Would you hire me if I said, “I’ll win your criminal case, guaranteed”?
I have potential new clients call my criminal defense firm all the time. Sometimes they ask me, in no uncertain terms, if I can guarantee that I will win their criminal case and get their criminal charges dropped. An actual call can go something like this, “Mr. Morris, I’ve read the great reviews that other clients have posted about you. I want to hire you if you can guarantee that you will win my case, too.”
Why can’t a criminal defense lawyer give a client a guarantee that he(she) will win his (her) criminal case?
Ok, there are several reasons. First of all, it’s illegal. Did you know that rules from the Florida Bar on ethics strictly prohibit a lawyer from making a guarantee as to any outcome in any criminal case? There are no guarantees as to any outcome for any criminal case. Lawyers who give a guarantee as to a result could get sanctioned, suspended or worse, disbarred. However, some unscrupulous lawyers give people guarantees as to an end result all the time.
Besides being illegal, it’s just plain wrong. Having handled thousands of criminal cases in Florida, I counsel my clients about possible ways to beat their cases and probable outcomes. This comes from years of experience, as both a prosecutor and a defense attorney, not from a crystal ball that allows me to see into the future.
Everyone wants a guarantee. But when we are working with an officer, a prosecutor, a judge and a jury, there simply are no guarantees on the outcome.
Here is a list of guarantees that I can make:
- I guarantee to stay in touch with you as your case progresses. In fact, I strive to return all of my phone calls within one hour. When my day is packed with back-to-back court appearances, it may take longer than an hour, but I guarantee that I’ll call you back as soon as possible.
- As your criminal defense attorney, I guarantee to work extremely hard and to stay focused on my top priority; to win your case and get you the best possible outcome for your charges.
- As a father, I guarantee you that I will keep your child’s best interest foremost in my defense efforts. I try to treat each client as if they were my own child and work as hard for them as I would for my own son and daughter.
- I can also guarantee that if you don’t trust the lawyer that you hire, you’re not going to be happy. Trust your instincts; it’s important that you get along from the beginning.
- I guarantee that any lawyer that gives you a guarantee as to an outcome in your criminal case is one that you should want to run, not walk, away from. Most likely, this same attorney will tell you anything you want to hear just to get your money. I’d rather not get your business than be dishonest with you.
