When Your Freedom Is On The Line You Need a Certified Legal Specialist
Imagine being married and the father of two wonderful children. You own a beautiful home in a desirable neighborhood. Your kids are prospering, especially since you’ve achieved a wonderful work-life harmony. All is going well… until you receive your yearly physical.
“Bad news,” your doctor tells you with a concerned face. “You have a serious disease. If left untreated, you will surely pass away soon.”
Thankfully, your financial wherewithal allows you to choose one of the leading physicians. This medical expert can help cure what is ailing you. If you make the right moves in a timely fashion, you will not succumb to your malady. In fact, you can expect to go on to enjoy a long life.
There’s an important analogy here to the legal field, especially when facing criminal charges. Much like a bad medical diagnosis, a criminal charge can threaten all that you have worked so hard to obtain. It can sideline an orderly, structured life full of opportunity, significantly narrowing your prospects. Personally, friends may not want to associate with you. Professionally, former business associates may decide not to do business with you because you were convicted of a crime.
Importantly, just as a doctor needs the right tools to treat an illness, you need a lawyer with the right skills and approach. The ideal attorney will guide you through one of the most challenging times of your life with expertise and empathy. They will also stay in constant communication, answer your questions, and protect your professional license. And they will work to keep you out of jail and connect you with resources to remediate what might have contributed to bad behavior.
Empathy is one such tool, and it’s central to all I do as an attorney. The need to understand my clients is necessary to advocate for them. Communicating effectively and working with—rather than against—the judge and prosecutor is often a prerequisite for successful cases.
Similar to the best physician who conveys empathy and expert medical advice to their patients, an attorney who possesses empathy and expert legal advice—like the Hartmann Law Firm—can help restore your life to normal. With this in mind, let’s explore key tools our firm uses to achieve successful legal resolutions.
Empathy with clients and those in the legal system produces a foundation of trust. We use empathy as the centerpiece of mitigation packets which humanize our clients to the court and prosecutor, especially as it explains their background, the “why” of their current legal dilemma, and proactive efforts they are taking towards rehabilitation.
Over the years, this comprehensive legal strategy has fostered empathy in court, helping prosecutors and judges see our clients as real people, not just case numbers on a crowded docket. Another tool in our arsenal is a wealth of experience. In my nearly 40 years of practicing law in California, I’ve seen a lot. The experience and relationships I’ve built over this time are invaluable, particularly when negotiating the resolution of criminal cases and representing clients at trial.
As important as empathy and experience are, there is yet another crucial tool in the Hartmann Law Firm’s toolbox: deep expertise in the law. After all, legal know-how in criminal court proceedings is as critical as a doctor knowing the correct medical procedure to make you better.
Early in my career I was startled by the wide spectrum of legal knowledge represented in the legal field. I quickly realized constantly devoting myself to staying on top of the law, and the rapid changes in it, would pay off, helping my clients reach optimum resolutions. On the other hand, I’ve seen the opposite—new clients calling to say their lawyers made mistakes, never returned their calls, didn’t seem to care, took the money and did nothing—some so serious an appeal could be based on ineffective assistance of counsel.
When it comes to my own commitment to clients, you don’t have to take my word for it—my legal expertise is backed by certification. I’m proud to be a Certified Legal Specialist in Criminal Law with the State Bar of California. Fewer than 400 of California’s more than 160,000 attorneys have earned this designation. Why so few? Simple. It isn’t an easy certification to achieve—or maintain.
Becoming a Certified Legal Specialist involves not only a written examination but also requires favorable evaluations from judges and other lawyers specializing in your chosen field of law. And it doesn’t end there—maintaining certification demands ongoing education and compliance with strict professional standards, including an entire set of rules.
Sometimes I’m asked by peers why maintaining a Certified Legal Specialist status matters so much to me. The answer is it provides clients with the best defense, and strong assurance they will be well cared for. The extra work required to be a Certified Legal Specialist also ensures I stay at the cutting edge of the law.
Whether it’s navigating the complexities of the federal sentencing guidelines and their impact on a father of four, advising a licensed real estate agent involved in a domestic violence case, or keeping a client out of jail in a multi-offense-DUI case where custody would otherwise be mandatory, legal expertise is essential, and just as crucial as empathy and experience. Legal expertise empowers my clients to stay in control of their cases and follow the necessary steps to achieve the best possible outcome.
Empathy, experience and expertise all together are necessary for a client to get not only the best possible result, but also to get through the stress and anxiety of being accused of a crime. If you or a loved one are facing criminal charges and desire the best defense possible, please contact me. Together, much like a personalized medical treatment plan, we will build a legal strategy to get your life back on track.