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Public Defender or Private Attorney—Who Should You Work With?

If you’ve landed in some legal trouble, the three main stakeholders are the judge, your attorney, and the bail bond agent. Each of them has an instrumental role to play in guaranteeing your bail and consequently, paving the way for a positive outcome.

When it comes to choosing the attorney, the two most common options are a public defender or a private attorney.

Let’s compare the two:

The job of a public defender

One of the biggest advantages of working with a public defender is that there’s no cost associated with hiring them. This is because they’re appointed by the court.

If the defendant can’t afford to hire a private lawyer, they can request that the court appoint one on their behalf.

Other than being inexpensive (or rather, free), public defenders are usually also experienced in a wide range of cases because they get to work on an assortment of criminal violations.

Since they’re frequently appointed by the court, they work with prosecutors on a routine basis and often have a cordial relationship with them. This helps them get through most plea agreements easily.

On the downside, since public defenders are government employees, they’re often underpaid and overworked. They have huge caseloads, since a huge number of defendants can’t pay the attorney fees.

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Other than that, they’re not paid as much as private attorneys. Coupled with the caseload, it’s sometimes likely that they won’t have time to prepare for every case.

Hiring a private attorney

The other option is to hire a private attorney and pay them on your own. This option is expensive, but has a couple of pros.

The biggest benefit is availability. Since you’re paying the attorney, they’ll be solely dedicated to your case and will, therefore, assist you in any way they can. Other than that, they’ll also discuss your case at length and come up with a plan that suits your requirements. They often have more empathy too.

Other than that, since private attorneys are comparatively well-paid, they’re also more resourceful. They might even have a team that will always be at your disposal. And with more resources come higher chances of a positive outcome.

A private attorney also works across a number of courtrooms based in different cities and countries. This means they usually have a solid network of people to reach out to. As a result, they’ll be able to reach out to witnesses, and even private laboratories and private investigators. This obviously allows for a stronger defense.

Now that you’ve chosen a reliable attorney, the next step is to seek help from a reliable bail bond agent. If you’re based in Indiana, there’s no better option than DeLaughter Bail Bonds.

Get in touch to avail our 24-hour bail bond services.

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