When you’re facing criminal charges, your head will likely be filled with plenty of stress and concern. After all, even seemingly minor charges like DUI or shoplifting can have long term, lasting impacts on your life. As a result, you’ll likely spend plenty of time thinking about just how to get the help you need to move through your charges. Finding legal advice these days isn’t hard – everyone seems to be an expert at times. But finding good legal advice that you can trust is a different matter altogether, and one that is incredibly important.
Here are a few things you should keep in mind where getting legal advice for your case is concerned.
- Friends and family mean well, but they’re probably not experts. Everyone seems to have read something or know something about your case – that’s just the way it is. You’ll probably have people telling you that you should do this or that they have a cousin who did that. But the reality is that people tend to believe a lot of erroneous things about the law. Unless they’re trained professionals, their advice most likely won’t’ help you that much.
- Also, be sure not to put too much stock into that article or that forum post you just read on the internet. It’s easy for someone to log onto a computer and post advice to someone they’ve never met about a legal matter. The reality is that it’s rare you’ll find reputable information about your case – because each case is different. Sure, you can find out possible punishments or learn more about how a case might be handled. But your case is unique, and you will need personalized assistance to get the best possible outcome for it.
- In short, you need an attorney. A good criminal defense lawyer will actually be trained in helping you, and once you hire them they will do nothing but fight for your rights and work to ensure that your case is resolved in the best possible way for you. They won’t’ give you vague advice that doesn’t translate to results, and will instead help you understand more about what your case is all about and what you should expect from it.
Basically, while everyone you encounter will really be doing what they can to help, the best thing you can do for yourself is to take advice with a grain of salt unless it’s being given to you from your attorney. It’s the only way to ensure that you’re doing what’s best for your case.