Thursday, 24 November 2016

Establishing Yourself As A New Jersey Criminal Defense Attorney

By Margaret Reynolds


There are very many career paths that you can follow, depending on where your interests lie. If you are constantly campaigning for a safe and just society, you might end up going to law school. Once you start practicing as a New Jersey criminal defense attorney, you need a lot more than your diploma to excel in this field.

Even if you require ambition to get ahead, do not let this ambition cloud your judgment. As a new graduate, it will be a lot better for you if you join a law firm a junior associate, where you can work for someone else for a while. This will allow you to learn the practical skills you need to practice law, and also how to run a business. It will also give you some financial stability, which will come in handy when you start your business.

You must learn how to be sociable. This does not mean making friends with everyone in the office, but you need to interact well with the superiors and even with those under you. This will allow you to build friendships for a lifetime, and also to identify people who can mentor you, and even those you can mentor in future.

You will find that most of the cases you will initially handle might be small, and may not bring in a lot of money. However, you should stay humble and persevere. The cases you work on, even if small, will give you necessary exposure, and will also prepare you for larger cases. At this point taking pro-bono work and going for seminars will also be easier due to the light case load.

Court cases can be an emotional roller-coaster, but you need to ensure that you do not get caught up in this. If you get distraught every time, there is new evidence or an unexpected turn of events, you will not be a productive attorney. You should also learn how to keep any opinions you have of your client to yourself, and avoid making judgments, as this will make you biased and unwelcoming to different views on the matter.

An attorney-client relationship is based on trust, and to win criminal cases you need to get your client to give you all the facts. Therefore, you have to present an honest and trustworthy front from the beginning. Backstabbing your client or withholding information is not only bad for business, but it can also lead to you facing charges.

In this branch of law, most cases will end up going to court. Therefore, you need to start working on your public speaking and outward appearance from an early stage. Appearing anxious and stammering may indicate you are not ready, which will be bad for you and the client. However, being too loud and aggressive will also give a bad image.

Representing people charged with crimes is not simple, and a personal evaluation is necessary to allow you to see how far you are willing to go to win a case. To succeed in this field, you shall be required to distinguish between lying and advocacy. Otherwise, you might also end up on the wrong side of the law.




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