I had grown up wanting to be a lawyer. When I entered law school my plan was to become a criminal attorney. That changed after my first DUI defense. I went to a small law school. It was accredited in that I was able to sit for the bar exam once I graduated. But it was not American Bar Association accredited. I went to a small law school not ABA accredited because for one reason my grades were not good enough to get into a larger more well known school. And I was already in my mid twenties and had a full time job so I needed a flexible class schedule.
But going to a small unaccredited law school also meant the government would not be quick to offer me a position either. But I only wanted to graduate so I could take the bar exam. I figures I could think later about finding a lawyer job.
Government work is the best place to get criminal law experience. Really, it is the only place. Most if not all criminal law lawyers in private practice worked for the district attorney office or the public defender to begin. But most if not all of those jobs go to graduates or ABA schools. But I was able to get an interview with the county I lived in. There was a state wide hiring freeze because of budget shortages. But it was lifted for one position in the county public defenders office. I got 88 out of 100 in the interview. I knew this was not high enough with all the competition for one job opening.
A week later, I received a letter from the state saying that the hiring freeze was reinstated. They did not even fill the one position before putting the freeze back on. I decided to take a continuing legal education course on drunken driving defense. The course was a three day program and after the course I thought there was really nothing to it and it should be simple enough.
I put a small advertisement in the local shopper offering my services to those who needed help with their DUI charge. My phone rang non-stop it seemed for three days. I went to court the following week with my first client in the court house across the street from where I had graduated from college. I had never been in one of the court rooms I thought as I was parking my car.
This was my client’s first offense so he was looking at any jail time. And his alcohol level at the time of his arrest was above the legal limit. There was nothing for me to contest. But I was there basically to hold his hand during the process. But I did want to go through the steps I learned in my class. I approached the deputy district attorney at the opposite side of the courtroom and waited patiently while she chatted with the courtroom bailiff.
I went over to the deputy district attorney to discuss the charge and the penalty she would agree to as I learned in class. She was chatting with the female bailiff. I patiently waited for her to finish. The bailiff looked me up and down, turned her nose up and walked away. When I asked the deputy district attorney about the charge and penalty she curtly said I would find out from the judge. She said this without looking up from her files.
I was treated very politely by the female judge however. I think she probably came up the ranks of the public defenders office. My client got the basic penalty he was due and although his license was suspended for one year, I was able to allowed to drive to and from work and while he was working since driving was part of his job. But I pulled the ad from the shopper. One DUI defense was enough. One criminal case was enough for me to change my mind about criminal law. At court I felt like I was the one who was on trial not my client. But the truth of the matter is, the criminal attorney is the agent of the accused and has to know that going into not only the courtroom but into law school.
Having a well experienced criminal lawyer Fort Lauderdale is greatly beneficial to the case. A Fort Lauderdale criminal attorney will use their expertise to fight for your welfare, guaranteeing the best possible outcomes.
