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When lawyers on this site say 'seek legal counsel,' does that mean hire a private attorney or simply utilize a public defender?
Anonymous8 views3 answers
I am looking at a semi-complicated hit and run misdemeanor, and have received advice on here both to 'hire an attorney' and to 'seek legal counsel'. My lawyer friend, who does not practice criminal law, is encouraging me to go with a public defender. My main question here is, some folks have told me to 'seek legal counsel,' and I am wondering if acquiring a public defender falls under that category.
In my view, yes, it does include the public defender. The public defender represents those who cannot afford their own attorney, and is based on a financial evaluation the public defender does to determine whether you qualify for their services. If you do qualify, the public defender's office will represent you and at the end of the case, you may be required to pay a very modest sum for their representation. If you do not qualify for the public defender, seeking counsel means finding a private defense attorney who you are able to afford to represent your interests.
A private lawyer will have more time to answer your questions, review the evidence and put together any defenses you may have, and walk you through the case in order to get the best outcome possible.
Of course the public defender is legal counsel. And many public defenders are outstanding lawyers. But the difference is, they can only represent you if you cannot afford private counsel, and if you are actually charged with a crime. In hit and run cases if you have not been charged yet, you may be able to have an attorney work effectively with the police or prosecutor's office to avoid charging you, if your attorney can figure out what the authorities want or what they're most concerned about. For example, if you are insured and there's no bodily injury and the authorities just want to make sure the other party gets compensated by you, there's not necessarily a need to file criminal charges to accomplish that goal. But if you cannot or do not hire counsel, you miss that opportunity to try and head off something worse. So that's why if you can afford competent counsel you may in this instance want to act now, as opposed to waiting to be charged or hoping you won't be charged.
