The Straight.com is running its Best of Vancouver online survey right now and a number of lawyers are looking for votes as The Best Criminal Lawyer. A week back we asked you to consider voting for Paul because of the work we’ve done over the last 20 months challenging the grossly unfair Immediate Roadside Prohibition scheme. At our office we decided that we would take on the task of exposing the IRP scheme for what it is. We still have a long way to go, but we’re not slowing down. In fact, as far as IRPs are concerned, we’re just getting started.
But the survey got us thinking about how you could judge the Best Criminal Lawyer. There are very good criminal lawyers in Vancouver, some who we would not recommend but who are great at self promotion, and many who accomplish great things for their clients with little fanfare. So we don’t really like the idea of the Best Criminal Lawyer. But considering someone is asking, perhaps some statistics could help us judge who is the best.
A few months ago we looked at the results in the last 1000 files in our office to examine our success rate. It surprised even us. Here is the breakdown:
Jail for a criminal offence
Over this period only one client we represented was sent to jail for a criminal conviction. This was a particularly egregious case. Our client agreed that physical incarceration i.e. jail, was appropriate under the circumstances. Still, the sentence was very reasonable and appropriate given the damage caused by the crime. So, as far as people sent to jail for criminal charges, our success rate is well in excess of 99%.
Impaired driving success rate
We next looked at impaired driving, driving over .08, refusal, dangerous driving charges in the same group of files. For these criminal charges, all but dangerous driving have a mandatory sentence wherein you automatically receive a criminal conviction. So we consider any result that protected our client from a criminal record as a successful outcome. That may include a plea bargain to a Motor Vehicle Act offence, getting the charges dropped, an acquittal at trial, or a stay ordered by the Court. Surprising, even to us, was that our win rate was over 99%. In the last 1000 files, we defended hundreds of such files and we did not lose a single trial. There are a few cases in which we advised our clients to plead guilty to save money given the facts of their case. Nevertheless, our success rate remains at better than 99%. We work hard on these cases. As well, we collect and know how to use the breathalyzers which helps us identify mistakes made by the police.
Shoplifting
For shoplifting charges, we have a 100% success rate. Paul has succeeded in ensuring none of his clients or clients of Acumen Law Corporation have been convicted of theft under $5000.
Motor vehicle Act offences
For most Motor Vehicle Act offences for which you receive a Violation Ticket, our success rate is very close to 99%. We have all of the manuals for the laser and radar devices commonly used in BC, and we put a lot of effort into ensuring that we find the right defences to succeed defending traffic tickets because we know the terrible consequences from having a conviction for a traffic offence on your driving record.
Criminal record overall
Again, to our surprise more than 99% of all of our clients charged with a criminal offence manage to get through the process without a criminal record.
Very good statistics for very good reasons
Our success rate is excellent and this is largely because we work out a solution to our clients’ problems very quickly and we formulate a plan to resolve the case so that our clients avoid a conviction. We like our clients, and we try to treat everyone with respect. We tell our clients what we need to do to get them through this difficult time relatively unscathed. And we do it all while charging low fees.
In a sense the statistics are misleading because our clients usually don’t have a history of being in trouble with the police. Many lawyers represent people with a history of criminal acts. At our law office, most of our clients are normal people who either made a mistake, or found themselves in a very unusual situation.
The Best Criminal Lawyer
We would appreciate your vote for Best Criminal Lawyer. As is so often the case, the statistics are misleading. Nevertheless, our success rate is phenomenal. And we promise to keep fighting. You have until midnight Wednesday June 11th to vote.
One last statistic
This is our 200th blog post. Cheers!