This article is written by Lucas Goodwin.

Facing criminal charges is scary, very scary. Once you are accused of a criminal offense, you need to be prepared for a long, complex and exhausting journey that will essentially require an experienced and reliable legal service to get you through.

This means the right Mississauga criminal lawyer will essentially be the difference between your freedom and getting convicted. Your legal criminal defense attorney will be the lone warrior who will stand by you and defend you to the best of his abilities in the courtroom. He will make arguments on your case, refute the prosecution, gives the legal opinion and walk you through the criminal justice system.

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So, how to find the right Mississauga criminal lawyer?

Well, you got to ask some questions and below we have come up with some important considerations that you need to make while choosing a criminal defense attorney.

1. Know their specific experience

Yes, we are concerned about a specific experience. To put it in perspective, not all lawyers are specialized in criminal legal justice and thereby it’s important to choose a criminal lawyer who has specific experience as a criminal defense attorney. He should have the educational, training and practical experience in the criminal legal system to be able to aptly defend you.

Remember, we are talking about two types of specific experience, firstly, the person should have extensive knowledge about the criminal justice system and secondly, he should have the courtroom experience to defend clients indicted in criminal cases.

Here are some questions that you should ask from Mississauga criminal lawyer:

• Their law school.
• Their courtroom experience.
• The frequency of visiting the courtroom where your case is (this is really important because a criminal lawyer who frequently defends clients at that specific courtroom will have a good working relationship with judges, clerks and other staff that make up the court).
• Their success ratio for past cases of similar nature.
• Their experience in dealing with specific charges for which you are being prosecuted.
• Their affiliations to local bar councils and other concerned professional organizations.

Remember, knowing what you need to ask your potential criminal defense attorney is already half the battle.

2. Get to know the team

Ok, this is important because most of the time senior lawyers or big law firms tend to allocate cases to junior team members. While this won’t be the case if you choose a small firm where a solo lawyer will work with you right through.

Honestly, working with small firms or solo lawyers have many benefits and the best of all is the fact that you will actually be working with the person whose name is written on the door and that person will be available to all your concerns and queries from beginning to end.

Alternatively, lawyers from bigger law firms tend to work alongside numerous junior lawyers, paralegals or even assistants. They all work in close collaborations helping out the senior lawyer to prepare the case. Thereby, in such a scenario it is a good idea to know as many of them as possible to judge their experience and working system before making the final decision.

3. Check References

If you are to meet any experienced and qualified one thing they all have in common is a long list of satisfied past clients, who have shared their experiences generously online.

This means that when you are looking for the right criminal lawyer, check their online websites for the “testimonials”. You should also check out the reviews of individual clients on different third-party review sites to get an unbiased view of the professionalism and expertise of the lawyer.

4. Check out their confidence in practice

As we said above, your Criminal lawyer Mississauga will be the lone warrior responsible to get you through the complexities of the criminal legal system. And it’s no hidden that criminal laws are quite complex and intricate as compared to other legal laws. Thereby, you need a lawyer who has the confidence in his practice to defend you boldly and smartly in front of the court.

For the most part, the confidence of a criminal lawyer is directly associated with his experience in the legal system and his abilities to look at the case from different perspectives. He should be smart enough to understand the prosecutor’s tendencies for your case and make the necessary arrangements upfront. This is important because in various criminal cases, the outcome is a deal between the prosecutor and you and having an experienced lawyer who already understands the complexities will only help.

5. Assess them

Remember, your choice of lawyer will make all the difference between you getting prosecuted and getting freed and thereby, you don’t have to be shy of assessing the capabilities of your lawyer.

Here are some questions you should ask any potential criminal lawyer to assess their understanding of your case:

• Which part of my case will work in my favor?
• Which part of my case will go against me?
• What should I expect over the course of the legal battle?

All of this is important for you, not only to assess the experience of your lawyer but also to mentally prepare yourself for the long battle to come.

6. Know the price you need to pay

To be brutally honest, legal services are expensive (more expensive than you would think) and criminal legal services are even costlier.

Some factors that will influence the cost of the lawyer will include his experience, school of graduation, case nature and their way of charging (some lawyers charge by the hour rate, while others charge a flat fee).

In general, flat fee charges are the more common and preferred method in criminal cases. Nonetheless, you need to be aware of the precise amount you will have to pay for the entire legal battle.

8. Be prepared with the Right Documents

Up until now, you must have become aware of the fact that a courtroom case isn’t a solo affair and that you will need to have input from as many lawyers as possible to know your interests and choose the best Mississauga criminal lawyer.

Here are some important documents which you should have prepared in advance whenever meeting a criminal lawyer:

• Any courtroom document that lists the courtroom charges along with your appearance date.
• Bail papers.
• Any paper that has been provided by police after a search of your home or other property.
• All relevant information you may find to assist the lawyer with the case (emails, tickets, letters, etc).

Conclusion

Getting charged with a criminal offense can be life-changing and honestly, no one wants to be charged with a criminal offense. However, unfortunately, if you are to be prosecuted for a criminal charge, your best bet to defend your rights and regain your dignity and freedom is to hire the best Mississauga criminal lawyer, who can help you navigate through the complexities of the criminal legal system.

Students of Lawsikho courses regularly produce writing assignments and work on practical exercises as a part of their coursework and develop themselves in real-life practical skill.