If you have never been in trouble before, there's a very good reason you don't know any criminal defense lawyers. Our clients hire us for the following reasons:
1) Recommendation by other lawyers
While it is always a privilege to be chosen as counsel, there is a special responsibility and honor when your peers ask you to represent them, their family members, and their children. Our Firm is frequently chosen to represent criminal defense lawyers, judge's clerks, law students, and civil attorneys who have been charged with a crime. We also think it speaks volumes as to the caliber and integrity of our practice when we are hired by prosecutors to represent their sons and daughters when they find themselves in trouble.
2) Education
In has become increasingly difficult to obtain admittance into the one of the top three law schools in the nation. It has also become increasingly expensive, which is why most lawyers who graduate from Harvard, Stanford, Yale, or NYU go into private practice for civil firms. We are proud by the Ivy League academic credentials of the lawyers who work at Sumpter & Gonzalez and believe that intellectual rigor and academic curiosity is essential to protecting your constitutional rights.
3) Collaboration
Most criminal defense lawyers are solo practitioners who share office space. We are a unified firm of seven lawyers dedicated to criminal defense. Using the case study model of business school and the clinical model of medical school, every case is defending from a cross-section of perspectives. Collaborative work is methodical, labor intensive, and oftentimes frustrating inefficient. When it comes to your defense, we think it's better to be thorough than expedient.
4) Bedside Manner
Most of our clients have never been in trouble before. We are comfortable explaining the court process fifteen times over until we know that our client absolutely understands what will happen at court. We know that you have questions, and we will never end a meeting until you feel comfortable with all the answers.
5) Expertise
In addition to our Board Certifications in Criminal Law, we dedicate a substantial amount of time responding to invitations from the legal community to participate in legal education. We have been invited to teach Continuing Legal Education classes to criminal defense lawyers, prosecutors, and judges. We have testified in the House and the Senate of the Texas Legislature on the application and constitutionality of proposed legislation. We continue to publish articles and participate in public hearings regarding the future of the criminal justice system. When the Texas Legislature reconvenes for the 2009 session, lawyers from Sumpter & Gonzalez will again represent the interests of all citizens on behalf of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association.
6) Resources
Our lawyers would drive much nicer cars if we took annual distributions instead of re-investing our earnings into the business. Instead, we believe that investing in professional staff who help us provide a better defense is consistent with our mission and vision of our practice. We are the first private law firm in the United States who has hired former probation officers and masters level social workers to assist in investigation and mitigation. As lawyers, we continue to learn from other disciplines and bring the cross-pollination of evidence-based practices to solve problems in client's cases.
7) Results
Whether our representation results in an innocent client's vindication or a culpable client's reduction of sentence, we measure our results both inside and outside the courtroom. Before becoming part of the Firm, our lawyers must meet proficiency requirements in oral advocacy, criminal appellate practice, negotiation and mediation, client counseling and problem-solving. As diplomats for our clients, we believe that when we develop a relationship with a client we are better equipped to defend them. We like our clients, we believe in our clients, and we trust juries to protect our clients when they see how invested we are in their defense. |
