Brian Tannebaum said on March 18, 2010  

Ken, I don't know if you ran out of space, or time, but you clearly left off "What's the Plea Offer?" I trust you can fill in the rest under that title

 Ken Lammers said on March 18, 2010  

Sure there are bad Plea Offer attorneys, but I'm not sure they are well thought of by their clients and this post is about incompetent lawyers whose clients think they are great.

 Ken said on March 19, 2010  

I'd add:

THE OUT-OF-TOWNER

The Out-Of-Towner is quite competent at defending people in his chosen venue -- state court, federal court, the courts of a particular county, etc, whichever. However, the Out-Of-Towner is under the impression that all courts should work exactly like the courts in his home turf. The Out-Of-Towner likes going to other courts; the pay's good. But the Out-Of-Towner becomes agitated and dismayed when clerks, judges, and prosecutors do not do things exactly the way he is used to his home court. The Out-Of-Towner refuses to learn the federal sentencing guidelines before visiting federal court, where he will walk in the well, talk from a seated position, and address the court as "judge." Or the Out-Of-Towner will visit state court and demand multi-page written plea agreements and scrupulous adherence to noticed motion schedules.

 Anonymous said on March 22, 2010  

This shows the ignorance of most defendants. Then there is the hot shot with a mega law firm who, as you described, leaves everything to the lower echelons and on the day of trial is ill-prepared. When he loses royally, he excuses himself with the comment to anyone who talks to him that his client was guilty.

Even when the client really was not guilty.

That is what happened to the defendants in the Kelco trial in federal court in Kentucky. They were prosecuted for violating a law that did not exist but their counsel never raised this issue.

 Bill Poser said on March 28, 2010  

How about "The Relative", the cousin or family friend who makes a nice income doing conveyances or wills and therefore must be a good lawyer. Of course, he's never been in criminal court.