Do I Even Need a Lawyer?

An arrest or charge can be embarrassing, confusing, frustrating, and can have a significant impact on your life. Georgia’s criminal laws can lead to extremely harsh penalties that can affect your ability to work, go to school, and seek future employment. An arrest often means court hearings that could result in a criminal record, jail time, and fines and could have other collateral consequences that can significantly impact your life today as well as in the future.

Properly defending a criminal charge in Georgia requires knowledge of how to determine the legality of encounters that citizens have with police, constitutional law, rules of evidence, challenges to legal issues, potential sentencing, and alternative resolutions that could allow something not to appear on a person’s criminal history. In addition to the legal issues of your defense, court procedures can be intimidating for someone who does not have training and experience in a courtroom.

Even if it appears that there is significant evidence against you, procedures during a law enforcement detention, search, or questioning may not have been correctly followed and the prosecutor’s ability to use certain evidence may be challenged to determine if they can be used against you. If you are facing a criminal charge in Georgia, you should ensure that it is handled by a legal team with attorneys knowledgeable about the latest case law and defenses.

You should always be proactive in how you handle a criminal case. Don’t walk into a courtroom unprepared or without a clear understanding of how to proceed. In addition to understanding the laws and court process, there are filing deadlines that can drastically affect how your case proceeds. Engaging a skilled criminal defense team early in the process can ensure that the proper filings are completed within the appropriate court deadlines. An attorney will help you understand the strengths and weaknesses of your case and will provide you with information so that you know exactly what to expect at each stage of your case and can make an informed decision about what makes sense for you. If you or someone you know is facing criminal charges, contact our office for expert legal defense.