Legal Center / Guide 01 — Lawyer up: now or later?
The decisions made before formal charges are filed can shape what happens next. Grace Casagrande explains why early legal guidance may matter—and what to consider while the process is still unfolding.
Counsel's Video Briefing
Short answer
If law enforcement has contacted you, you believe you may be under investigation, or an incident could lead to criminal charges, it may be wise to speak with a criminal defense attorney before waiting for a formal filing. Early involvement can provide time to preserve information, understand applicable deadlines, manage communications and begin evaluating what may happen next.
Waiting for formal charges before seeking legal guidance can allow important events to unfold without the benefit of a defense strategy. Depending on the circumstances, evidence may change, statements may be collected and procedural obligations may already be approaching.
Surveillance footage may be overwritten, physical evidence can change, digital information can be lost, witnesses may become more difficult to locate and memories can fade. Beginning early may provide more time to identify and preserve information that could later matter.
Speaking with law enforcement without first obtaining legal advice can provide investigators or the State with additional information. Even an informal conversation may later become part of an investigation or criminal case.
Legal and procedural deadlines may begin shortly after an incident, arrest, citation, notice or court filing. Waiting can make it harder to identify every obligation and prepare before an important date.
Navigating an investigation or criminal process alone can be confusing and emotionally draining. Uncertainty can also lead people to make rushed decisions or discuss their situation with people who cannot protect the conversation.
Before
Many people believe they should wait until formal charges appear before contacting a lawyer. However, the period before the State makes a filing decision may be significant.
Depending on the facts and the stage of the matter, counsel may be able to communicate with law enforcement or prosecutors, identify and preserve relevant information, explain the client’s position and present context before a charging decision is final.
No attorney can control a prosecutor’s filing decision or guarantee that charges will not be filed. The value of early representation depends on the circumstances of the individual matter.
After
Once a charging decision is made, the conversation changes.
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Early involvement can provide more time to understand the allegations, identify relevant information and begin developing a response based on the actual circumstances.
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Depending on the matter, counsel may be able to communicate with investigators or prosecutors before positions become fixed. Whether that is appropriate depends on the facts and procedural stage.
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Legal guidance can help replace unanswered “what if” questions with a clearer understanding of the process, possible next steps and the information an attorney may need.
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Write down relevant dates, times, locations, names and witnesses while the information is fresh. Preserve messages, photographs, documents and video that may relate to the situation. Do not alter, destroy or manufacture evidence.
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Do not post about the matter on social media. Remember that jail calls are generally recorded. Avoid discussing the allegations with people who cannot protect the conversation, and consider obtaining legal advice before providing a statement to law enforcement.
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If you are facing an investigation, possible charges or an upcoming court date, contact Casagrande Law to discuss your circumstances privately.
Read along
Hi, attorney Grace Casagrande here with Casagrande Law. I'm here to discuss the issue today of whether you should hire a lawyer early on in the case.
So let's say you have a potential investigation, or let's say you've been arrested but they haven't filed formal charges against you. People often ask if they need a lawyer at that point, or if they should just wait and see how things pan out.
Basically, I'm here today to tell you why that can be a really bad idea, and there's a lot of risks involved in waiting to hire a lawyer rather than being proactive and doing so early on.
So, some of the risks that are involved in not having a lawyer early on. Number one can be the loss of potential evidence.
So with a criminal case, there may be, let's say for example, video evidence or witnesses — things that can be lost if we wait.
For example, you may have a theft case that has surveillance, and let's say that surveillance video is really good for us and it shows that you did not commit the crime.
If that is a location that only holds that video surveillance for 30 days, and you hire a lawyer on day 32, we can run into some significant issues in being able to get that video, and could lose valuable evidence that would be beneficial to our defense.
So really important to get that early on and have your lawyer — we can send out a preservation of evidence letter, have that evidence preserved, to make sure that we have that once we get into the nitty-gritty later on in a criminal case.
Number two, what comes up a lot is contact with law enforcement. So generally, not a good idea to have contact with law enforcement without an attorney present.
So if we have a lawyer, we can advise you on that. We can advise you on not commenting on the case to law enforcement, to avoid those potential admissions being made, or any type of statement that could be made that could be used against you later in a criminal case.
If you're going at it alone, you may not know how to handle that type of situation.
Three, there's just general missed deadlines and court dates that can happen without a lawyer there.
We are there to help you every step of the way — to send you those court dates, those updates, make sure you know what is going on.
And generally, lastly, it just helps with your stress levels. This is a really hard, difficult area to be dealing in. The criminal legal system is not easy.
And having that support, having someone there for you who can tell you “I am here for you, I am fighting for you,” is so important in a criminal case.
People often ask, “I don't have formal charges yet.” So I've been arrested, but let's say the state attorney's office hasn't filed what's called a formal information, which can be required in certain cases for them to formally charge you with a crime.
And you say, “Hey, I'm just going to wait. I'm going to see how things go, how they pan out.” Bad idea.
What you can do with a lawyer: we can reach out to the state attorney's office. We can negotiate with them prior to the case even being filed on. And by negotiate, I mean we can advocate for charges to not be filed in the first place.
We can reach out and say, “Hey, the evidence isn't met in this case,” or send character letters and information to provide support for our position that they should not file formal charges.
And we can get ahead of the game way early and save ourselves all that time and stress by being proactive.
General benefits, like I've said, of having a lawyer early on is just your stress, mental health. We are there for you. We are going to handle your case. You know that someone has your back.
We can be strategic in our defense. We can get there early on. We can make sure your rights are protected. We can negotiate early on, before, let's say, the state's positions may have hardened on the case. So really being proactive is what's going to help you when you are facing criminal charges.
Some steps you could take today, or early on in a case, when you're saying, “I haven't been in this, this is new terrain for me — how do I handle this?”
Number one is to document everything. So if you have potential witnesses, make sure we have those names, any videos, photos, anything that could help us — make sure that all of that is preserved.
A timeline can be very beneficial to provide to your lawyer. So those types of things, doing early on, can really help your case.
Number two: do not discuss your case with anyone. Even your friends, your family, girlfriend, boyfriend, husband — do not discuss the nitty-gritty, the facts of the case, with those people.
Even though they may be people that you trust, those conversations are not confidential. They're not privileged, and they could be admissible in court. So do not talk about the facts of the case.
Importantly, and what many people don't realize, is when you are in the jail, all of those calls are recorded.
So if you are arrested, please make sure you are not communicating about your case with others, because that's going to be sent directly to the state attorney's office, and they are going to use that information potentially against you as evidence in your criminal case.
Lastly, contact a lawyer. Get in touch with someone that's going to fight for you. You can contact Casagrande Law today. We are here.
I am ready to help you on your criminal case, to provide that support and that advocacy that you need, so we can handle this case head on and early on in the criminal process.
You can contact Casagrande Law at 407-502-0607. Thank you.
The information provided in this video and guide is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Accessing this material does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and Casagrande Law. Every case is unique, and you should consult with a qualified attorney licensed in your jurisdiction regarding your specific legal situation.
The next decision
If you are facing an investigation, possible criminal charges or an upcoming court date, speak privately with Casagrande Law about the circumstances of your situation.
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