Once a year, the judges and prosecutors have a conference that pulls them out of the courtroom for a few days. When this happens, there are no court appearances for criminal cases. We thought we would take the opportunity to discuss a couple of other areas of practice. Aside from criminal defense work, we also handle civil cases, including family law and personal injury matters.
Like criminal defense cases, family law and personal injury cases can result in trial. Family law matters include issues such as divorce, legal separation, child custody, child support and maintenance or alimony. Personal injury cases include car accidents, dog bites and slip and fall incidents. These civil cases are unlike criminal cases in that they generally do not require as many court appearances leading up to trial. Family law trials are trials to the judge, not a jury, and are called permanent order hearings. Other civil trials, in which monetary damages are at issue, may be tried to a jury or a judge.
Each of our lawyers is a trial lawyer. The best trial attorneys are capable of trying all types of trials, regardless of the issue. Trial attorneys advocate for their client to get a favorable ruling or verdict from the decision-maker, whether that decision-maker is a judge or a jury. This is true whether we are asking a jury to find a client not guilty in a criminal trial, asking a judge to give our client parenting time with his or her children, or asking a judge or jury to award our client money as compensation in a personal injury case.
While we are trial attorneys, our goal is always to represent the best interests of our clients. Sometimes this means going to trial. Other times this means reaching an agreement short of going to trial. The best lawyers are those who are looking out for their clients’ best interests and not simply pressing an issue to make more money. Our attorneys take pride in the fact that we do not force things to trial unneccesarily, but also in the fact that we do not hesitate to go to trial when it is in our clients’ best interests.