Darren had been in business for more than a decade, and he worked with corporate lawyers extensively. He contacted me when he realized that some of his decisions on the job were about to expose him to problems with regulatory agencies, and possibly to challenges with the Department of Justice.
Darren’s problem reminded me of my own challenges. I was a stockbroker at UBS when I learned that some of my decisions brought me to the attention of officials at the United States Attorneys Office and Securities and Exchange Commission. I knew that I needed a criminal defense lawyer, but I didn’t know how to find a lawyer.
When authorities like the SEC, the FCC, the FTC, or the FDA start asking questions about an individual, it’s always best to find a criminal defense lawyer. Darren had the right instinct to research steps he could take to find a lawyer.
By the time we spoke, Darren had already spent a lot of time on our website and YouTube channel. Since he could identify with my background, he reached out. He asked how I went about finding a lawyer to represent me. I told him the truth: an acquaintance told me to hire a lawyer from the Jones Day law firm.
“I’ve heard of Jones Day,” Darren said. “They’re supposed to be great. How did it work out?”
Darren is right. The lawyers at Jones Day are some of the best litigators in the world. With more than 2,500 lawyers that practice across the US, Europe, and Asia, Jones Day has a strong reputation. But there is a cost that comes with hiring a firm of Jones Day’s caliber. Their lawyers command some of the highest fees in the legal profession. As I recall, I paid $50,000 to get in the door, not knowing whether they could help me or not. They exhausted those resources within the first 24 days.
I would have liked to have known more about legal billing when I went in. As a result of hiring Jones Day without a full understanding of costs, I put myself at a huge disadvantage. That decision cost me both time and money.
At first, the cost upset me. Then I realized, I’m the one that didn’t know how to find a criminal defense lawyer. And as a result of my ignorance, I made a costly mistake.
When I realized that I couldn’t afford to pay a mid-six-figure legal fee, I had to let Jones Day go. Then I went back into the marketplace to start over with a different lawyer.
Finding a lawyer is easy, I told Darren. Finding the right lawyer is another matter.
I told him about another client of mine, Jim, that used Google to find the lawyer he hired. The search pulled up an endless list of lawyers. Each of them had well-designed websites that touted their expertise.
“I didn’t know what to expect, or how to hire a lawyer,” Jim told me.
Jim scheduled an appointment with the first lawyer on the list. The lawyer listened to Jim’s description of the problem. “Based on what you’re telling me,” the lawyer told Jim, “I think I can keep you out of federal prison.”
That statement was exactly what Jim wanted to hear. But it wasn’t what Jim needed to hear. Nevertheless, by pledging that he thought he could keep Jim from going to prison, Jim agreed to sign a retainer agreement and provide the lawyer with a cashier’s check for $50,000. The agreement indicated that Jim was required to keep $50,000 in the lawyer’s trust account at all times. The lawyer would bill at the rate of $800 per hour.
At least Jim knew what he was paying. Or, I should say, he thought he knew. The lawyer surprised Jim on his next visit. After reviewing Jim’s case, the lawyer said he wanted Jim to hire a second lawyer. Further discussion led Jim to provide the second lawyer with an additional $50,000 retainer, and the second lawyer would also bill at the rate of $800 per hour.
When Jim sat in meetings, both lawyers would be present. Jim didn’t realize he was paying $1,600 per hour to help the lawyers understand the complexities of his case. He felt as if the first lawyer had misrepresented himself in order to get the case. Since Jim already invested $100,000, he felt he too far down the road to make a change.
Darren listened to my story and felt discouraged. If Jim didn’t know how to find the right lawyer, and I didn’t find the right lawyer, he didn’t know how to proceed.
This is where TopWCA.com comes in. Our team has worked with hundreds of criminal defense lawyers, attended thousands of sentencing hearings, and we know the makeup of a great lawyer. This is why we do the work for you and profile them on TopWCA.com. Rather than going to a lawyer website with thousands of lawyers (and getting so overwhelmed you leave), we handpick no more than five in each district. And if we do not yet have a lawyer in your district, we will do the vetting for you, locate, interview them, then connect you.
Within a few hours of leveraging TopWCA.com, Darren was able to identify several highly recommended lawyers in Los Angeles. Each lawyer on the list had specific experience with the type of case Darren could potentially face.
TopWCA.com connected Darren with lawyers like Peter Hardin, Diane Bass and Mark Werksman—excellent criminal defense lawyers who put their clients first, embrace mitigation, and work diligently on their clients’ behalf. These are the types of lawyers we profile and recommend on TopWCA.com, ensuring you get the best attorney possible.
