My Lawyer: How?

[jollystomper]

I am fortunate to have a number of lawyers in my family (sister, BIL, several nieces and nephews). In addition, two of DW's and I's good friends from college became lawyers, and we have lawyer friends in our church. Several times when we needed it we got good advice or good references to lawyers that worked out well. So we are sure to nurture these relationships.

It is a bit of a "barter" system as some of them have also sought me out for IT related assistance (both personal and for their business) for which I have been able to give them guidance.

 

[heeyy_joe]

So yeah... instead he calls you tomorrow A.AM ... whaddya do?

Good thing you're connected to that GLFA...

I'd tell him he has the wrong number and hang up.

 

[easysurfer]

Okay, I'll add a silly question. But do want a real answer I as I don't know.

So, if you get arrested with that one phone call, and you try calling a lifeline and end up reaching a voice mail does that count as the one call? Or does that not count as a call until you reach a live person?

The question is like in that episode on "Seinfeld" on whether only soup counts as a meal

 

[marko]

I"m sure some legal-eagles here would have a better answer, but what I'd do is:

1) get a bail bondsman (the arresting jurisdiction likely has someone to call) then,
2) call the attorney who drew up your will/deed/whatever and tell him/her what happened. If it's out of their area of expertise, they can recommend someone.

 

[calmloki]

Especially if you like it that way. Why not plan your strategy for when the Ruskis make an amphibious landing?

WHAT??!! The reds have landed and have a base in Pike's Place Market? Annie, git mah 32 40, we's a goin to war.

Fully unprepared here for arrest - total lack of get out of jail free card. Except...

my gal, who packs more effect per ounce than any person I know. If she can save my life she sure isn't going to let me waste it in a cell.

 

[aja8888]

Lawyers, or the lack of....or, how do I get an attorney?

Unless you are arrested for murder or some other heinous act, you will be thrown into the "pen" with all the others that were rounded up last night and into the wee hours of the morning. There is usually one phone in the pen. It only works for collect calls. Do your best. There will be a line.

The next morning, you will be hauled off to stand in front of a judge and read your charge, at which time the judge will give you your bond amount. You can either sit in the pen until you have spent enough time to work off the bail amount or just have someone pay a bail bondsman, which is usually the case. Then you are out.

At that time, you can call an attorney (your mailbox will be full of offers from them by now). They will also be calling you constantly. There are lots of lawyers, more than enough to go around. Especailly in this country.

If you have no way to pay an attorney, one will be provided for you by the court. Those generally are not that experienced and are "practicing" on your case and your life, so to say. This is not a good deal for you.

The best attorneys are ones that can make a deal for you (assuming you are guilty) with the case Prosecutor. He is the "main man" (or woman)....that's person that whispers in the judge's ear what you have agreed to for punishment, fines, community service, etc, so you won't waste the court's (and Judge's) time with a silly trial by jury.

All through this process you are facing attorneys...the judge(s), the Prosecutor, your attorney, the court's appointed attorney...and so on. Good luck, they are all in the same "career field".

Hope this helps, oh, follow Ha's advice and prepare for the invasion...make sure you have protection and lots of ammo.

 

[mystang52]

Ask a few people as a starting point to get some names for the specific situation. But one person's experience with an attorney may not be typical so it's something of a crapshoot. Or, do one of the two things that I did:
1) Have 2 children who are attorneys. They can find whatever specialty I need.
2) My j*b was insurance claims, so I was always involved with attorneys. Two great firms always gave me a run for my company's money. I used one of them to represent me against one of my former employers for a great result.

 

[Amethyst]

If arrested for something, why wouldn't you call your insurance agent?

Amethyst

 

[aja8888]

If arrested for something, why wouldn't you call your insurance agent?

Amethyst

I wouldn't...he may look to increasing your premiums..

 

[samclem]

If I were in jail and could make only one call, it would be to a friend/spouse/relative etc who I thought had enough interest and competence to help me out. They are on the "outside" and have the flexibility to make multiple calls to bailbondsmen, lawyers, the jail, etc. They can do the legwork that I can't do. If I use my one call to reach "my" preselected lawyer and he's in Bermuda for two weeks while his intern is answering the phone--now what?

 

[Amethyst]

That's going to happen anyway if there's liability involved. Seems to me, the chances of being arrested for a terrible incident involving your car (God Forbid that anything like that should happen) is more likely than for, say, shooting an off-duty cop in a bar fight.

I'm just thinking that the insurance company may be able to recommend a lawyer or even send one around, simply to protect their interests.

Amethyst

I wouldn't...he may look to increasing your premiums..

 

[MRG]

Okay, I'll add a silly question. But do want a real answer I as I don't know.

So, if you get arrested with that one phone call, and you try calling a lifeline and end up reaching a voice mail does that count as the one call? Or does that not count as a call until you reach a live person?

The question is like in that episode on "Seinfeld" on whether only soup counts as a meal

Aja8888s description remineded me of a personal experience that answers your question. You're not limited to one phone call, at least in this state/county.

