Trouble in life does not come with a warning, it just barges in and disrupts the way you are conducting your life. In most cases, no matter how prepared you are for the legal trouble, when you are taken in the interrogation room, you just think about one thing: I wish I had a lawyer with me right now.
A lot of people don’t even demand a lawyer at that point, because they think that hiring an attorney would make them look guilty, because why would you need a lawyer if you have nothing to hide?
Well, trusting the expert opinion, not having a lawyer at the right time can be the stupidest mistake you can make – because then you are putting your whole career and life in jeopardy because of a myth that a lawyer would make you look suspicious.
A professional attorney in whatever case you have does only one thing: represent your case in the best way possible. You, yourself, cannot do that. No matter how much knowledge you have about your case, it cannot be more than that of a professional attorney.
You don’t have the required legal experience, you are not trained to speak in the interrogation room and court, and you are not aware of the strategies to convince the judge and jury to take your side. And since there’s so much more that you don’t have to represent yourself, trusting an experienced attorney is the best option you have.
What Is a White Collar Crime Attorney?
“White-collar crime” is a name given to nonviolent criminal acts motivated by money. These crimes can either be committed by individuals, groups, companies or even government workers. A white-collar crime occurs when one party scams or frauds another party in order to get a significant financial benefit.
In such a crime, two parties can be two business corporations, a business and a client, or a corporation or government and public. Typically, white-collar crimes include fraudulent and Ponzi schemes, telemarketing scams, insider trading, money laundering, money racketeering and embezzlement, labor racketeering, wage theft, forgery, cybercrimes, non-violent insurance frauds, identity theft, and more. A white-collar crime may or not be a corporate crime.
The job of a white collar crime attorney is to defend you against any of the aforementioned crimes (or any other white-collar crime) and clear your name and reputation. Once you inform your attorney about the charges or investigation you are facing, it becomes their job to discover and reveal the facts about the case and perform their investigation to know more about the prosecuting party.
You can expect your attorney to approach your case as a priority and defend your name in pre-trial meetings or in a trial if matters extend to it.
That being said, a sensible decision is to not expect too much, like being 100% sure that you will walk out of the case unharmed because your attorney is very reputable and experienced.
Always remember: your attorney can be the best in the state, but a judge can still make a decision that goes against your ideal wishes. Nevertheless, having an attorney is a far more wise option than to not have one.
What Is the Right Time to Hire an Attorney?
Even if you are convinced about hiring an attorney, it is possible that you don’t know when.
Is it too late to ask for an attorney that you are in the investigation room? Is it too early to get an attorney when you don’t even know if they are coming after you? Would I look suspicious if I hire an attorney that early?
These and more questions might be keeping you on the fence about your decision to hire an attorney. You might think it’s the right time to hire an attorney for yourself when your associates are being investigated and can leak your information, or you might believe that you don’t need to hire an attorney until you are charged with crimes.
The truth is: It’s never early to hire an attorney. When you are involved in a business that is likely to attract investigations for white collar crimes, it is best to have an attorney on retainer.
That way, a legal consultant will counsel you about the right way to conduct business without attracting investigations, and even if a problem does occur, an attorney would already know too much about your business, so it will be easier for them to represent you.
In other words, you don’t need to wait for a problem to hire an attorney. When your occupation is prone to investigations, even when nothing illegal is taking place, it’s wise to have an attorney by your side every step of the day. A good white collar crime attorney can make a problem go away before it becomes a problem.
Reasons to Hire a White Collar Crime Attorney
There are a lot of reasons to hire a white collar crime attorney at the earliest, the first one being the fact that a white-collar crime attorney knows more about white-collar crimes than you, even though are directly linked to the business and the attorney is an outsider.
Moreover, if you want to avoid conviction, you got to have a lawyer with you on every step. You cannot do it alone unless you have a law degree with a major in criminal defense.
Apart from such obvious ones, there are other crucial reasons why a professionally experienced attorney can help you every step of the way.
1. They will provide you consultation
When you are being investigated for white-collar crimes, it is possible that you don’t know what steps to take, what to believe, how to behave during interrogations, who to share things with, who is to trust, and whatnot.
One of the first services that an attorney will provide you with would be consultation. After reviewing your case completely and going through all the relevant information, the attorney will explain everything in easy terms, so you have a clear idea about exactly is the problem you are facing.
After that, they will tell you about what is there for you to do, and what will be the best process; is it good for you to settle or should you take this to trial and more problems like that.
2. They will train you to speak / speak on your behalf
Possibly the primary advantage of having a lawyer is that you will know what to speak and what questions are not to be answered; your attorney will tell you all that.
If it’s your first time being investigated for a white collar crime, you don’t want to be in there alone, because a rapid-fire of complicated questions will make you blurt out things that you don’t want to say. And even if it’s not your first time, you still don’t have experience enough to talk back to investigators without giving anything away.
Therefore, it is necessary to have an attorney when you are about to speak, whether in the interrogation room, settlement meetings, or in court. An attorney will let you know what exactly you need to speak, and when an unpredictable situation arises, your white collar crime lawyer will take over the situation and speak on your behalf.
3. They have experience in white-collar crime
As we have established above, an attorney has much more experience in white-collar crimes than you. Whatever crimes you are charged with (or about to be investigated for), if you have an experienced lawyer at your side, they will prepare a strategy to fight those charges before the prosecutors even come at you with a list.
Moreover, you don’t know what will be investigated for or charged with. White collar crimes can be anything from money laundering and financial embezzlement to insurance fraud and forgery. And there are a lot of steps before the matter is settled, like charges, potential charges, settlements, pre-trial meetings, and more.
Things can get very technical, and there is no way you can handle all that without a lawyer. On the other hand, an experienced attorney can take care of all that professionally and negotiate the best outcome for you.
4. Attorney-client privilege
When you hire an attorney, even if it’s just one appointment, your attorney is bound by the attorney-client privilege, which states that everything you tell your attorney will stay between you and your attorney. And if your attorney breaks the privilege, they are committing a legal offense.
This contract works very favorably for you. You can share anything you want with your attorney, including things that you cannot tell anyone without causing trouble.
Your attorney will not judge you because they are used to hearing things from their clients, which is good for your mental and emotional stability. Moreover, your attorney is not allowed to discuss whatever you say to him with anyone, so you shouldn’t be worried about anything being leaked out to the public.
