SHOULD I GO WITH A LAWYER OR A PUBLIC DEFENDER? 

By Travis Rice

This is a trick question. Public Defenders are lawyers. However, many people get them confused and think they are not. I assure you they did the schooling, passed all the right exams and licensing requirements that all other lawyers do. The reason there is sometimes such a striking difference between Private Lawyers and Public Defenders is many Private Lawyers have time to help and navigate their clients through the legal process much more efficiently and smoothly. 

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Time is one thing that sets Private Lawyers apart from Public Defenders. Especially here in Idaho. In Idaho the Public Defenders are far over worked and under paid to be effective. This has become a problem in many areas outside the Treasure Valley because they are too small to have in-house public defenders and must contract the services out to other firms. Hopefully, this will change soon. But Private Lawyers have way more time to explore legal issues involved in your case, and potential defenses that you may have. They also have the time to answer your phone calls and questions more readily. In my opinion, Private Lawyers have a serious advantage over Public Defenders because they have more time to deal with the issues.  

Another advantage to hiring a Private Lawyer is the personal touch you recieve. The law is a complicated beast. If you are not careful, you could get bit by it. In fact, I think its much like walking in a minefield without a detector if you are representing yourself. The Private lawyer is like a mine detector, who senses the dangers before they occur. A Public Defender does the same thing, but some Public Defenders lack the "give a damn" attitude because they get paid whether they loose or win the case. A Private Attorney is like an upgraded mine detector for those who dont want to get hit or be blind sided. 

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Private Lawyers are also only concerned about their client, whereas some Public Defenders find it important to curry favor with the judge or the Prosecutor. You have to remember the Public Defender is in court with the Judge and Prosecutor all day. They share information about their families; they make jokes, they talk about you, they discuss issues in other cases, they also attend a lot of the same meetings and functions. So, its a social dynamic. Sometimes to preserve this social dynamic some Public Defenders choose to not push certain issues, or to try and get a better deal for another client at your expense by budging on your case. I have seen many cases while sitting in court where this dynamic plays out, and many times ends up hurting the Public Defenders client, its unavoidable in my mind, but its a real dynamic at play. 

Private Lawyers cost money. This is a positive and a negative. Public Defenders are appointed by the State, and require little cost. They are not free. Many cases involve Public Defender reimbursement but it is minimal to the cost of a Private Lawyer. A Public Defender gets paid by the State, which is the same place the Prosecutor and the Judge recieve their paychecks from. But they are autonomous, and they are not in cahoots contrary to popular belief.  A Private Lawyer costs ranges based on their experience, expertise, and complexity of the case. But, paying a Private Lawyer can be a positive. I know many Judges here in Idaho that hand out lighter sentences to individuals simply because they made the effort to hire a Private Lawyer to represent them. Many Judges also see it as part of the sentence that you had to pay to get an attorney and give lower fines. This is a Nation-Wide trend, and has been proved to be more benifiical to go to sentence with a Private Lawyer rather than a public defender. Cost is a major concern though.

Why cannot lawyers be up front about how much they cost? My office tries very hard to be up front about the cost of a given case. Its very common to get into a case and then realize its more difficult than you thought. When a Lawyer agrees to take a case he has little information, and the Prosecutor already has a view of how the case is going to go down. So sometimes, it's hard to negotiate if you have prior convictions from other jurisdictions, complex legal issues, or if the prosecutor wants to get their name in the paper for something. Its difficult to judge the amount of hours you will spend on a case. I can tell you that most cases I loose money on, and I think most other Lawyers should be the same way. However, I am not blind to the reality that many Lawyers think the practice of law is a business, and they can take advantage of your situation because its so difficult. One thing that you can do to help your lawyer is help yourself by listening to them. I often get frustrated when my client doesnt do what I ask them and they continue to call to chat about things. Its very hard to keep costs low when this occurs. Just food for thought. 

If you are looking for a Private Lawyer who won't charge you an arm and a leg, and its is criminal case in Canyon County, give us a call at 208-230-9983 or visit our website to set up a free consult by clicking here.