Reply #83: This! This! This! Ignore most of the others.

[TexasObserver]

OMG, reading this thread makes me understand why so many citizens get in so much trouble over small criminal cases. They listen to people who don't know what they're talking about!

I DON'T handle criminal cases. I refer all criminal matters to a criminal attorney, because even though I'm a lawyer with decades of court experience, I'm not a criminal defense attorney. There's a reason even lawyers get criminal defense lawyers for their family members, their friends and their clients. It's because criminal defense lawyers know how to best navigate those dangerous waters.

I know more than I want to know about such courts, because even when one doesn't do criminal work, there's an endless stream of relatives, friends, acquaintences, business associates, neighbors, and so on who need to know what to do about their kid who got popped for some minor crime. Invariably, the defendant messes things up before getting a lawyer involved.