Will the attorney meet with you in his office?  Many attorneys speak with you over the phone, but will they also meet in their office?  Is this an attorney with a firm and a support staff or is it one working out of his basement?  Unfortunately, in criminal law, there are a lot of attorneys who simply are not equipped to handle more complicated matters simply because they do not have the staff required to get the job done.

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How many attorneys does the firm have?  Early in his career, John recognized the problem with being a solo attorney: if the attorney went on vacation or was sick, who would take care of the cases?  Was there someone to bounce ideas off of when unique situations arose?  Was there a second set of eyes on a motion that could force the charges to be dropped?  At John B. Miller & Associates, PC, we assign two attorneys to every criminal case.  This ensures that there is no gap in service to the client if an attorney is out, and it allows for a second set of eyes on motions and evidence.

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Is criminal law a practice group of the firm?  What is a practice group?  It is a group of attorneys handling an area of practice within a firm.  If an area of law is a part of a practice group the firm handles, it is an area of law that they have hired attorneys specifically to handle as a part of their regular practice.  Some attorneys do what you could call “door law” or “whatever walks in the door.”  While many firms take on several areas of law as they grow in success, you want your attorney to handle criminal law as a primary focus, not as something they do to pay the bills.  Obviously, an attorney who has criminal law as a focus will be more likely to spot issues key to your case than one who handles criminal cases from time to time.

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How does the firm select its attorneys?  Most firms take a resume and conduct an informal interview.  Our firm has a selection process that includes a written examination that includes legal questions, logic questions, and a personality profile.  The questions also specifically ask whether the attorney is opposed to working with someone they know to be guilty or are opposed to representing clients who are accused of the worst of the crimes.  If an attorney is not willing to fight for a client they believe is guilty, they should not practice criminal law.  Similarly, the attorney should be willing to take on any allegation against a client.

Finally, our selection process ends with an extensive interview with three pages of required questions designed to find the perfect fit.  The hiring process can be months from resume to hire, but we want to make sure that we hire the right attorneys.  John Miller personally interviews every employee and will not hire an attorney that he would not trust with his own legal matters (and the reputation of the firm).