When I w*rked as a manager I was required to discuss with the employee collect phone calls that had been accepted from their extension. This rule was partly in place for the cleaning crew. I received a report that one gal had taken three calls on two different days from the county jail, during core hours.

I asked the gal what happened as politely as I knew how. She was obviously embarrassed, a not so proud part of her personal life was being discussed. She explained her neice had been arrested and called her three times asking to be bailed out. She resused the first two times, the third sob story broke her heart and she gave in. The employee offered to pay the collect charges back, I let her know it was no big deal, just best to tell the neice not to call her collect at work.

So in this situation I know of 3 calls someone had made attempting to raise bail. There were probably more to other family members, we had no need to talk about that.

Glad to say the employee never received any other BS over the calls. She also joined the ER club last week at 58!

 

[aja8888]

Aja8888s description remineded me of a personal experience that answers your question. You're not limited to one phone call, at least in this state/county.

At least around here, county jails don't limit the number of call you can make, but they have to be all collect calls.

 

[aja8888]

If arrested for something, why wouldn't you call your insurance agent?

Amethyst

Agreed if you get in an auto accident and get arrested, but that is pretty rare. If you do get in an accident and the cops find drugs in your possession (not prescription ones), and get arrested for that , I would not bother to call my insurance man until after I was bonded out.

 

[Amethyst]

True, and then I would be calling a detective to find the rat who planted the non-prescription drugs in my car!

Amethyst

Agreed if you get in an auto accident and get arrested, but that is pretty rare. If you do get in an accident and the cops find drugs in your possession (not prescription ones), and get arrested for that , I would not bother to call my insurance man until after I was bonded out.

 

[Koolau]

Back to OP for a second. I too have wondered whether it would be worth the effort to find a lawyer "just in case." What I think I will do is find a medium (or small) size law firm to redo our wills in our new state. I'll try to find a firm with lawyers in all fields (including criminal defense). If I'm satisfied, I'll ask about the process to "retain" or otherwise be certain I would have someone to call if the need would arise.

I agree that the likelihood of criminal arrest is relatively small, but if it were to happen, one could languish in the "system" for several hours if no lawyer or other help were available. I've discussed other places on the forum that most of us break laws every day - from speeding (21 in a 20 IS breaking the law) to jay walking to packing heat when you carry your (otherwise) legal hand gun into a federal building such as a post office (heh, heh, got the T-shirt.)

Short story - got a call years back from someone IDing himself as a Sgt. so and so from such and such local PD jurisdiction. He started right away asking me if I had been at a certain place recently. I told him "no." Then he asked me to describe my car. At this point, I asked "What's this all about?" He said someone had given the PD MY tag number as someone who was going through a group of mail boxes (at the end of a rural lane.) I assured him it was a mistake and then figured I would comply by describing my car. Once I did, he seemed to agree it must have been a mistake and that's the last I ever heard of the issue.

BUT, it got me thinking. It would be SO easy to be IDd as committing a crime - either by tag number or even by name (accidentally or intentionally.) In a moment of paranoia, it also occurred to me that I've p*ssed off more than one LEO in my time (I say it's their fault but, hey, they've got the gun.) Soooo, what if a simple traffic stop went bad and you somehow ended up in jail?

IOW, Imoldernu's interest seems valid. Lots of ways to make this a humorous thread, but if something happened to place you at the mercy of the (so called) criminal justice system, all humor would disappear. So, what WOULD you do? At that point, I'd want the meanest, junk-yard dog of a criminal defense attorney on my side. The "other side" has the full power or the state on their side. Having your legal beagle (aka junk yard dog) lined up BEFORE hand only seems prudent, given the number of folks wrongly (or even rightly) accused of criminal offenses each and every day. Obviously, YMMV.

 

[robnplunder]

If anything, it sounds cool to say "talk to my lawyer" when you don't want to deal with sticky, unpleasant issues. It's a good threatening line. Of course, I need to have a personal lawyer at my beck and call (and resource to pay thim) to follow through with a threat.

 

[RockyMtn]

In my opinion in this day you don't need a lawyer you need a law firm. I had an estate/will/tax lawyer that I liked. If I have other needs from a legal standpoint I contact him and he hooks me up with someone with that expertise within his firm. This has worked with consulting biz formation, legal issue with ex wife, pre nup creation, etc, etc, etc.

I don't know that there are any real generalist lawyers out there anymore.

 

[athena53]

The suit was not against the dogs owner, personally. It was against their homeowners insurance.

Sorry to go off on a tangent here, but the suit WAS against the owner of the dogs. They just happened to have insurance which paid it. (I retired from the business so I bristle when people imply that it's nothing personal, it just comes out of the pocket of Big, Rich Insurance Company.) And, BTW, I agree with your suing them. I hope it woke them up and prevented something worse from happening in the future.

To answer the OP's question: I've been using an attorney I know from church to handle setting up my trust, and he's S-L-O-W. DH had already had bad luck with using realtors from a previous church (husband and wife who worked together) and recently we decided the husband-and-wife insurance agents we use from church for our health insurance seem to tell us a lot that turns out to be wrong.

