 Many times I get this question. Do I still need a criminal defense lawyer if I plan on pleading guilty? If you've been arrested or you've been charged and you believe you are culpable that means you feel you're responsible and you just want to get it over with and plead guilty I want to caution you. Number one many times when a criminal defense lawyer can get involved in your case they can get the charge lowered. That means for example if you're charged with a grand theft which is a felony many times we can get involved and get it reduced to a misdemeanor offense which means a much lower sentence and it means you're not a convicted felon. Number two sometimes there are procedural things that law enforcement did not do correctly. I had a girl came to see me last week she thought she was going to plead guilty to her DOI charge she didn't realize there was a huge error law enforcement had made which will result in that case being dismissed. Had we not had that conversation she would have never known. Number three many times if you plan on pleading guilty you don't know the sentence. Many times we can deal with the prosecutor's office and the judge and lower the sentence so what you would have been facing will be diminished. So if you've been arrested or you know someone who's been arrested and they plan on pleading guilty I caution them. It's very important to meet with someone to consult with them and talk about their options because usually what you initially think is going to happen is much more diminished and lessened and the result is much much better than you expect.