A criminal defence lawyer plays a crucial role in defending people who have been accused of a criminal offence. They will argue your defence in front of judges and juries, and fight to achieve the best outcome for your case if you have been accused of committing a crime. These extremely clever and prepared legal professionals will regularly defend offences such as burglary, manslaughter, fraud, and many more.
While you may be given the opportunity to represent yourself in a criminal case, this is often not your best option. Criminal defence solicitors go through years of rigorous training to make sure they have a deep understanding of the law and are prepared to face all the legal challenges that will inevitably arise during your criminal case. Not taking advantage of their services and deciding, instead, to self-represent in court, will, more often than not, result in harsher sentences.
A good defence solicitor will work with you to come up with the most effective strategy, and collaborate with all parties to ensure your sentence is as permissive as possible – if any is imposed. Their advanced communication skills are built on years of experience and work to protect their clients’ interests at all costs.
It’s important to notice that your relationship with your criminal defence lawyers must be based on honesty about your circumstances. There is little your solicitor can do when deceived regarding the facts of the case or the accuracy of the allegations, so you should always communicate truthfully with them.
If you are, in some ways, guilty of the charges brought against you, you should never hide this from your defence team. Your lawyer will use their skills to inform all parties of the facts you’ve presented to them and argue for a less harsh sentence for the charges. It’s sometimes more effective to admit to some wrongdoing and try to achieve a satisfactory outcome from the reality of the situation than it is to hide facts from your defence, as these may be discovered later on – which will negatively impact your defence.
You may think that you can represent yourself in court if you truly believe you’re not guilty of any of the charges, but, unfortunately, this often fails as a strategy. Legal processes and language can be extremely confusing if you haven’t been extensively trained in criminal law, and you could end up worsening your situation and receiving a sentence that could have been avoided.
In the overwhelming majority of the cases, your best option to defend a legal allegation is to instruct an experienced criminal defence solicitor. While costs may seem prohibitive, there is very few investments that are wiser than ensuring your freedom and justice during a criminal defence case.
