How Do You Represent Guilty People?

Happy Friday everybody. I’m James Whalen, the owner of the Whalen Law Office. I know you might be looking for Ryan, but he is taking a much needed vacation with his family, so I am subbing in and doing the Friday video.

The topic I chose to talk about is what is the number one question I get asked most often from people in the general public once I tell them I am a criminal defense lawyer. The number one question I get is how do you represent guilty people? My answer to that is it’s very easy to do so because one, not everybody that comes in this office who’s been accused of a crime are guilty. Not everybody that comes in here deserve to be charged with a crime. And even if they may have committed a crime or been accused of doing that, doesn’t mean that it’s something that should follow them for the rest of their lives.

And so when people ask me that question, one, I always get taken aback by it too, because it presumes and assumes that when they come into this office they did something wrong and that may not be the case. It may look that way, but maybe the law doesn’t say they did at the end of the day.

When people ask me that I always smile and say, it’s very easy helping good people who perhaps may have made a poor decision, walk them through that process. I think it’s an honor and a privilege that I get to work in a profession where I get to help people each and every day, get them through probably one of the most difficult times in their lives and give them the knowledge and the comfort and the guidance to get them through that, and hopefully get a result that it won’t follow them for the rest of their lives.

Also the other part of that is how do you represent people accused of crimes? It’s also very easy because we also feel that our role as a criminal defense lawyer is to keep law enforcement in check, the government in check, whether it’s the District Attorney’s Office or the US Attorney’s Office, from overreaching, overstepping, and if they violated the law by violating the constitution or doing something improperly, to point that out and gain an advantage for our clients.

At the end of the day, just because people may have been accused of a crime, it doesn’t mean they’re guilty, and it doesn’t mean that they should be saddled with that for the rest of their lives.

We’re happy to help anybody that may be accused of a crime here at Whalen Office. Obviously that’s what we do, but we do it with a lot of gratitude and passion because we know people’s lives are at stake and their futures are at stake, but also we’re a balance or a check against government overreach, and law enforcement overreach.

So if you have a question or anything about what it’s like to be a criminal defense lawyer, or the things that we deal with on a regular basis, feel free to reach out. Give us a call. We’ll be happy to help. We hope that you have a great weekend and stay safe and be well. Take care. Bye-bye.