When to Retain an Attorney

Before deciding whether to retain the services of an attorney for parole representation, you should have an understanding on the nature of your case and know what you can reasonably expect to have done on your behalf.

Parole cases which are up for review generally fall within three categories:
1) those which are "automatic winners"; and
2)   those which are “automatic set-off”; and
3)   those cases which fall in between – neither automatic winners nor losers  

There are many cases which fall into the first category.  When the facts regarding an individual’s past and information about his current offense are examined, many cases are very likely to be “winners”.  As no one I know has a crystal ball, you cannot be sure if you are going to be so lucky.  If, after a thorough discussion of the facts of your case results from a face to face discussion with an attorney well experience in parole matters, it is determined that your case is likely to fall within this category, you should be advised of such and make the informed decision if you want to proceed any further and have an attorney submit beneficial and mitigating circumstances.

If, after considering and discussing prior criminal history, institutional problems, lack of time served, or egregious facts surrounding the current offense, the prospects for parole seem to appear so slight, the case might be recognized as a likely set-off.   No one wants to believe that their case falls within this category, but after an evaluation of the individual situation the prospects are not good and there are no mitigating facts to overcome that assessment, you should be advised of this by an experienced parole attorney and be given the informed opportunity to proceed no further until more flat time credits are earned and the case has a greater opportunity to receive favorable consideration.

This must be tempered with the knowledge that certain cases now call for a set-off up to 5 years.  These  HB917 cases make it very difficult to walk away from a case and do absolutely nothing and might be a time in which you decide to file a parole packet on your own.  (Please see the discussion in this website under, “Do it yourself”.)  I say this because there is not any attorney who had been practicing for a number of years who has not taken a case with a very difficult set of facts and surprised himself by winning it.