As part of the vetting process, I reached out to these lawyers and asked them a series of questions to gauge their fit for Darren’s case. I learned:
- About each lawyer’s rate for billable hours,
- Important to know so a defendant can get an idea of how much to budget. In some cases, a lawyer may be able to resolve a plea negotiation and guilty plea in less than 100 billable hours, preparing for trial in federal court would likely require several hundred billable hours.
- About the lawyer’s position on accepting a flat fee for the entire case,
- A flat fee may or may not serve the interest of the defendant. Every case is different. On the plus side, a defendant that has a flat fee knows exactly how much to budget. On the negative side, a lawyer that receives a flat fee may be disinclined to devote much time to the case after he is paid.
- About the types of cases he or she practiced,
- A lawyer that specializes in defending tax cases may not be the best fit for a defendant facing criminal charges related to mail fraud that could result in the loss of liberty.
- About the lawyer’s expertise in sentencing matters,
- More than 75 percent of the people that face charges in federal court eventually have a sentencing hearing. What level of expertise does the prospective lawyer have with sentencing in the given jurisdiction?
- About the size of the lawyer’s team,
- A lawyer with a large team may be able to outsource work to associates or paralegals that bill at a lower hourly rate. The lawyer will have discretion, but it’s helpful to know that the lawyer is cost-conscious of a defendant’s resources.
- About the lawyer’s philosophy on communication with clients,
- Some lawyers make themselves readily available to defendants, even providing cell-phone numbers for communication. Other lawyers prefer to work independently, leaving defendants out of the communication loop.
- About whether the criminal defense lawyer would be receptive to accepting a 5-hour retainer to get started, just to see if it was a good fit.
- Some criminal defense attorneys will not get started on a case without a minimum retainer. In federal cases, that initial retainer often exceeds $50,000. As Jim experienced, it’s difficult to make an assessment on an initial free consultation.
That model proved worthwhile for Darren. Peter Hardin, a criminal defense lawyer with Peter Hardin Defense in Los Angeles, agreed to take an initial retainer for a few hours of work. Peter was able to make some phone calls and give Darren a better sense of where things stood in the investigation. The relationship has served Darren extremely well. Despite an investigation that has lasted for several years, Darren reports that Mr. Hardin has always been responsive. He offers a glowing endorsement for the representation he has received.
If you’re searching to find a criminal defense lawyer, create a plan.
To the extent that it’s possible, create a series of questions that will help you gauge whether the attorney is the right fit for you. It’s important to be honest about your current situation and what you expect. If you go into a meeting with a lawyer and minimize your conduct, you may set yourself up for a bad outcome.
Brian, for example, was a director with a large financial services company in Orange County, CA. His employer had an “officer’s and director’s” insurance policy that would pay his legal fees. When federal authorities indicted him, he hired an experienced white-collar criminal defense attorney that would send all bills to the insurance company. The law firm launched a scorched-earth defense strategy and quickly burned through the $500,000 cap on legal fees. When that insurance bill expired, the lawyers told Brian that he should plead guilty, and that he would be responsible for the remainder of his bill—which amounted to an additional $75,000.
“I always knew that at the end of the day, I was going to plead guilty,” Brian told me. “When I went to find a lawyer, I went along with what they said. They wanted to contest every document. But every time they read a document, they charged exorbitant fees. Their bills showed that I was burning through more than $20,000 a day in legal fees.”
If it’s true that Brian knew he would eventually plead guilty, when he looked to find a criminal defense lawyer, he may have been better suited to find an attorney with a strong track record of making great plea deals.
At the end of the day, any defendant that needs to learn how to find a criminal defense attorney should follow the path that Darren pursued.
To the extent possible, use contacts to ascertain the expertise, honesty, and competence of lawyers with regard to specific types of cases, in a specific jurisdiction. Approach those lawyers with a list of questions that will help you determine if you think that you work well together. To the extent possible, ask the lawyer to accept a limited engagement to test the waters. Most importantly, make certain that you have the financial resources available to support the decision you make.
Remember, our team at White Collar Advice and TopWCA.com is here to help you navigate this process. We offer access to digital assets, including six free courses on topics like character reference letters, probation report preparation, and RDAP (which can take up to one year off your sentence). We also provide guidance through our New York Times piece, which profiles how our clients Hugo Mejia and Stanley Benton found their lawyers and held them accountable with our help.
For further assistance, schedule a call with our team, join our weekly webinar every Monday at 1 PM Pacific / 4 PM Eastern, and visit TopWCA.com to hire or replace your attorney. If you have questions, call me directly at 818-424-2220.
Best,
Justin Paperny
