How Much Does an Atlanta Criminal Defense Lawyer Cost?

By: William C. Head, Criminal Attorney Atlanta and DUI Lawyer for 42 Years

If you are facing criminal offenses being prosecuted under laws of the State of Georgia, or federal crimes in Georgia, (e.g., white collar crime or federal drug trafficking), your natural inclination is to compare and evaluate criminal defense lawyers known for successfully handling similar criminal cases. A law firm in Fulton County GA with excellent lawyer ratings that focuses on Atlanta criminal defense will have criminal law as its primary practice area.

With a criminal prosecution, a person’s freedom is at stake. Criminal justice cases cannot be ignored, and a person can’t wait to see what happens in a few weeks or months. Constitutional rights can be “waived” (given up) by clients at every stage of a criminal case investigation. Until a person is “in custody” by being cuffed, arrested, or physically restrained, no obligation generally exists for police to deliver a Miranda warning. Plus, police officers receive special training on how to use verbal judo to keep a suspect “off balance” when an unrepresented citizen hears veiled threats by police investigators of harsher consequences if the suspected criminal does not cooperate.

To begin, not all law offices handle both state AND federal criminal court cases. Thus, when the criminal charge is being prosecuted in federal court, you need a criminal justice attorney Atlanta GA with experience in federal courts. Special issues exist for these cases, due to federal sentencing guidelines and the grid structure that federal judges are relegated to follow. As always, reviewing online attorney ratings is a good starting point for comparing the best lawyers in Atlanta, Georgia.

Checking Qualifications of Criminal Lawyers Georgia

Most criminal prosecutions in Georgia are state law cases such as domestic violence, drug possession, driving under the influence, traffic ticket cases, and arrests for engaging in personal crimes as well as theft offenses like statutory rape, aggravated assault, larceny, theft by deception, vehicular homicide, sexting, DUI defense, fraud, simple battery, serious injury by vehicle, or shoplifting. The criminal charge can be either a felony or misdemeanor, which determines which court will be presiding over the criminal case of our client and whether the district attorney or a solicitor general will be assigned as the prosecutor.

Criminal defense is a multi-faceted law practice area. Getting legal advice early on can greatly enhance the likelihood of a favorable outcome, since far too many clients foolishly TALK to police and unknowingly create harmful evidence the state will use against them. When interviewing criminal attorneys, don’t expect the best lawyers to be available at the same rates as low-cost legal help or a public defender.

How Much Do Lawyers Cost for Criminal Defense?

When our criminal law specialists give a free lawyer consultation about providing representation to an accused citizen, the issue of lawyer cost will arise. You cannot look up any online source and get reliable data on the average cost of a criminal court case. In most cases, from our prior criminal law experience, our firm’s criminal offense lawyers can set forth the retainer amount that will be needed, and how and when other legal costs and fees will become due and payable.

In criminal cases, most criminal defense advocates have the legal fees payable in segments, depending on how far the case must be taken until a favorable and acceptable resolution can be reached. Some attorneys set a per day cost for trials, because there is no average cost of a criminal trial.

Every case is different, from the standpoint that some cases involve very little record review and analysis, while others have hundreds of hours of tedious review and investigation. One example is an embezzlement case for which hundreds or even thousands of bank records or company billings must be analyzed. Ironically, a murder case can take less time to prepare than a complex DUI-related vehicular homicide accident case.

What Are the Primary Cost Items in Criminal Defense?

On an average criminal case, very little time is spent in a courtroom. Except when a case goes to trial, less than 10 percent of the time put into defending a client by a criminal lawyer Atlanta Georgia is consumed going to and from the courthouse or being in courtrooms. Often in complex criminal matters, the criminal defense attorney’s file in reviewing the states’ evidence can be multiple banker’s boxes of data.

These categories of duties and tasks consume most of the time of an Atlanta criminal lawyer trying to obtain the best possible outcome by putting forth an aggressive defense of the client’s case:

1. Evaluate illegal search and seizure issues under the Fourth Amendment. This evaluation starts with how the criminal charges began, to reviewing the voluntariness of any in-custody statements while the law enforcement case was under investigation. This review includes analyzing police tactics and methods under Fifth Amendment Miranda rights.
2. Talking to witnesses about the criminal allegations, which often involves the need to investigate the police reports, accident reports and any recorded data, such as bodycam or car camera footage, premises video evidence, tape recordings, and security camera footage.
3. Depending on the criminal charge and case facts, doing legal research about how prior case law has been decided by the Georgia appellate courts can be critical. Once the viable legal arguments are known and put into written motions for suppression, the entire course of the case can change. Excluding police evidence can lead to new possibilities to negotiate a lesser charge or even obtain a dismissal of key criminal charges.
4. Once the case moves from law enforcement investigation to a criminal accusation by the issuance of an arrest warrant or an indictment, our legal team undertakes new steps in fighting the government’s case.

The Significant Attorney Ratings Services That Are Legitimate

Too many online attorney profiles contain counterfeit “ratings”, badges, and awards. Only FOUR legal services offer peer-reviewed attorney credentials within the American criminal justice system. These four rating agencies are:

1. Martindale-Hubbell, “av”, and preeminent rated for multiple years.
2. Best Lawyers in America.
3. Super Lawyers.
4. Board Certification through the ABA, for a law practice area, like DUI defense or criminal defense.

Our attorneys each have more than one of these above ratings, and Mr. Head has all four. We are happy to review our client reviews and attorney recommendations with you during our FREE consultation. Call 404-567-5515. Our street address is 5590 Roswell Road, Suite 210, Sandy Springs, GA 30342.

This graphic shows our location in Sandy Springs, at the Prado Shopping Center, located less than ¼ mile south of I-285 on the west side of Roswell Road. Look for the Publix grocery sign, Taco Mac, or the big Target store. Our entrance is accessed on Level 3 of the large parking deck and is out of the wind and rain. Follow the red arrows to the parking deck entrance located almost directly across from the Publix entrance.

Here are written directions, if that makes it easier to find our law office: https://bubbahead.com/contact-us/locations.