The Importance of Communication in the Criminal Attorney"s Attorney/Client Relationship
Every attorney has an ethical duty to communicate with his or her clients in the manner proscribed by the ethical guidelines.
The guiding rule is Rule 1.
4 of the Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct.
This rule provides that a lawyer must promptly inform the client of any decision or circumstance with respect to which the client's informed consent is required by these Rules; reasonably consult with the client about the means by which the client's objectives are to be accomplished; keep the client reasonably informed about the status of the matter; promptly comply with reasonable requests for information; and explain a matter to the extent reasonably necessary to permit the client to make informed decisions regarding the representation.
However, that rule proscribes what is essentially only the minimum level of service to be provided.
Perhaps in some areas of the law that minimum level is sufficient.
In criminal defense something more is required.
A criminal attorney represents individuals whose future is at stake - incarceration may be a concern, loss of future employment, stigmatization, inability to obtain housing, loss of otherwise essential privileges like the right to vote and even the right to bear arms.
Because of these issues, a criminal attorney's client typically is under a great deal of stress.
The criminal attorney must find a way to assist the defendant in making the best decisions in spite of this understandable stress.
You cannot effectively represent a defendant without first hearing "his side of the story".
You will need to know everything that happened from his perspective before reading the police reports, and once you have read the reports or "discovery" you will need to re-evaluate that discovery with your client through the lens of his account of events.
A criminal attorney must make sure his client understands all of the good and bad facts, and the realities of the prosecutor proving his or her case at trial; without that information, he cannot make an intelligent and informed decision as to whether to enter a guilty plea or to take his case to a trial.
Defendants are often frustrated with their attorneys because the good facts and the bad facts have not been adequately explained to them.
Not having this information laid out, they may feel pressured by their attorney to accept a guilty plea; the plea may be the best decision, but the defendant needs to understand why.
The goal is the ensure that regardless of what choice your client ultimately makes, that he feels satisfied with that choice being the best possible one he could have made under the circumstances (which may not have themselves been ideal).
Ultimately, it is the criminal lawyer's decision to determine and implement strategy, but the client's decision to make the big decisions like whether to plead guilty or take it to trial.
The guiding rule is Rule 1.
4 of the Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct.
This rule provides that a lawyer must promptly inform the client of any decision or circumstance with respect to which the client's informed consent is required by these Rules; reasonably consult with the client about the means by which the client's objectives are to be accomplished; keep the client reasonably informed about the status of the matter; promptly comply with reasonable requests for information; and explain a matter to the extent reasonably necessary to permit the client to make informed decisions regarding the representation.
However, that rule proscribes what is essentially only the minimum level of service to be provided.
Perhaps in some areas of the law that minimum level is sufficient.
In criminal defense something more is required.
A criminal attorney represents individuals whose future is at stake - incarceration may be a concern, loss of future employment, stigmatization, inability to obtain housing, loss of otherwise essential privileges like the right to vote and even the right to bear arms.
Because of these issues, a criminal attorney's client typically is under a great deal of stress.
The criminal attorney must find a way to assist the defendant in making the best decisions in spite of this understandable stress.
You cannot effectively represent a defendant without first hearing "his side of the story".
You will need to know everything that happened from his perspective before reading the police reports, and once you have read the reports or "discovery" you will need to re-evaluate that discovery with your client through the lens of his account of events.
A criminal attorney must make sure his client understands all of the good and bad facts, and the realities of the prosecutor proving his or her case at trial; without that information, he cannot make an intelligent and informed decision as to whether to enter a guilty plea or to take his case to a trial.
Defendants are often frustrated with their attorneys because the good facts and the bad facts have not been adequately explained to them.
Not having this information laid out, they may feel pressured by their attorney to accept a guilty plea; the plea may be the best decision, but the defendant needs to understand why.
The goal is the ensure that regardless of what choice your client ultimately makes, that he feels satisfied with that choice being the best possible one he could have made under the circumstances (which may not have themselves been ideal).
Ultimately, it is the criminal lawyer's decision to determine and implement strategy, but the client's decision to make the big decisions like whether to plead guilty or take it to trial.