Defending People

the tao of criminal defense trial lawyering

Criminal Practice: The Treadmill

Mark Bennett | November 4, 2009

I charge bigger fees . . . so I can take fewer cases . . . so I can give each case more attention . . . so I can get better results . . . so I can charge bigger fees . . . so I can take fewer cases . . .
I [...]

Because The Customer Is, At That Point, Often Wrong

Mark Bennett | May 13, 2009

My Paladin Didn’t Charge Split Fees post stirred up some interesting discussion between criminal defense lawyers and others in the comments.
Mississippi criminal defense lawyer Remy Orozco, who wrote the post that inspired mine, commented:
This last year in private practice has brought me very few cases where my clients actually wanted to go to trial . [...]

Paladin Didn’t Charge Split Fees.

Mark Bennett | May 9, 2009

Everyone thinks that his way is the best. In his “How to Hire a Gun Slinger…” blog post (a staple of criminal law blawgs: the post suggesting to potential clients criteria they should look for in hiring a lawyer, and explaining how the blogger fits those criteria; I may have written that post a time [...]

Big Trouble Only

Mark Bennett | December 19, 2008

A few rules for those looking to hire a criminal defense lawyer to represent them in Houston:
If you’ve been arrested for a felony, and you don’t think you’re in at least $10,000 worth of trouble, please call someone else.
Some cases are going to cost a lot more than $10,000 to
defend. No felony charge should be [...]

Free Consultations No More?

Mark Bennett | April 11, 2008

New York criminal defense lawyer Scott Greenfield writes that he feels taken advantage of by people who use his free consultations to get free legal advice; he’s begun charging for consultations.
Rarely having a problem with people meeting with me on pretexts, I hadn’t seriously considered charging for consultations, but right up until Scott’s last paragraph, [...]

More Proof that Higher Fees are Better

Mark Bennett | March 6, 2008

NPR: people get better results from more expensive pills!

The Six-Figure Negative Fee

Mark Bennett | January 20, 2008

Here’s an interesting one: The Conroe Courier reports a half-million dollar civil verdict against a criminal lawyer in Montgomery County, Texas (the county to the north of Harris County) whose client accused him of extortion. Apparently the lawyer charged the client $1000 for a motion to revoke probation on a felony DWI case and then, [...]

Trial Insurance

Mark Bennett | January 4, 2008

Gideon wrote today about the cost of jury trial, noting that many citizens-accused with retained counsel can’t afford to pay for a jury trial. He asked,

Who can do something to avoid this? Should clients always assume they will go to trial and hire only attorneys they can afford? Should attorneys not charge a subsequent trial [...]