CrimLaw

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How to start a criminal practice:

Someone once asked me how to start a criminal practice and make money. Here's my reply:

I've been trying to figure out a way to make good money doing criminal law myself. Some possible routes you might explore: (1) Go to a public defender's office. The pay is not great but you have the ability to get health coverage, vacations, eventually retirement benefits (if you stick around), and you have lawyers around you who have the experience to help you. (2) Get hired by one of the criminal law firms with the already excellent reputation (yes, I know that's easier said than done). This enables you to move straight to paying customers rather than court-appointed. (3) Go cheap. I started out by having two folding tables, an all in one fax-copier-answering machine-printer, an old computer (all you really need is e-mail, the ability to use VersusLaw, and wordprocessing-download abiword for free), one metal two-drawer filing cabinet, one phone line (the all-in -one could tell faxes from voice), a p.o. box (I don't let clients know my actual address), a cast-off, orange, 1970's era office chair, and a car. I changed my "living room" into an office and got on as many court-appointed lists as would accept me and fit into my schedule. At first you cannot be picky about this - the courts which no one wants to practice in are the ones which have the most availability (There is a certain court I practiced in for the first few years which I will not go back into unless someone pays me an awful lot of money). I met clients at the courthouses for interviews or did phone interviews. In the beginning there isn't a whole lot of money because judges give you the crummy misdemeanors like driving suspended or cross-warrant battery but as judges start to trust you they will give you more serious cases and your income will rise.

I suggest 1 or 2 because three, while satisfying if you scratch your way up, ain't much fun. In the beginning I actually had to work a job at Sears to help pay the bills.

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