Experienced Military Lawyers
We say it a lot – experience matters. When your life is on the line, you want an experienced military lawyer fighting for you. But when you get a military defense attorney for free, you may wonder why you should pay for the services of an experienced defense counsel. Here’s why experience matters.
Always Prepared and Rarely Surprised
Any attorney can read a report of investigation, write a few cross-examinations, and prepare a closing argument. That’s Law School 101. But only an experienced defense counsel has the natural skills necessary to present your best case.
Criminal trials have a lot of moving parts — witnesses coming in and out, the judge ruling on issue after issue, members of the jury asking unexpected questions. But there are some things that are simple, almost second nature, for an experienced defense counsel. For instance, in the midst of all the chaos, an experienced defense counsel knows immediately when to object to something the prosecutor may have done. For an experienced defense counsel, objecting is almost like a sixth sense.
For you, that means you can be confident your experienced defense counsel is both protecting your rights by objecting and paying full attention to what is happening in the trial. An inexperienced military attorney may have difficulty doing both.
That’s why we say that an experienced defense counsel is always prepared. Experience means that your defense counsel has been through the repetitions of countless criminal trials and has the instincts and trial skills necessary to present your best case.
An experienced defense counsel is also rarely surprised. When you’ve tried more than a hundred cases, you’ve truly “seen it all.” An experienced defense counsel knows how to cross-examine a witness who has refused to be interviewed before trial. An experienced defense counsel knows how to handle a military investigator whose testimony suddenly contradicts their written report. And an experienced defense counsel knows how to respond to a prosecutor’s attempt to introduce an unexpected piece of evidence.
Battle Tested
Also, only an experienced defense counsel has been through the battles – with the scars to prove it!
At a time when military justice has become highly politicized, only an experienced defense counsel has the confidence to challenge the government at every step. You want a defense counsel that has cross-examined a four-star general so that you know that defense counsel is ready to cross-examine any witness testifying against you. You want a defense counsel that has taken the prosecution to task for lost or destroyed evidence so that you know that defense counsel is ready to challenge the prosecution’s evidence against you. You want a defense counsel that has seen countless cases just like yours so that you know that defense counsel can draw from his or her experience to achieve the best possible result for you.
Proven Time and Time Again
When all the witnesses have testified and all the evidence has been admitted, you want an experienced defense counsel that has stood in front of countless juries and argued for a “not guilty” verdict. In today’s military, very few military attorneys have more than twenty criminal trials. Even less have more than fifty. And you will be very hard pressed to find a single military defense attorney with the experience of more than 100 courts-martial.
For inexperienced military attorneys, standing in front of a jury and arguing your case is terrifying. For an experienced defense counsel, it is exhilarating. It is what an experienced defense counsel lives for. It is in our blood. You want an experienced defense counsel on your side when it comes time to argue your case.
Bottom line — in the military, you only get one shot. You get ONE trial. There are no “hung juries.” You get one chance to protect your future and secure your freedom. You want a defense counsel that has proven, time and time again, that they can deliver the best possible result.
