The most successful military defense attorney is defined by a healthy combination of win record, willingness to defend the most difficult cases, ability to persuade within the rules of court, and mastery of the law. In a new series of blog posts, we will go over each of these factors to help you understand why we are the most successful military defense attorneys – hands-down.
Military Defense Attorney Win Record
What a military defense attorney’s win record is one of the first questions we are asked by clients trying to decide who to hire. Let me start with the disclaimer – every case is unique. That’s an important disclaimer because no matter how impressive a win record is, it can never be a statistical guarantee or indication of what the result will be in a future case. There are too many variables in each case to make an accurate statistical analysis.
We are exceptionally proud of our win record, but we’re hesitant to publish a percentage or rate of victory because it could imply to some an idea that we guarantee victory or success. There’s a reason we don’t make those types of guarantees. First, because it’s just plain unethical to allow a future client to believe they will win based on our past success. Second, it ignores the reason why we win. We win because of our unrelenting hard work, knowledge of the law, and commitment to our cases.
Throughout the history of the firm, we’ve tried hundreds of sexual assault cases, and have an acquittal rate over 95%. We have won cases with multiple alleged victims, confessions, even video evidence. Our losses stand as outliers in cases with typically overwhelming evidence, but even in those cases, we have been able to secure exceptional results in sentencing. Even in the few cases that were “lost” with the trial verdict, a significant portion of our cases were later overturned on appeal as a result of the manner in which we protected the record and set the client up for success at that later stage.
“We’ve Never Lost a Case”
Some unscrupulous attorneys will splash claims like this across their websites and advertisements. It is downright unethical to make claims like this, and when their state licensing agency gets involved, they will be disciplined. Do you really want an attorney that will be disbarred a week before your trial?
Here’s what that lawyer is really saying – “I have lost often, but I redefined what a ‘loss’ is to help my advertising.” We recently had a client that plead not-guilty to his involvement in a “To Catch A Predator”-type undercover investigation. The text messages clearly showed the client sent explicit messages to a person he thought was a child and he later showed up at a residence he thought this child was at with a condom and candy. We fought that case because the client wanted to. In the end he was convicted. The Government asked for 7 years of confinement, we asked for 6 months. The jury returned with a verdict of 8 months confinement! Now you tell me how an attorney should ethically categorize that case… is it a loss? According to the unethical attorney, it was a full victory. According to us, it was a loss but under the best circumstances possible.
The only reason an attorney says they “have never lost a case” is a combination of how they “redefine” victory and their failure to take difficult cases. It’s also often an indication that they work so infrequently they never have the opportunity to lose.
Keep this in mind: there are no published statistics to compare one attorney against another. One attorney may have had hundreds of cases over the better part of a decade, never walking away from a difficult case with unfavorable facts, and the other attorney a few dozen cases cherry-picked for certain victory. Don’t be fooled by the unethical attorney that will not only take you for a ride in the process of hiring, but given the character displayed in fooling you early on – will likely take you for a ride throughout the case.
If you have any questions about our firm’s history, take a look at our Facebook and our Avvo (Andrew Cherkasky’s Avvo | Katie Cherkasky’s Avvo) reviews. This is a small sampling of the great history our firm has. Most of our clients value privacy after their victories so they can get back to their regular lives without more attention, but these websites help give you an idea of our success with clients that actively decided to assist future clients in understanding what our firm is all about.
Why Success Rate is Important in Hiring an Attorney
The most important reason an attorney’s success rate is important is to help understand the attorney’s proven track record of hard work and dedicated representation in cases similar to yours. For example, it may be great that an attorney has a fantastic win rate, but if you have a sexual assault case with a coerced confession, you want to make sure that attorney has a track record with similar cases. We secured full acquittals in sexual assault cases with full confessions on a number of occasions. A lengthy conversation of how we did it and the factors at play in that case and how it compares to your case is the only effective way to use an attorney’s success rate to help evaluate why they would be good on your case.
Who is the Most Successful Military Attorney?
We are the most successful military attorneys. Why do we make that claim? Because our combination of outstanding success rate, willingness to tackle the most difficult cases, dedication to our clients, and mastery of the law is without competition in our opinion. There may be some old-timer-type lawyers that talk about their great cases from 25 years ago, or other attorneys that have a decent track record but are more obsessed with the business aspects of the law than the fight for clients. These lawyers may claim to be the most successful military attorneys, but that claim isn’t based on what you define as success. We are the most successful military attorneys because our number one goal is to fight for our clients and do everything we can to secure the result the client views as a “win” not what we redefine as a victory after the case is over.
Military Attorney Success Rate
In conclusion, it is critical to ask all of the questions on your mind during your process of selecting the best attorney for your case. One of those questions will obviously be the attorney’s prior success rate. Take it from us – a firm with an impeccable victory rate – make sure the attorney you hire takes the time to put their experience, and claims of success rates into credible and meaningful context before you give it any weight in your decision. Don’t forget about other important factors that will be discussed in future blog posts.
