Ethics Forum: Questions and Answers on Professional Responsibility

Spend less time with a client and more time getting better trial skills.

How many times should I visit or speak with a criminal defendant before trial or a plea?

In days of old, one met with a client one, two, or three times and normally tried the case. Nowadays, particularly with the extreme growth of the public defender offices that have taken over in many counties—60%-80% of the criminal cases—a trend has started. Defenders have the time and resources to go into the prisons regularly. They are not burdened with overhead and the need to get revenue with new cases. As a result, oftentimes, clients are visited once or twice per week, and seen many times overall.