How can the client find a good lawyer?

As a lawyer who has been practicing for 17 years, although I am far from battle-hardened, I have not represented thousands of criminal cases as advertised by some lawyers (I have done a simple statistics at leisure, and only 100 criminal cases have been defended since I practiced), but I still have some experience and some observation and understanding of the industry. These experiences and observations, as well as my personal views and opinions, I intend to sort out and summarize them slowly from now on and share them with my lawyers, the parties to criminal cases and their families. Nothing, just look at the officials and get what they want.

The first part, of course, starts from the source of the relationship between the client and the lawyer, and talks about how he (she) and his family can find the most suitable lawyer to help when a person has been brought into the criminal justice channel. This article is mainly for family members, and lawyers can skip it unless you are interested in telling the truth and smiling.

Personally, I think this article is also suitable for me. Because I am a wild crane in the clouds, I have no door or faction, I don't mix circles, and I have no personal grievances or interest disputes with anyone in the industry. I can talk about my opinions and suggestions with my family objectively and frankly, and I can also talk about things that other colleagues may not be convenient to talk about.

In order to be targeted, this article will be divided into different chapters.

Author: Lawyer Yan Xin/Director of Beijing Laishuo Law Firm.

First, a large number of cases, there is no valid argument, and it is the same to find someone to defend.

I think at least half of the criminal cases in China are clear or relatively clear. Although it seems that there are a lot of false and wrong cases on the Internet, we still have to admit that with the current level and ability of handling cases and basic professionalism of the Public Prosecution Law, for most conventional criminal cases, the case is simple and there is no factual dispute, they can still handle it well, and the probability of making incredible low-level mistakes is not high.

The level of rule of law in a country is not reflected in these conventional criminal cases, so don't be surprised that the injustice rate is not as high as you think. Any country needs to maintain basic social order, and the judicial system must maintain a certain degree of effective operation. For most cases, judges can handle them independently, without interference, and don't need to be too suspicious at first.

Therefore, when your family is arrested, the first thing to do is to understand the basic case to judge whether the case is like that in entity. If the family members don't know the basic case, they can entrust an interview lawyer to ask him first to determine what is actually going on. Just meet once or twice to understand the case, as long as the lawyer is serious and responsible, it won't cost much.

If the case is not controversial and there is no room for defense in essence, there is no need to spend a lot of money to find a lawyer. If the family is in financial difficulties, you can also hire a legal aid lawyer. At present, criminal defense is fully covered. Even if there are 10,000 shortcomings, there is at least one advantage for those uncontroversial cases, that is, the poorest people can also have lawyers. Yes, something is better than nothing.

If it is a case with undisputed facts and there is not much room for discussion on the application of the law, I think it is best to find a young lawyer who has not practiced locally for a long time to defend. The cost is not high, and the time and energy invested can be guaranteed. There is no need to find an experienced lawyer, because from the perspective of cost performance, the first offender is given a lighter punishment and he has always performed well. Anyone can say it. It's the same from anyone. Moreover, if you find a senior lawyer, young lawyers may actually handle the case in the end.

Second, looking for a lawyer is not looking for a relationship.

In a human society like China, many parties hope to influence the case through relationships. First of all, I made it clear that bribery is a crime and greeting others is a foul. I firmly oppose it. Secondly, in real life, we must admit that there are people who help with the case.

But there are several preconditions: if you play the emotional card, then, first, you have to be very close to the person you are looking for, such as close relatives, in-laws, friends or comrades-in-arms, and you have saved his life or helped him a lot when he was in trouble; Second, the person you entrust has direct power or direct influence on judicial personnel, such as the director, the president, the president, the person who directly handles the case or the person who is closely related to them. Only by meeting these two conditions can we have some help, and this kind of help will generally not exceed the scope of discretion. Put yourself in others' shoes. How much risk does it take to make an obviously guilty case innocent or obviously lower than the sentencing range? If it is not a lifelong friendship or the closest relationship, who will take the risk? Especially in the new period, the control of judicial personnel is increasingly strengthened, and the political and legal system is constantly being educated and rectified.

If there is no excellent interpersonal relationship, it is even more so if there is money. First, how do you judge whether your money has been sent to the person you want to buy, and how much? Second, whether the benefits of sending money will exceed the scope of discretion, and whether people will help you or not, in fact, you are not sure. Third, others have to take huge risks. How much do you think you will spend to match his huge risk? If you have no financial resources, wouldn't you rather not move that crooked mind?

Therefore, according to the above analysis, what I want to tell you is that in the real world, if you want to get a lighter sentence by spending money, regardless of the criminal risk of accepting bribes, 99.9% is a waste of money. If the broker is not the first of the two premises I mentioned, but an unreachable person, or even an "enthusiastic person" who takes the initiative to find you, it will be 100%.

Some people say that I spend money to find relationships, not for the sake of judicial care, but for the sake of judicial justice to hear my case. If you are such a person, I advise you not to spend this money. Because if there are interference factors in your family's case and you can't have a fair trial, it must have its particularity. Whether this particularity is due to the particularity of the case itself, or because someone manipulates the case for special purposes, or involves huge stakeholders, or even just because of personal grievances, different countermeasures need to be taken according to different reasons, but it is absolutely impossible to interfere by giving money and gifts.

