When you are faced with a very difficult decision, it is often easy to lose your objectivity when it comes to evaluating the right attorney for you and your situation. It is tempting to just go to the phone book and pick the first good looking ad and go with that person. But an attorney that can create a good marketing piece is not always the best attorney for you.

In this particular situation, you want to look for a few things in the attorney who is best for you.

• First, you should look for is an attorney who knows about domestic violence. Does the attorney you meet with know and understand what the “Primary Aggressor Theory” and the “Battered Woman Syndrome” is and what impact it will have on your case, if any.
  
  
• Second the attorney for you will have attended several seminars specifically addressing the issues of domestic violence.
  
  
• Third, a competent domestic violence attorney reads publications about the issues surrounding domestic violence. This could be several volumes of books dedicated to domestic violence, or journals (legal magazines) or articles addressing the issue. Ask the attorney that you meet with what books, journals, or articles they have in their office on the topic, and what they have read recently.
  
  
• A competent domestic violence attorney also knows the recent cases and the important cases that may apply to your case. What’s more, this attorney will know not only know the cases that benefit your case, but also the cases that the DA will use.
  
  
• The right attorney for you will understand the process of a domestic violence prosecution. Notable here is the procedures for lifting a No Contact Order, and how that can be helpful and useful in your case. He/She will be able to tell you about the intricacies of the Deferred Sentencing Program. Even more, the right attorney will tell you about the pitfalls and problems with the program.
  
  
• Lastly, the right attorney for you will tell you about the various techniques he/she will use to try to win your case. For example, the No Contact Hearing may be a time when the Victim might make statements about what happened during the domestic violence event of which the police didn’t take note, or directly contradict his/her prior rendition of events. Oftentimes these statements will be accompanied by admissions indicating why he/she lied or otherwise fabricated the story (e.g. money, desire to control, trying to take advantage of a situation—i.e. planning to file for divorce and wanted an edge—etc.) The right attorney for you should tell you that he/she always requests that tape from the court to review for possibly helpful information. Better yet, that attorney should attend the hearing in person for the same reasons.
  
  
• Another opportunity to learn and prepare for a criminal charge of domestic violence is when the other side has filed for divorce or a restraining order. Oftentimes these documents will have statements that are contradictory to what they told the police. Many attorneys do not feel that these things will be helpful and that going all the way down to the courthouse to stand in line to wait to get the files and spend the time to review the documents is a big waste of their time. At The CAPETTI GROUP Law Offices, we believe that taking every advantage, every opportunity to gain the upper hand, to get an edge, is not a waste of time but rather our job!