Why Choose an Experienced Civilian Defense Attorney

Should You Use the Appointed Military Defense Counsel?

When you have been charged with an offense and are facing the possibility of a Court-Martial, Enlisted Administrative Separation Board or Officer Show Cause Board of Inquiry, you are given the right to secure legal representation by a civilian attorney to advocate on your behalf and to defend against the allegations against you. Many service members in your situation choose to rely on the appointed military defense counsel, but this may not be in your best interest.

Often, this choice is made because the appointed attorney is free; the U.S. government will provide you with a military attorney at no cost to you. The military attorney is certainly “qualified” – being a law school graduate and having been admitted in a state to practice law after passing the bar exam. How much experience the military attorney has varies from attorney to attorney. You may be assigned a military defense counsel who has, at the most, several years of trial experience. In the same respect, you could be the first client for a brand new military defense counsel – that is NOT a good situation. When it comes to effectively litigating a court-martial or separation board, experience does matter. Securing the representation of our firm brings to your defense the wealth of experience developed in hundreds upon hundreds of Court-Martials, Enlisted Administrative Separation Boards and Officer Show Cause Boards of Inquiry, as well as countless trials in the civilian court system. Crucially important in securing the best outcome in your case, is retaining a civilian attorney who is backed by a support team of highly experienced military law paralegals.

In today’s environment, we are seeing numerous former military JAG’s who are operating their practice out of their home, or a “virtual office” which they share with numerous other attorneys. Not only are they effectively operating a law practice without a real office, they frequently do so without the assistance of an experienced military law paralegal. Like we frequently hear the phrase “NCO’s are the backbone of the Army” - in the same respect the paralegals are the backbone of the lawyer. Two of our law firm’s paralegals retired from the military and have worked for us for 17 and 16 years respectively. Our senior military paralegal was assigned as the Command Master Chief (E-9) for the Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps before retiring and starting working with our firm.

Exercise Your Right and Choose Your Own Lawyer Wisely

You need to be assured the lawyer who is representing you:

• Has SIGNIFICANT EXPERIENCE defending service members in fully contested court-martials
• Is going to give you an HONEST ASSESSMENT of your situation, and not just tell you what you want or your family hope to hear Will give your case the TIME and ATTENTION it deserves
• Will FULLY INVESTIGATE the facts and background of your case, and your accuser
• Has “BITE BEHIND THE BARK” – in other words has the experience and ability to raise an issue or take a stand in the trial of your case, and DRIVE IT HOME until firmly rooted in the minds of your jury
• Will LISTEN to what is on your mind – your attorney has to be willing to answer your questions
• Is not going to do things on your case the easy or fast way, but will instead DO THINGS THE RIGHT way
• Has a STRONG PARALEGAL SUPPORT STAFF
• Has COMPASSION for what you and your family are going through
• Has exceptional CROSS-EXAMINATION SKILLS. Many trials are won or lost based the cross-examination skills of the defense counsel
• Is able to ANTICIPATE the government counsel’s tactical approach
• Will develop an EFFECTIVE STRATEGY for cut off the government counsel’s tactical approach and develop sound TACTICAL STRATEGIES in defending you
• Will do everything in his power to WIN your case or secure the BEST POSSIBLE OUTCOME

Speak with our Military Criminal Defense Lawyer

Regardless of what adverse military action you are facing, we are ready to fight for you.

Contact our office now for a confidential case evaluation to discuss the situation and to learn more about how we can help!