Many parties who have nothing to do with themselves want to find a lawyer who has a relationship, so their first choice for finding a lawyer is not to look at professional ability, professionalism or professional ethics, but to see whether there are resources and relationships. Simply put, it is the first choice for blending lawyers. Some time ago, a lawyer bribed. A lawyer said in an interview that the purpose of bribery is also to achieve judicial justice, which caused public outcry for a while. To tell the truth, if a lawyer really risks sending money to the judge for the client's case, he still has a conscience in the blending lawyer. In most cases, many people claim to be related, just to attract cases. In addition to the lawyer's fee, they can also charge another activity fund. As for whether the money was given as a gift, or as the emotional cost of his own contact with the judicial personnel, or all of it was taken away by him, only God knows.

On this issue, I think there is no essential difference between blending lawyers and ordinary brokers. The only difference is that he is a lawyer, and it is relatively safer to collect money. In addition, I think my previous analysis of the effectiveness of finding a relationship or spending money on gifts is completely applicable. First of all, if this lawyer has no special relationship with judicial personnel, he is 100% lying to you; Secondly, even if there is a special relationship, it can only start within the scope of discretion, and you can't confirm it. Sure, what's the special relationship? You can't just listen to him, you must do your own research. Finally, even if he has a special relationship, if you and he are just an ordinary entrusted relationship, why should people spend his special relationship on you? What makes you believe that your case is not an ordinary case for him? At this time, I'm afraid you need to rely on two points: first, you have to pay enough money to make you stand out from so many parties and become a special case of his willingness to use relationships; Secondly, the lawyer you meet must be a person with a special conscience. He will feel guilty if he doesn't help you do your job well and charges you high lawyer fees. Unfortunately, I think this possibility is lower than the probability of winning the lottery.

Therefore, unless you are a person who doesn't care how much lawyer fees you say, for example, you are worth billions, your funds have not been frozen, and you are buying peace of mind, that is, you have exhausted all possible means as a family member, otherwise you really don't need to spend this money. Moreover, even if the cost is not a problem for you, you should still consider your professional skills, because a wrong lawyer cheated you and infringed on your family's chance to get a correct defense, which is more harmful than money. Therefore, even if you want to find a lawyer with real connections, you should still consider whether he has a good professional level. Some of my later analyses are still valid.

Sometimes, it is absolutely useless to find a relationship. Including:

1, political case. 10 years ago, I heard of a case in which a high-level so-called Buddhist teacher successfully saved people. The details are unknown. There is no trace of Kremlin research, but ectopic research is more mysterious and mysterious. I just listen. This isolated case has no sample meaning and cannot be imitated. The point is, times have changed, and new peaches have changed their old symbols. In the new era, political cases can never be solved by finding relationships, which is actually a secondary injury to the personality of detainees.

2. Stability case. Including cases of visiting people, cases of faith, cases of complaining, etc. You must know that you have become a local unstable factor and are still trying to find a relationship to solve the problem. Isn't it tiger skin?

3. Duty crime cases. If you can settle the case handled by the supervisory commission by looking for a relationship, what are the supervisory commissions afraid of in the Jianghu? Of course, this is not absolute. Since such cases are all related to some special power, there is a law that is applicable, and that is, the most effective means to suppress power is to seek the support of higher power. The problem is, you have to weigh whether you have that ability or not, and whether the relationship you are looking for is reliable or not. Look at the specific analysis, the same is true.

I think it is necessary to distinguish the cases handled by JISC. There's something really wrong. Since you are a member of the organization, you should have a correct attitude in front of the organization, cry bitterly, plead guilty and not appeal. Perhaps, instead, you may be resigned and take less money, which will not only reduce your sentence, but also help you to have money to support the elderly after you get out of prison. Anyway, greed is greed, and the money has been collected. The organization is merciful to you and lenient. What are you dissatisfied with?

In another case, it's really nothing, or a small matter has expanded to a great extent. Then do a strong psychological construction, and rely on the strong will of party member cadres to survive the long and painful detention period. If you really can bear it and don't make a guilty confession against you, then, when this case is moved to the procuratorate and sent to the detention center, you may find a better lawyer to have a good debate, and maybe there will be a little chance. Of course, there were not many contemporary Liu Hulan. I can only say a little about the current judicial situation, so that you can have some psychological hints to support it, and see if you can rely on this psychological hint to resist all kinds of powerful offensives of the Supervisory Committee. That is, you should remember that if you really didn't embezzle or take so much money at all, but you admit it yourself, you will face such consequences. Not only will you go to jail for it, but your family will also borrow money everywhere to return the stolen goods and pay a fine for the amount you made up. Because according to the new regulations, if you don't take the initiative to return the stolen money, there is basically no chance of commutation and parole. Think about it, isn't this a double injustice? If it's okay, you won't recognize it even if you are killed (besides, the supervisory Committee is very civilized in handling cases and won't hit you).

4. Special action cases. For example, from 20 18, last year, a special campaign to eliminate evils and the education and rectification of the national political and legal system were piloted. You know, in China, judicial work is first and foremost political work. Since it is a political task, there are assessment indicators to talk about political achievements, and the sword of Damocles is political correctness. Therefore, in such cases, more political and legal cadres are overweight and eager for quick success, and dare to intervene in the case because of human feelings or money. What's more, even if I take your money, I have to be more aggressive in order to perform well in the team. If you want to escape from this kind of case, I'm afraid you can only find a lawyer to let go of your hands and feet and really argue like this, so that you can find a little hope in the cracks. (Text: Lawyer Yan Xin/Director of Beijing Laishuo Law Firm)

One of Yan's ramblings on criminal defense: How do the parties and their families find the most suitable lawyer?