Legal Question in Criminal Law in New York

Re: Federal Offense

1. Sealing a charge is a rare event. You can however ask for a certificate of relief from civil disabilities. Even though your case is in federal court, you would seek the Certificate of Relief from the State Supreme or County Court. You should hire a lawyer to help you with the application.

2. Your search for reliable lawyers can begin right on your computer. Findlaw.com has the names of the lawyers who identify themselves by practice area. After getting the names of some lawyers you would like to speak to, Head over to AVVO.com and check how they are rated. Avvo is not the end of the game but it does give you some idea about how these lawyers are perceived.

Of course if the lawyers are members of LawGuru.com check out their answers here. Are they answering questions or just saying call me?

Next check out the lawyers websites. Narrow your list to 5. Look at their Profiles. Do they chair committees of the bar? Do they teach in CLE or Law school classes? Do they write articles to educate the public or other lawyers? Are these websites informative?

Now narrow the choices to the best two or three. Schedule meetings. Most give free consults of at least 30 minutes. Some may charge a nominal fee. It doesn't matter, as the fee is really a way for the lawyer to keep "Shoppers" at bay. Most will waive the fee if they are hired.

At the meeting with the lawyer, tell him about your case. Is he or an assistant taking notes? Is he listening to you? When he speaks to you, does he answer your questions? Does his manner seem comfortable to you?

Ask him questions about the case. Lawyers practice in broad areas. Criminal law, Personal injury, Matrimonial. It doesn't matter if he never handled a grand larceny case, no one specializes in any particular crime. The question is has he handled cases in the broad catagory? Do cases in that category make up more than 33% of his caseload? How long has he been in practice. (A lawyer who has been practicing for less than 5 years should prbably not be handling high felony cases alone) How many cases has he taken to trial or dispositive hearing over the last 3 years? Most lawyers in criminal law will be able to answer at least 3-7 many will have more.

Finally determine how you will be billed. Hourly? Flat Fee? Billed in parts? Criminal lawyers are barred from taking cases on contingency in NY.

You can get more advice from www.wikihow.com/Select-a-Criminal-Defense-Attorney or www.wikihow.com/Hire-a-Lawyer.

I know this was long, but I hope if you got this far, you found it helpful.

I would be remiss if I did not say that I think that I am a reliable attorney :) and would be glad to speak to you about your case. If you are interested, you can contact me by following the links below.

Best wishes.