Some drug defense lawyers charge a surprisingly small flat fee, collect the money, plead the client guilty, and move on to the next client. Those lawyers are known in the trade as “dump trucks” because they dump their clients as soon as they can. Criminal defense lawyers who are skilled and dedicated to their craft have no respect for “dump trucks”. Neither do prosecutors or judges.
If you hire someone at a low flat rate, you probably won’t be saving your money. Instead, you’ll lose money because you will lose your job after being convicted and sent to prison. You may also lose your spouse and family.
You should think of hiring a drug defense lawyer as an investment. Drug attorney fees might be daunting, but they are a necessity. You spend more for a good lawyer, just like you spend more on a good car or a nice house, but you receive a return on your investment when you pay for quality. That return manifests itself as hard work, creative effort, and impressive results.
Remember, whether you buy a car or hire a lawyer, you get what you pay for.
WHAT YOU GET
Higher fees buy experience. You might be able to hire a brand new, very bright lawyer for a smaller fee, but to maximize your chance of success, you need a lawyer who blends intelligence with experience. Law school teaches law but it does not teach the skill. Lawyers become effective at persuasion, cross-examination, and negotiation by handling cases over a period of years. Experienced lawyers charge more because they have learned how to get good results for clients.
Higher fees also assure that a lawyer will devote time to your case. The dump trucks who charge “discount” rates rely on high volume to earn a living. They need to process each case quickly so they can move on to the next one. Lawyers who charge higher fees have the ability to limit their practices, never taking on more work than they can comfortably handle. That allows them to give each case the time it deserves.
WHAT YOU PAY FOR
High quality drug defense lawyers spend endless hours on cases that clients never see. They go through police reports, witness statements, investigator’s notes, diagrams, photographs, lab reports, and all the other documents and evidence in the client’s file again and again. They look for inconsistencies and flaws in the prosecution’s case that they can exploit. They consider defenses. They strategize. You want to get a lawyer who knows how to prepare, but preparation takes time. That time is built into the fee.
Good drug attorneys also draft motions and prepare briefs (written arguments that support the motions). More than most other kinds of criminal cases, drug cases are often won on the basis of motions. Many of those motions take advantage of the mistakes the police made. The media calls that winning on a technicality. We call it protecting the rights of our clients.
Researching and writing a brief takes time. Investigating the facts upon which motions are based takes time. Preparing for motion hearings takes time. All of that time goes into the fee you pay. You pay more for a good lawyer than one who does nothing for you, but you get what you pay for.
HOW TO PAY FOR WHAT YOU GET
You will never be represented by a dump truck at the Law Offices of Randy Collins. While we are not a discount-rate firm, we strive to charge fees that are reasonable and competitive as compared to other top-rated drug defense lawyers in Orange County. We want to make it possible for ordinary people to hire our firm.
In most cases, the Law Offices of Randy Collins handles drug cases on a flat fee basis. That allows you to budget your finances so that you can hire an attorney without worrying about hidden legal fees. In addition, the Law Offices of Randy Collins can work with creditworthy clients to arrange reasonable payment plans.