Orlando Criminal Defense Attorney

We are criminal defense attorneys located in Orange County, Florida and our main office is in Downtown Orlando.  Hiring the Best Criminal Defense Attorney for your case is one of the most important decisions you will make in your life.  Here is what you want to look for in an attorney – along with some red flags to be aware of in case you are unsure.  You can run this advice past any attorney anywhere – they will absolutely agree with it.

Experience

Hire an experienced attorney.  Do not just hire a lawyer because they seem nice.  If you do that, you will regret it later.  Ask the hard questions now.

How long has the attorney been practicing law?  How many trials have they done?  Some young attorneys are very competent and can hold their own with any 20-year veteran lawyer or judge.  But there is not substitute for experience.  Do not hire a lawyer with less than 5 years active litigation experience.  If the lawyer is hesitant to tell you exactly what their experience is, that is a red flag.

Has the attorney ever been a prosecutor or a public defender?  This applies to the state and federal governments. There is nothing like knowing how government lawyers think and work.  Getting that first-hand experience that only government lawyers can get is priceless.   Try to get a defense lawyer who has that in their background.

Expertise

Hire an expert lawyer. If you were having heart surgery, would you just hire any doctor to do the surgery?  Or would you look for someone who specializes in heart surgery?  Of course not.  You would want the best expert surgeon just like you would want the best expert Orlando criminal defense attorney.

Ask if your attorney is recognized as an expert in criminal trial law.  Or is it just something that they kind of dabble in?  The Florida Bar only recognizes Board Certified Trial Lawyers as “experts” in the law.  If your attorney is not board certified, ask him or her why not.  The attorney does not HAVE to be board certified to be really, really good.  But it is definitely something The Florida Bar suggests you look for in a defense lawyer.

Local Attorney – Home Field Advantage

Hiring a local attorney who actively practices before the local judges is a huge advantage.  The law in Florida is the same everywhere, but an attorney’s reputation precedes him or her.  Meaning that the judges and prosecutors know who your attorney is before they walk into the courtroom.  You want them to be well-known and well-liked.  There is no question that it is a tremendous advantage for the attorney to know the judge, their likes and dislikes, how they rule and why.

Courage

Hire a lawyer who can look you in the eye and inspire confidence in you.  If your case has to go to trial, will your lawyer have the courage to go all the way?  How many trials have they done?  How have other clients spoken about them and their presence in the courtroom.  The courage to take a case to trial is highly important.  You do not want a lawyer to get scared (or be unprepared) right before trial and force you to take a plea deal.

Salesmanship

Hire an attorney who can “sell” you and your side of things.  How can you know if they can do that?  Simple.  Just ask them this: “How will you present my case to the prosecutor and to the judge?  If necessary, how will you sell it to a jury?”  Just like that.  When you are interviewing attorneys, observe how the lawyer presents himself or herself.  Is that what you want?  Or were looking for something else.  Trust your gut.

Do you want someone that the judge, the prosecutor, or the jury will look and wonder “Gee, can I really trust that lawyer and believe what he or she is saying?”  A lawyer can be incredibly intelligent and be good with a person one on one.  But when it comes time to present to a jury, can they sell?  Can they be passionate?  Will they fight for you?

Reputation

Check out the lawyers resume – not just their website.  A website is designed to make a person look better than they actually are.  Dig deeper.  You owe it to yourself or to your loved one to properly research and find the best Orlando criminal defense attorney out there.

Ask the attorney how long have they have been an Orlando Criminal Defense Attorney.  Have they bounced from one law firm to another?  Are they a stable person personally and financially in the event your case takes a long time to resolve?  You want to find a lawyer who is level-headed and has a solid reputation in the local community.  This will give you the best chances of being sure the lawyer’s personal or financial problems will not adversely affect you or your case.

Rating

Hire a well-rated lawyer.  Be sure the lawyer you hire has been thoroughly vetted by independent and peer ratings.  The Martindale-Hubbell AV-Rating system is one of the oldest and most respected for attorneys throughout the United States.  SuperLawyers.com is good as well.  Avvo.com has a rating system that should not be overlooked either.  These are all good resources for checking out your lawyer’s ratings.

How do I find the best criminal defense attorney in Orange County?

You already did!  Look no further.  Hire Fighter Law.  Check our Google ratings and experience.  Don’t lose any more time when it comes to finding the most aggressive defense attorneys who get GREAT results for our clients.  Our ratings and reviews are filled with clients signing our praises for being the best criminal defense attorneys in Florida.

When do you need to hire a criminal defense attorney?

The simple answer is: as soon as possible.  The police and investigators are not your friends.  People who (1) hire an attorney right away; and (2) don’t talk to the police have a much higher chance of getting a better outcome or beating the charges altogether.  As soon as there is an arrest or a detective, a police officer, or a deputy asking questions, stop talking to them and call an experienced Orlando criminal defense lawyer right away.  You will be glad you did.

Won’t hiring an attorney make me look guilty?

No.  And who cares how it may make you look to the police or anyone else?  Wouldn’t you rather look guilty and be home than look innocent and be in jail or prison.  The smart money is on hiring an attorney as soon as you think you might be in trouble.  And most criminal consultations are free.  So you have nothing to lose.

Is a good criminal defense attorney expensive?

