Set up a preliminary meeting with a respected criminal attorney to help you find the best criminal defense attorney to suit your needs. Treat this as a business consultation and act appropriately. At this meeting, the criminal attorney will want to know everything possible about your background, in order to clearly understand your situation. Be honest with your answers and don't try to hide anything - this criminal attorney is not there to pass judgment on you, but they do need the truth. Don't try to hide any details out of embarrassment - in order to serve your properly, your criminal attorney has to be able to trust you and believe in you, so honesty is absolutely necessary. Some people try and hide certain things about their case to keep the cost down, but now most criminal attorneys have very specific language in their retainer agreements that limit representation to just what is disclosed.

Prepare a list of questions to take with you to your first meeting (See our 10 questions page). Ask your criminal attorney how many similar cases they have. Listen the their opinion of your case. Keep in mind until they have discovery, their opinion is only based on what you tell them. What problems might they see in your case and do they have a plan to handle these problems? Many criminal attorneys don't handle all of their criminal cases personally - find out if this particular criminal attorney will be representing you at all times or if they plan to use the help of other criminal attorneys in the firm. If another criminal attorney will be working on your case, make sure you meet with them too.

When you meet with the criminal attorney, bring along any documents about your case that you might have, such as court documents outlining your criminal charges, the date of your next court appearance, your bail papers and a copy of the police report, if you have one. The more prepared you are, the easier it will be for the criminal attorney to help you.

You may also conduct the meeting over the phone or with a staff member of the firm. This is very common. The same principles apply. Many criminal attorneys and criminal law firms are willing to consult over the phone to save your time and energy.

Depending on how well prepared you are, the criminal attorney might be able to immediately give you some advice on how to proceed. This is particularly important when time is of the essence. If the attorney has officially agreed to take on your criminal case, you should be told outright what the fees will be for their service. You might be given a retainer agreement to sign, but make sure it is clearly explained before proceeding.