Atlanta Criminal Lawyer: Georgia Criminal Defense Attorney

By: Cory Yager, Larry Kohn and William C. Head, Atlanta Criminal Attorneys with 87 Cumulative Years of Experience in Criminal Justice Litigation

If you are facing criminal offenses and being prosecuted under the laws of the State of Georgia, or your natural inclination is to compare and evaluate criminal defense lawyers. The goal is to identify Atlanta criminal defense attorneys known for successfully handling similar criminal cases.

Which Georgia Criminal Lawyer to Hire? Finding criminal law attorneys at a criminal law firm in the metro Atlanta GA counties with excellent lawyer ratings is the starting point. She or he must be focused on Atlanta criminal defense and will have criminal law as its only practice area.

In the Atlanta area, many of the criminal defense lawyer Atlanta firms tend to want to also handle personal injury, which is where their office makes its big money. As you scour various websites, look for these multi-practice firms.

Know Your Legal Rights and Exercise Those Rights! With a criminal prosecution (e.g., drug charges, violent crimes like sex crimes, or aggravated assault), a person’s freedom is at stake. Criminal justice cases cannot be ignored or postponed, and a person can’t wait to see what happens in a few weeks or months. This is why our criminal attorneys near me offer free initial consultations, and (if hired) will schedule an immediate jail visit with a potential client.

Constitutional rights can be “waived” (given up) by clients at every stage of a criminal prosecution. Deadlines need to be met and the case investigation needs to be very thorough, starting from Day 1.

Our #1 piece of criminal law advice to those being confronted by police is to say nothing but your name and address, until your lawyers is by your side. This short YouTube video (about a DUI investigation) covers all the rules.

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.

Compare Qualifications of Any Potential Criminal Lawyers in Georgia

In Georgia, criminal lawyers must be properly qualified in order to handle cases involving state laws, such as those related to domestic violence, drug possession, DUI, traffic tickets, and personal crimes such as rape, assault, theft by deception, vehicular homicide, and sexting.

In Georgia, it is important to verify the qualifications of criminal attorneys when dealing with state law cases like domestic violence, possession of drugs, driving under the influence, traffic violations, and any personal offences including rape charges, simple assault or battery, theft, vehicular homicide, sexting, DUI defense, fraud, battery, injury by vehicle, reckless driving GA and shoplifting.

It is wise to seek legal advice early on as many people unknowingly provide evidence to the state that can be used against them. When looking for a criminal attorney, one should not expect the best lawyers to be available at the same rates as cheaper legal help or a public defender.

At the time of consulting with a criminal law specialist about providing representation, the cost of the lawyer will be discussed. Unfortunately, it is difficult depend upon any reliable online information about the average cost of a criminal court case, since none of our criminals attorneys are “average” in their experience levels.

The criminal charge can be either a felony or misdemeanor, which may determine which court will be presiding over the criminal case. Plus, in larger population counties, State Courts will handle all misdemeanors. In felony cases, the elected County district attorney will be assigned as your prosecutor.

Criminal Defense Attorney Atlanta 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 the 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 Experienced Criminal 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. Then, we can set up a legal fee payment plan for most clients. Our retainer contract will show 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?

In an average criminal case, very little time is spent in a courtroom. Except when your criminal law case goes to motion hearings or trial, 90% of our legal time that is put into defending a client’s case without the criminal defense attorney going to and from the courthouse or being in a courtroom.

In these complex criminal matters, lawyers and staff build the criminal defense attorney’s file by gathering and adding many important documents and reports. Often, felony cases will require multiple banker’s boxes of data, photos, lab results and other forensic evidence.

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 criminal allegations 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 a 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 FIVE legal services offer peer-reviewed attorney credentials within the American criminal justice system. These lawyer ratings agencies are:

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

Our attorneys have all of these above ratings. Our legal warriors are happy for you to read our 700+ client reviews and attorney recommendations. Ask about these during your FREE consultation. Call 404-567-5515.

Our main street address is 5600 Roswell Road, Building H, Suite 210, Sandy Springs, GA 30342.