Yes.  If you are worried about the money, interview a few different attorneys until you find the one you are comfortable with.  Then hire the best one you can afford.  Look, the truth is that you can hire the best and most expensive attorney out there and still get a bad outcome.  But what are the alternatives?  Look into the attorney’s reputation and go with your gut.  You don’t want to get a bad outcome and look back and what could have been had you hired someone else.

What to look for when choosing an Orlando Criminal Defense Attorney

Obviously, you want the best when you are hiring an attorney.  You want someone confident.  Someone with experience.  Someone who, after you pay them, will give you some peace of mind about your case.  This is, after all, something that can tremendously affect the rest of your life.  Do your homework and hire the best attorney you can afford.  Looking into Google reviews is a good indicator of a lawyer’s client service.

We fight to get results for our clients at Fighter Law – it’s in our name!  We take pride in being able to say that we have a combined experience of over 35 years and over 250 State and Federal Jury Trials to verdict.  We have represented people in the Central Florida area since 1999.  Attorneys Thomas Feiter and Melissa Vickers have practiced in the area of criminal defense on all levels to include State, Federal and Juvenile crimes. Working diligently to ensure that they provide the best possible outcomes for their clients when working on their cases.

At Fighter Law, we are honored to represent our clients.  We understand that the criminal justice system can be difficult to understand for non-lawyers.  Let us walk you through it.  Don’t go it alone.  We are confident because we are experienced.  Remember the attorneys who handle your case at the trial level are critical.  Appeals are not second chances.  We know you want to hire the best Orlando criminal defense attorney possible for your case.  We believe we are the best because we fight for each and every one of our clients.  So hire a criminal defense attorney with the experience and reputation to fight for you. View our recent case results.

What kind of questions should I ask when hiring an attorney?

Here is a list of some of the questions you want to ask when hiring an attorney on your criminal case:

1. How confident are you that you can get me a good outcome in my case?  Why?
2. Are there any good motions that can be filed in my case?
3. What is it that you will do in my case that other attorneys might not?
4. What will give me the best chances of getting a favorable outcome here?
5. What can we do as a team to get my case going in a positive direction?
6. How much experience do you have?
7. Have you ever done this kind of case before?
8. Do you know the prosecutors and/or judges that may be involved in my case?
9. Do you have a support staff or is it just you handling my case?

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a private attorney or should I just go with the public defender?

Not every case requires a private lawyer.  Let’s just be honest.  However, you should (and I emphasize should) get better attention/service and/or results with a private lawyer.  I mean, what else are you paying them for right?  A public defender is free.  Private attorneys cost money.  The downsides to a public defender is that they have a lot of cases and do not have the financial incentive to get you good results that a private attorney does.  So they may not know you personally or have the time to really meet with you and get into all the possible defenses that might be out there.  The upside to a public defender is that they probably have more recent trial experience than private lawyers, they may know the prosecutor better, and they may know the judge better.

Do I qualify for a free public defender?

It depends on how much money you make and how much you have saved.  The judge will only appoint you a free public defender if you are considered “indigent.”  Basically, if you own a car or a house, you are not going to be considered indigent.  If you have money or more than $1,000 in the bank, you will not be considered indigent.  However, the only way the judge can determine if someone is indigent or not is when they fill out an application (provided by the court) for a public defender.  On that application, people lie all the time.  And the court really does not have effective means of checking on that.  The risk of lying to the court is that, if you get caught, you will can be charged with a felony for providing false information.  Bottom line, it is not difficult to qualify for a free public defender.

What is an Appeal?

An appeal can be needed for many reasons.  The most common is when the trial lawyer or judge did something wrong – or neglected to do something.  For example, at the end of the prosecutor’s case in chief, the lawyer must request a judgment of acquittal before beginning the defense’s case.  Failure to do so is considered instant malpractice.  Normally, appeals are more difficult than the original trial. The appeal is not a redo or retry.  You cannot get an appeal simply because you didn’t get the result you wanted at trial.  There must have been some procedural error – either on the part of the judge, the lawyer, or sometimes the jury.  If the jury simply did not believe a witness who testified, that’s too bad.  However, if the prosecutor harped on that too much in their closing argument, that might be a basis for appeal.  Your attorney failing to object at certain points in the trial may be a basis for an appeal.  This explanation of what may or may not constitute grounds for an appeal is also something that can be very confusing for a non-lawyer.  That is just one of the reasons it is crucial to hire a lawyer that is willing to fight for you the right way, the first time.  However, should the circumstance arise where you need to appeal your case, you should have the peace of mind to know that your case is in the hands of an experienced appellate attorney.

There are many rules that apply to criminal appeals law.  One of the most important, however, is the time you have to file an appeal.  Florida Law states that in a criminal case, a defendant’s notice of appeal must be filed within 14 days. This is only one of many provisions that an attorney must take into consideration – but one that clients should be aware of when they don’t get a good result at trial.

Hire Fighter Law – We Fight Because We Care

Once you have looked into other attorneys and other law firms, we are very confident that we will come out on top.  We know you want to hire the best Orlando Criminal Defense Attorney and we hope we are the lawyers for you.  We are not the perfect fit for anyone.  If you do not feel like we are the firm for you, hire another law firm.  You need to feel comfortable with your lawyer.  You need to be able to sleep at night.  Our consultations are free and we never pressure anyone to hire us.  Call us at 407-344-4837 to see how we may be able to help you.  While no lawyer can guarantee any outcome, one thing that we can promise is that we will FIGHT for you.