How to Choose a Criminal Appeal Attorney

Trying to choose an attorney for your criminal appeal can be a daunting task. Not many attorneys do criminal appeals, and often you have no way of knowing whether one attorney is better than another. So how do you choose? Here are some considerations that I would take into account if I were trying to hire an attorney for myself or a loved one.

Experience

How many criminal appeals has the attorney worked on? Do they do one every couple years or is it a focus of their practice? How long have they been doing it? These are all reasonable questions to ask an attorney you’re thinking about hiring. I worked at the Michigan Court of Appeals as a prehearing attorney right out of law school. While I was at the court, I worked on numerous criminal appeals, and I gained an inside perspective on what it takes to win a criminal appeal. Since entering private practice, my focus has been on criminal appeals and postconviction matters, and I’ve handled numerous appellate and postconviction cases in the circuit courts, Michigan Court of Appeals, and Michigan Supreme Court.

Knowledge

Any criminal appeals attorney should be able to answer most common client questions without blinking. How long will the appeal take? How many criminal appeals are successful? How important is oral argument? These and other common questions should not stump an attorney. If they do, head for the door. In my experience, clients have a lot of really good questions about their appeal that they want answered. It’s not unusual for an initial consultation with me to last an hour and a half or more. I don’t put a time limit on any of my initial consultations, which are always free.

Results

Criminal appeals are extremely difficult to win. It’s estimated that only about 3% of criminal appeals succeed in the Michigan Court of Appeals. There are many excellent criminal appellate attorneys who have only won a handful of cases. Still, I think it’s fair to ask any attorney how many appeals they’ve won. If an attorney has won a lot of appeals, that’s a pretty good sign that they know what they’re doing. Personally, I’ve been very fortunate to win several appeals for my clients.

Professional development

A good criminal appeal attorney must constantly stay abreast of changes in the law. Every week, the Michigan Court of Appeals and Michigan Supreme Court are issuing opinions and orders that shape and reshape the law. Ask an attorney you’re considering for your criminal appeal what they do to keep track of changes in the law. For me, I attend trainings and seminars focused on criminal appellate issues. I also read every pertinent decision that comes down from the Michigan Court of Appeals and Michigan Supreme Court. Having a recent decision at hand can often give me an edge that other attorneys don’t have.

Proportion of practice

How much of the attorney’s practice consists of criminal appeals? If an attorney offers to do your criminal appeal, write your will, and finalize your divorce, that’s a good sign that their practice is not focused on criminal appeals. Don’t hire that attorney. Criminal appeals are extraordinarily complex. You want a specialist, not a generalist. For me, my practice is 100% devoted to criminal appeals and postconviction work.

Caseload

How many cases do you currently have? Every client should ask their prospective attorney this question. Do you want to be one of a hundred clients or one of twenty? The fewer clients the attorney has, the more attention each client—and their case—is going to get. And the more attention a case gets, the better the attorney is going to be able to handle it. I strive to keep my caseload as small as reasonably possible, even if that sometimes means turning down work (and money).

Ask for a work sample

This one is somewhat unconventional. I’ve actually never had a client ask to see a sample of my work before they hired me. Which is kind of crazy. You should ask any attorney you’re considering for your criminal appeal to see a brief on appeal that they’ve prepared in another case. Although, if you’re not a lawyer, some aspects of a brief may be a little difficult to follow, don’t be intimidated. A brief is simply an essay describing the facts of a case and the legal issues involved. Anyone should be able to tell a good brief from a bad brief, just as anyone can tell good writing from bad writing. I’m happy to share a work sample with prospective clients, and any good criminal appeal attorney should be, too.

Comfort

Finally, you want to be completely comfortable with the attorney you hire. Although the primary focus of any appeal is winning the case, the attorney also needs to be able to guide the client and their family through the maze of the appellate process. As I said above, criminal appeals are extraordinarily complex. Any client is naturally going to have a lot of questions. Your attorney needs to be able to answer your questions and be happy to do so. I often tell clients to consult with several attorneys before making their final decision. I want clients to feel like they’ve made the right choice for them after considering all their options. I can’t remember the last client who didn’t come back to hire me.