There are a number of factors that qualify an attorney to be a top Chicago white collar criminal attorney.
First, he or she has to actually handle these types of cases on a regular and continuous basis. I am often surprised to see Google and other forms of advertisements touting someone as a top Chicago white collar criminal attorney who rarely, if ever, takes these types of cases to trial in federal court – let alone ever wins them. It is difficult for one to qualify as a top Chicago white collar criminal lawyer if he or she has never ever won such a case before a jury in federal court as a defense lawyer.
To be sure, there are certain white collar cases charged as State offenses that require the services of a top Chicago white collar criminal lawyer. But, traditionally, white collar criminal cases are charged by federal prosecutors in federal court.
Typical white collar offenses charged by federal prosecutors, particularly lately, include all manners of schemes to defraud, supported by wire fraud and mail fraud allegations, health care fraud, bank fraud, mortgage fraud, PPP fraud, and money laundering.
Thus, a top Chicago white collar criminal lawyer is one who consistently takes on those cases in federal court, and takes them to trial – with a track record of success at trial. At our firm, that is a given. We are known for not only trying, but winning, federal white collar criminal cases before juries.
Second, a top Chicago white collar criminal attorney must be able to see the big picture, i.e., the strategy to best present, and win at trial, the white collar criminal case. All too often federal white collar criminal cases are attacked by way of a traditional “big firm” paper defense, which includes a slew of motions. Clearly, well focused and strategic discovery and pre-trial motions are essential to the arsenal of a top Chicago white collar criminal lawyer. However, a top Chicago white collar criminal lawyer understands the odds of such motions being granted. Sometimes, such motions serve little purpose but to purportedly “preserve the record” and “educate the Judge.” However, a top Chicago white collar lawyer aims to do more than achieving those goals. Because if those are the goals, such motions may in reality only serve to better educate the federal prosecutors of the defense strategy and the potential weaknesses to patch in their case before, or at, trial. Accordingly, a top Chicago white collar criminal lawyer is one who is both judicious and strategic in the motions he or she files. At our firm, every motion and case-related filing and presentation is designed to further our ability to win the case.
Third, a top criminal lawyer is able to develop, and focus on, cross-examinations that both pique the interest of the jury and advance their theory of defense.
Drama is good, and jurors love drama. Likewise, jurors hate tedium, and only have so much ability to take in and distill the information provided through the all-important vehicle of cross-examination. At our firm, one of the hallmarks of our practice is aggressive, and more importantly, effective cross-examination at trial. Moreover, there is no “one speed” for our cross-examinations. A top Chicago white collar lawyer knows that different speeds or approaches must be tailored to each and every witness that is confronted and cross-examined at trial.
There are of course numerous other attributes that go into what makes a lawyer, and Leonard Trial Lawyers, a top Chicago white criminal lawyer.
Michael Leonard -Leonard Trial Lawyers