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Should my brother get a new attorney?
Anonymous6 views3 answers
My brother who has been charged with attempted rape among other things has a lawyer assigned to him by the court. This lawyer never goes to speak to him about the case, does not return our phone calls asking about the next trial, and did not speak to me when I showed up for my brother's last trial. He has promised my brother that once he is accepted into the "probation program" at his facility then he will be out, hopefully by Sept. 12th, his next trial date, but nothing has been done since he said this. Should we seek out a new lawyer or just let this one ride out and trust he knows what he is doing? Also, could he be avoiding questions because he can't get him out or it just doesn't want to deal with us since he is "court appointed"?
Robert A. StumpfBankruptcy AttorneyStaten Island, NY ·
Appointed attorneys are usually good attorneys with huge case loads and sometimes don't provide the personalized service some clients expect. Being busy of course doesn't mean a lawyer can ignore their ethical responsibility to the client, but this is still often a fact of life. Many times I have heard of criminal defendants complain they don't fee they are getting the zealous representation they thought.
A private attorney costs money, but usually (not always, but usually) would be likely to push a little harder. I am not sure if replacing one court appointed attorney with another would yield much benefit, personally.
That's a tough decision to make. I certainly won't second guess the attorney that's handling the matter and has ALL the relevant information. What's important is for your brother to be comfortable with the attorney. If not then yes its time for a new one. At the very least you may want to speak to an attorney about getting a second opinion.
