From the Initial Phone Call to the Closing Letter: the Practical Knowledge Needed to Handle a NY Criminal Defense Case

This course is for the new graduate or the attorney who has practiced another type of law her or his whole career. You want to start practicing criminal law, and while there is a lot of information out there, there aren't many books that teach you what to do when you get a 2:00 AM phone call that someone has been arrested and needs your help. 

What to you do when you get that phone call? Do you call central booking? Do you call the precinct? Wait, you don’t know where your client is, how do you find that out? And wait a second, is he your client? Are you making all these phone calls before you get retained? 

This lecture seeks to answer many of these questions, and is designed to give newly admitted attorneys and those attorneys interested in practicing criminal law an overview of the fundamental knowledge needed to be a criminal defense attorney. 

Attorney Scott Limmer discusses the initial phone call, the initial client meeting, arraignment, plea negotiations and sentencing. He also discusses the defense attorney’s role in all of these parts of a criminal defense case and how to most advantageously represent your client. Additionally, he discusses how you can best communicate with clients, prosecutors, judges and court staff. 

Learning Objectives:

I.     How to arraign a client

II.    How to negotiate with the prosecutor to get your client a favorable disposition 

III.   How to be persuasive at sentencing

This course originally appeared as a part of our December 2015 Bridge the Gap Event.