Michael Leonard explains what makes the best criminal lawyer in Chicago. We are often asked by clients, “well, what makes you and your law firm the best criminal lawyer in Chicago?” This kind of inquiry is common because individuals (and their families for them) who are facing either State or Federal criminal charges in cases pending in Chicago, or the Chicagoland area, or in other jurisdictions, want to obtain the best possible representation. At Leonard Trial Lawyers, we emphasize several things in response, in light of the fact that defendants typically have several options in terms of criminal defense counsel. The following questions – and the answers to them – should be evaluated carefully:
- Make sure that you have a high level of trust in your criminal defense counsel. Does something seem not quite right? Is the potential criminal defense counsel seemingly emphasizing money, or the payment of money to them, above all else? That should be a red flag. Is the potential criminal defense attorney “guaranteeing” you a particular result? No criminal defense lawyer can make any such guarantees, but some often do so. Is the potential criminal defense lawyer “selling” you on his/her relationship with the prosecutor or prosecutor’s Office – including the fact that they used to work there? It might be nice that such a relationship exits, but that is not going to matter at all, or help, when the case is actually being tried to the jury or to the Judge. in fact, sometimes when a criminal defense lawyer has a long prior history as working as a prosecutor, he/she may have a tendency to overvalue the prosecution’s case or be unable to clearly see the weaknesses in it. Is the potential criminal defense lawyer emphasizing that he/she can obtain “early discovery?” Every defendant’s counsel will be provided with all of the discovery materials.
- What type of results and success has the potential criminal defense attorney obtained at trial. Many criminal trial lawyers will “sell” you on the fact that they are “aggressive,” or “zealous,” or a “shark.” Most of those terms apply to hundreds of criminal defense attorneys. They may even tell you that they have obtained “not guilty” verdicts in the past. But look closer. Have they really? How often? Some attorneys view “success” in a criminal trial as winning one of the Counts of the Indictment. However, if the client was convicted on some or all of the rest of the Counts, it did not matter that one Count was a not guilty. In particular, in Federal criminal cases, has the attorney ever obtained a complete not guilty verdict for his/her client (i.e., not guilty on all Counts) such that the defendant was able to walk away from the case with it all behind him/her, and facing absolutely no jail time?
At Leonard Trial Lawyers, we are quite comfortable with all of those questions and issues. We have decades of experience, and more importantly an actual track record of success, at trial, in both the Federal and State courts.
Michael Leonard
Matthew Chivari
Leonard Trial Lawyers
March 11, 2024