There's a surgeon in our church. DH says no way he's ever going to operate on us.

 

[imoldernu]

This will sound like a "story"... a made up, "hair on fire" TV scenario, but it's true... and just happened on Saturday night... Freaky Friday was the 12th... and this happened on Saturday night.

We have lived in our gated senior community for 10 years, and I don't recall a single crime, except for a mailbox knock-down in 2008.

Our best friends live two houses away, and were gone this weekend (Fri. thru Mon.)

Saturday night, with a touch of insomnia, I decided to take a walk around the block, about 1 AM (Sunday)... Everything shuts down here, and there are likely to be no cars at all, for hours at a time... even during the day. But this was nighttime... I was surprised to see a patrol car circling the block. This is very unusual.

This morning, as we were going to the store, I saw our HOA president, standing in the driveway of my friends (on vacation)...

"What's up?"
My friend's house had been vandalized. The acrylic siding and a cement stoop had been spray painted with filthy words, and our HOA president was awaiting the police.
.......................................................
So today, I remembered this thread and thought about what could have happened.

FYI... the Illinois statute on criminal liability for damages... In this case, looks like the damages will exceed the limit.

Criminal Damage to Property – Class 4 Felony

The charge you face will be a Class 4 felony if the damage is more than $300 but less than $10,000, or if the damage is committed against a school, place of worship, or to farm equipment and is valued at less than $300. A Class 4 felony can carry up to 1 to 3 years in prison and $25,000 in fines.

......
and so I thought... what if?

Imagine... a trip to the station house... not even a wallet in my pocket, and me in my shorts and pajama top. One call. What's the number? Is the one call to "Information"... what next? To my own house to my DW?... Then what would she do?

Yes... a funny thread, and some good answers... Just a weird coincidence that made me decide to:
1. Keep my wallet on me at all times.
2. Keep my son's number on top in the picture slot.

I haven't even been inside a police station since 1965... visiting a drunken friend. No rush to check it out...

 

[Sue J]

And, BTW, I agree with your suing them. I hope it woke them up and prevented something worse from happening in the future.

Right after we settled the suit the neighborhood papergirl was bitten. Her father sued and asked if I would testify. Hell, yeah! He would not settle and insisted on a trial. So I got to go to court and tell the judge my experience which emotionally felt better than settling.

The dogs owner also testified. You see, Laddie was the instigator, the other 2 dogs were good dogs. But poor Laddie was the product of a divorce and was just unruly. I thought the judge would laugh at this but he took it quite seriously. He also asked why someone would let 3 purebred collies run loose.

The result was damages paid to the papergirl. The owners were required to build a 6 foot fence that also went 3 ft below ground and keep their dogs contained. Laddie was sent to "a farm in Pennsylvania" which sounds like a euphemism for something else.......

 

[jIMOh]

I'm going to complicate the question...sorry.

My personal opinion is that there are no "general" lawyers (at least not good enough for the reason you would need them). They seem to specialize in something. Tax attorneys, estate planning attorneys, defense attorneys, divorce attorneys, contract law attorneys, blah, blah, blah.

But attorneys seem to know attorneys - who is good, who is bad - across the legal spectrum. So here is my advice. Hire an estate planning attorney and have him/her review your will or medical directives, or whatever. Establish the relationship.

Then, if you need a criminal defense attorney when you go crazy one day and knock off someone - call up your estate planning attorney and ask for a recommendation for a good criminal defense attorney.

PS. I learned the hard way that you should not hire a general purpose attorney to do estate planning. Trust me.

I'll second that Lawyers know other Lawyers. Here's my experience... I have two go to attorneys.

One processed my disillusionment, did my will and powers of attorney, did some business work, and also represented me in a civil case. She is young and just starting on her own (maybe 3 years solo?? 5 years out of law school). She is tenacious in a courtroom, I've seen it first hand.

I have a second business attorney which I use for tax and business purposes only. His rates are slightly higher ($75 per hour higher than attorney above).

In both cases I can call both when an issue arises and know both know legal procedure well. I have never been pulled over for DUI or anything, but we have fun discussing what police have a right to do or not do- and IMO this is where knowing attorneys is helpful- ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. I know what police can or can't ASK when at a DUI checkpoint, for example.

I think knowing your rights is more important than knowing which attorney to call.

 

[Amethyst]

I'm interested - How do they bill you for being able to "call when an issue arises"? Do you negotiate a payment each time, or are they on retainers, or something else?

Amethyst

I'
In both cases I can call both when an issue arises and know both know legal procedure well. .

 

[LOL!]

Sometimes you don't get to call anyone. Here's a true story:

Wife went to pick up husband at airport. He was flying in from overseas after a trip of multiple days. He texted, "Landed, headed to baggage claim and customs. See you outside baggage claim." She got there with kids in the backseat. Husband did not appear. She called his phone. No answer. Texted him. No response. Waited quite a while.

What would you do?

She tried to contact airline and airport authorities: no info. So she went home.

What would you do?

 

[M Paquette]

What would you do?

Text back and ask what airport he landed at...