Are Private Criminal Attorneys Better Than Public Defenders?

If you've ever been charged with a crime or had a loved one charged with a crime you usually learn two things pretty quickly. First, that being charged with a crime is a pretty serious deal. And second, that a criminal attorney is expensive (at least the one's you want to hire are). If your pocketbook is drained, you soon find out there is an alternative to a private criminal lawyer - the public defender. But rumors abound about how bad they are, and the public perception is that public defenders are typically criminal defense attorneys that weren't smart enough or good enough to find a job in private practice.

Today we're going to examine those beliefs to find out if they're true or not.

Let me tell you a little bit about myself first. I'm a Seattle criminal attorney, practicing a little over 5 years now. I own my own law firm and have never worked for a public defender's office, though I am on a list to have clients appointed to me that can't afford an attorney and can't use the public defender's office here in Seattle (conflicts sometimes arise that don't allow the public defenders to represent people). Most of my clients hire me privately.

Now, to get down to business. Let's talk about the second rumor first, that public defenders are just people that couldn't find a job anywhere else and had to settle for that office so they could eat. I'd say that that is partially true and partially untrue at the same time. For most people who want to be criminal defense lawyers, the public defenders office is the perfect place to start. You get a ton of experience, get to work with a ton of experienced attorneys, and get to get in the trenches and learn your craft. I'd say about 75% of the people fall into this category. The other 25% fall into the other category.

The thing is, though, just because you get a job as a private criminal attorney does not mean that that attorney wasn't scraping the bottom of their barrel. What I mean is, there are people in jobs because they couldn't qualify for other jobs all over the place, including private criminal lawyer firms. The important thing that you need to find out is if this person can give you the best representation possible.

And that's were we get to rumor number one, that public defenders suck. I'd say that is probably the least true statement that has ever been uttered. I know some public defenders, at least professionally, and I've seen a lot of them in action in court (we all have to show up for the same hearings). They are typically really good, understand the issues, and understand where they want to go with a case. 

But there is a problem with public defenders that puts them at a significant disadvantage to private criminal attorneys - case load. For me, I handle may 10-20 cases at a time. For the public defender, they may have 150 cases at at time. What that does is limit, physically, the work they can do on any one case. If they really work hard on one case, then it means another case is slipping by the wayside. This time crunch puts them at a disadvantage because there is no way they can prepare as thoroughly as we can.

In the end, I think it's safe to say that private criminal lawyers are not better than public defenders. But, I also think it's safe to say there are some advantages to being in private practice. Time is the biggest advantage of all.

If you are charged with a crime and can't afford a criminal attorney to help, you haven't automatically lost with a public defender. But think about what's at stake - jail time, a criminal record, the loss of reputation, fines, do you want to take a chance with your future because you couldn't come up with a couple thousand bucks? I don't know that I would.