I don’t like lawyers any more than you do. I’m pretty sure that the first day of law school they escort them into a little booth where they suck out the creative part of their brains and replace it with the three-word phrase: “Just sue them.” (I’ve witnessed this on many occasions with my lovely wife’s brain dead friends.)
However, if you choose to carry a handgun then you absolutely need to find a good self- defense lawyer. And, you need to find one today. The worst thing you can do is wait until the day you have to shoot someone for trying to kill your family and be flipping through the yellow pages in jail trying to locate someone. (Especially, if you haven’t yet had a lawyer tell you what to do in the aftermath of a shooting.)
So how exactly do you find a self-defense lawyer?
Well… it’s not as bad as you might think. First off, ask all of the firearms instructors in your area and they should be able to give you a referral or two. If for some reason they don’t know of a lawyer, then go to your local gun shops and ask around. Lastly, you can call the NRA and they’ll give you a list of lawyers in your area.
If you ask the folks above, then the same names will probably pop up over and over. This is a good sign and you’ll want to call these attorneys and interview them. You’ll want to ask if they’ve ever handled a self-defense shooting… how many cases have they tried… can you get their phone number to carry around in your wallet at all times…
And remember, you are interviewing them. Don’t let them intimidate you, or avoid your questions. This person might keep you out of jail one day so make sure, as much as possible, that they know what they’re doing. If for some reason all they do is brag to you or they talk about all the criminal cases they’ve done (but not self-defense) then find someone else.
You see, you need someone who knows how to try a self-defense case when the person is innocent. You don’t want a criminal attorney who is used to using a bunch of tricks to get scum bags off because this will not work for you.
My personal attorney…
For instance, my personal self-defense attorney is the NRA’s former lawyer. He’s certainly not the cheapest guy around but in addition to my gun, my holster, and the training I do… my attorney is on my list of things never to be cheap about in life.
In addition to the obvious factor of being able to call him if I’m ever involved in a shooting, perhaps the most important thing is the discussions we’ve had about how to deal with the police after a shooting… what to say and what not to say.
So, if you happen to carry concealed and don’t have a lawyer yet, please change that
ASAP. I’d hate to see you preserve your life from a criminal only to get screwed by the legal system because you didn’t have a quality attorney.
