How do I find a criminal defense attorney with knowledge of warrants?

We were informed that our son has several warrants out for his arrest. We were told that he has both misdemeanor and felony warrants stemming from traffic related tickets to failure to appear tickets to possession and trafficking of drugs. We've been in a constant battle with our son who is now 22. We have not had contact with him in over a week. We are extremely worried and want to do what's best for him.

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Answered By: Jacob P. Sartz IV., Attorney at Law

Your son should retain criminal defense lawyer or ask the court to appoint him a lawyer when he turns himself in. Criminal defense lawyers, generally, deal with warrants on a regular basis.

Answer Applies to: Michigan
Replied: 11/4/2011

Disclaimer: The response above does not form an attorney-client relationship. This answer may or may not apply to you and should not be relied upon as legal advice. LawQA does not make any representation as to the expertise or qualifications of this attorney. This attorney may or may not be admitted to state bar of your state.

Answered By: Reeves Law Firm, P.C.

Any attorney that practices criminal law (I mean really practices the area, not just advertises for the occasional case) will know about warrants. Bottom line, the traffic warrants are the least of your son's concerns. Drug Trafficking is serious business in Texas. If you want to help him, interview a lawyer or two, go to the local sheriff's website (you may want to check the next county as well) and find the warrants - what are the charge allegations and recommended bonds (some counties have set bond amounts). Decide if you can post bond or need to secure a bondsman. A bondsman will charge a percentage and a fee - for example, if the bond is $5000 expect to pay $500 + admin fees for a bondsman. This money is gone when you pay it, never to be seen again. If however, you can post a cash bond (the entire $5000) when your son appears in court and the case is over, you get the bond back, less a nominal fee charged by the county (usually $50). Once you have determined how much money will be needed to post bond, and what you are posting bond on (just the Misdemeanors and Felonies, don't fret the traffic tickets yet) you can decide whether or not you can post bond or hire a bondsman or if you son will need to sit for a while. He will likely need to sit for a while for the traffic tickets anyway - under the circumstances, sit those out. Why pay the city $350 for a traffic ticket, another $300 for failure to appear (and these bonds are cash only) when your son can sit them out at $100 per day which also accrues towards his time if convicted of any of the crimes. I for one would not want to spend a single night in jail, but if he is 22 and has this much problems, it may be the best thing - a wake up call if you will. Post bond or make bail only after the traffic tickets are done. Then get the best defense lawyer you can afford.

Answer Applies to: Texas
Replied: 10/28/2011

Disclaimer: The response above does not form an attorney-client relationship. This answer may or may not apply to you and should not be relied upon as legal advice. LawQA does not make any representation as to the expertise or qualifications of this attorney. This attorney may or may not be admitted to state bar of your state.

Answered By: Mark Thiessen, Attorney at Law

Contact a skilled trial attorney in your area for what type of cases he is looking at avvo.com is a good place to start. You can read all about each lawyer, including client reviews.

Answer Applies to: Texas
Replied: 10/26/2011

Disclaimer: The response above does not form an attorney-client relationship. This answer may or may not apply to you and should not be relied upon as legal advice. LawQA does not make any representation as to the expertise or qualifications of this attorney. This attorney may or may not be admitted to state bar of your state.