strictly confidential and is absolutely free in criminal defense cases at our law office.  We go into more detail about your case.

4 Things you should know about how Criminal Defense Lawyers help

If your criminal charges are in Monroe, North Carolina or some other local jurisdiction like Mooresville or Statesville, in Iredell County, we can help there too.

And if you’ve Googled, “Criminal defense lawyers near me,” because a loved-one is in jail, as defense attorneys we can immediately visit people accused of crimes, reminding them to remain silent and invoke their 5th Amend Right.

The longer visit at our convenient Charlotte NC law office location, also allows our defense attorney team to provide you legal opinions about the case, your legal options, the best-case and worst-case scenarios, and what we can do to help.

What do criminal defense lawyers do? 

We will review with you:

• The criminal charge or criminal charges pending
• The legal procedure(s) for handling cases in court
• The factual history of matter and how allegations have arisen

Everything said in this meeting is STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL 

 

Once I agree to meet with your criminal defense law firm, are you automatically my lawyer?  What is an attorney-client relationship?

No.  Consultation on a criminal defense matter is just that, a consultation.  It’s intended to give you important information, free of charge to help you decide what to do.

A formal attorney-client relationship has not yet been established; but, everything you tell us during consultation remains confidential.  That’s true even if you choose not retain our law office for legal representation.

Each case is different.  We regularly consult with people BEFORE criminal charges have been brought, when a detective or other police officer has started asking questions.  There are also times when people know they did something wrong and are unsure what they should our should not do.

We see that a lot in cases involving sex offenses, things like sexual assault allegations, indecent liberties, and even rape charges.  But it also comes up in the context of embezzlement and larceny by employee charges in North Carolina – Bill Powers 

There are other times when our criminal defense lawyers may review your case and come to the decision you should seek a second opinion or talk to another criminal defense lawyer or law office.

We make it very easy to retain our law office.  We want you to understand the costs of legal representation and what level of services will be provided.

What are legal fees for criminal defense lawyers?

What should I bring to this appointment?

The second appointment is meant to be a legal strategy session with the criminal defense attorney and the potential client. You should bring ALL the paperwork you have on the criminal charges, the documents you may have received while being booked, processed, and released from jail, and any evidence relevant to the case.

If you are unsure whether or not something is relevant, go ahead and bring it to the meeting.  Don’t worry if you cannot get everything together before the meeting.  It’s more important to meet than prepare the entire case before the legal consultation.

We will normally obtain duplicate copies of the criminal charges and paperwork.  Bringing your paperwork to the office appointment is for the purpose of getting us up-to-speed as part of legal representation, to better understand your criminal charges, and more fully assess the criminal allegations against you.

If you have any questions about what to bring, you can always contact our law office ahead of time.