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Sorry if this is a dumb question, but can somebody point me in the right direction for finding a directory of firms that deal with criminal law & defense for (I know this sounds really stupid) such things as murder, etc. - not white-collar crimes? I tried http://www.martindale.com/ but I am only able to find white-collar criminal firms.

Actually, I didn't realize this, but are all crminal law firms dealing with low-end, non-white-collar crimes small/solo?

I'm no expert, but I would think so.

I'm wondering. Why do you have this thread under anonymous posting yet neither one of you anonymously posted. I'm not trying to be mean-i just noticed that.

Miracle wrote:I'm wondering. Why do you have this thread under anonymous posting yet neither one of you anonymously posted. I'm not trying to be mean-i just noticed that.

I see no need to make this an anonymous discussion at all. Not sure why it is labeled as such.

ChrisK9135 wrote:Sorry if this is a dumb question, but can somebody point me in the right direction for finding a directory of firms that deal with criminal law & defense for (I know this sounds really stupid) such things as murder, etc. - not white-collar crimes? I tried http://www.martindale.com/ but I am only able to find white-collar criminal firms.

They are on martindales. They are usually really small firms (1-9 attorneys) and you have no chance of working at one right out of law school (ITE). Also, even if you were to be hired on most firms won't specialize in just criminal law (criminal's don't have money, they typically go with a PD)- meaning you will do a good share of shitlaw work. Your best bet is working at a PD's office if you want to do criminal defense work (because they will throw you right out there and you will get good experience in the field) but with the budget freezes the likelihood of finding a job in one of those office are worse then biglaw right now.

You don't just walk into private defense firms, unless your dad owns it. Anyway, these firms maybe spend half of their time working on criminal cases, the vast majority of which are DUIs and othe petty crimes. If you want a fast track to the dirty defense work, go PD. However, it's very likely that you'll never handle a murder case. You will plea, plea, plea, 90% of the time as a defense attorney.

You will plea, plea, plea, 90% of the time as a defense attorney.

Not necessarily. That's mainly federal court, unless that is what you are referring to.

No, I was referring to local govt. Just based on my experiences working, not as a lawyer, at a da's office. plea bargaining is a huge part of this. they go to trial far less then people think, yes you go to court a lot for various hearings and you get courtroom experience, but going to trial happens far less.

Pleaing mainly occurs in just federal courts? Seriously, is that what you're saying? Everytime a defendant excepts the charges, there was most likely plea bargaining going on, unless they flat out plead guilty to the original charges, even in that case plea bargaining probably took place as a means of lessening the defendant's sentence. This happen so often at the local level.

gglr24 wrote:

You will plea, plea, plea, 90% of the time as a defense attorney.

Not necessarily. That's mainly federal court, unless that is what you are referring to.

What the hell are you talking about?

The medium and large firms generally only do white-collar criminal defense work, mostly because that's where the money is. Your average street criminal can't afford the $500-$1000/hr fees that the big firms charge.

If you are interested in a criminal defense firm that does both white collar and drug cases. Let me know. There is a heavy emphasis on Federal law, and sentencing.