I had grown up wanting to be a lawyer. When I entered law school my plan was to become a criminal attorney. That changed after my first DUI defense. I went to a small law school. It was accredited in that I was able to sit for the bar exam once I graduated. But it was not American Bar Association accredited. I went to a small law school not ABA accredited because for one reason my grades were not good enough to get into a larger more well known school. And I was already in my mid twenties and had a full time job so I needed a flexible class schedule.
One of the drawbacks to going to a small non accredited school was limited job opportunities once I was ready to look for a law job. No large corporate law firm came to our campus located in an office building recruiting for entry level associates. But that was all right with me, I simply wanted to be able to take the bar. I would worry about finding work later.
However, the practical experience in criminal law came from working for the government. Most criminal attorneys working in the private sector started as a deputy public defender or deputy district attorney. And I was not going be able to break into that area coming from a small school. On top of that when I graduated the state had a hiring freeze because of budget constraints. About a year later however, the freeze was lifted for one opening. I interviewed and scored an 88 out of a possible 100. This was not good enough to land the only opening in a year with all the competition out there I knew.
A week later, I received a letter from the state saying that the hiring freeze was reinstated. They did not even fill the one position before putting the freeze back on. I decided to take a continuing legal education course on drunken driving defense. The course was a three day program and after the course I thought there was really nothing to it and it should be simple enough.
I put a small advertisement in the local shopper offering my services to those who needed help with their DUI charge. My phone rang non-stop it seemed for three days. I went to court the following week with my first client in the court house across the street from where I had graduated from college. I had never been in one of the court rooms I thought as I was parking my car.
This was my client's first offense so he was looking at any jail time. And his alcohol level at the time of his arrest was above the legal limit. There was nothing for me to contest. But I was there basically to hold his hand during the process. But I did want to go through the steps I learned in my class. I approached the deputy district attorney at the opposite side of the courtroom and waited patiently while she chatted with the courtroom bailiff.
Once done, the bailiff looked me up and down turned her nose up and walked away. I asked the deputy district attorney to confirm the charge against my client and asked her the sentence the state would agree to. I learned to do this in class. She rearranged her papers and without looking my way said I will learn when the judge started the case.
I was however treated politely by the female judge. I think she must have come up from the ranks of the public defenders office and knew what it was like dealing with bailiffs and deputy district attorneys. My client received the minimum penalty for his offense. His drivers license was suspended for one year. But I was able to get him to drive legally to and from and at work since his job required him to drive. But I decided that would be my only criminal case. As a criminal attorney one has to learn to be treated like the client he represents. That might be fine for some lawyers. But not this one.
Having a well experienced criminal lawyer Fort Lauderdale is greatly beneficial to the case. A Fort Lauderdale criminal attorney will use their expertise to fight for your welfare, guaranteeing the best possible outcomes.
Orignal From: Come To Think Of It I Don't Want To Be A Criminal Attorney
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