Many people believe that all lawyers have the same training and that because an attorney advertises in a particular area, he has experience in that area. The reality is that all lawyers do not have the same training and simply being admitted to the bar in a particular state does not mean that an attorney is qualified to handle any case.
The law has grown increasingly more complex over the past thirty years. The days of the general practitioner are over. This is not to say that there are not some lawyers who still claim to be generalists; however, again, claims and competency are two different issues. Any attorney who specializes in everything, is likely not competent to handle anything.
Becoming proficient in an area of the law requires more than just having a license to practice law. Proficiency in an area of the law can be acquired in many ways, but generally involves working with or under a more experienced attorney in a specific area of the law upon completion of law school. It also requires a desire to learn as much about that area of the law as is possible. This can be accomplished through reading books and legal treatises, attending seminars, and studying case reports. Then there are those things that cannot be learned from reading or watching, but must be learned through doing. Trial work is one such area.
Most people would be surprised to learn that a substantial majority of lawyers have never been to court and will never go to court at any time during their career. There is only a small minority of lawyers who actually have experience in court and an even smaller percentage that know how to conduct a trial and have actually litigated cases. Let me put it to you this way, I know hundreds of lawyers in Virginia, Washington, D.C., Maryland, New York and other states. I have personally tried hundreds of cases before judges and juries over the course of my career. Howeover, only a small handful of the lawyers I know have tried more than twenty-five felony cases before a judge or jury. This may not be important if you are having a will drafted or a real estate closing conducted. However, it is critically important in the criminal law area. To effectively handle a criminal law case, a lawyer must prepare for and be willing to go to full-scale litigation. This is not to say that litigation is always necessary, but the prosecutor has to know that if push comes to shove, not only are you willing to go to trial, but (more importantly) that you are skilled at trying a case. Trial law is a unique skill that very few attorneys have because it is something that very few attorneys do on a regular basis. Trial skills require a combination of knowledge of the law, common sense about people, and the ability to question witnesses, present evidence, and speak the accepted legal language needed to persuade the judge. If your case does result in litigation, don't you want someone who knows how to do it? You certainly would not go to a surgeon who had never operated on anyone before, but only read about it in medical school. Effective trial tactics cannot be accomplished by a lawyer that is just learning, and has never actually tried a case before, but, instead, is relying on what he read or saw someone else do. There are real world and lasting consequences for clients when lawyers make mistakes due to their incompetence or inexperience. This all begs the question – How do I know who is competent and who is not?
To learn more, please visit our Ten Steps To Finding The Right Criminal Defense Attorney page.
