Despite what you may see on television, where almost every criminal defendant has a lawyer, in reality, most defendants appear either without counsel, or represented by a public defender who may meet with them 10 minutes before the scheduled court time.

Misdemeanor defendants are most likely to appear without counsel – they often think that they may get a fine, then they can go home.

As an attorney, it is certainly easy for me to say “never appear in a criminal court without a lawyer.”  I fully understand that most people do not have ready access to the $1,000 to $2,000 that many defense attorneys charge to negotiate a deal.

On the other hand, if you decide to take your chances and appear without a lawyer, do your research and understand what you will be facing.  Remember, you are entering a different world and the prosecutor’s goal is not “justice” but it is to clear out his docket as quickly and efficiently as possible.  It is your problem if you accept his recommendation without negotiation.

Realize as well that the prosecutor, judge and court personnel are not under any obligation to explain the court processes to you or give you time to think about what you want to do.  Judges are very busy people and your case, while important to you, is only one of hundreds or thousands they have to handle.

When a potential client asks me whether it makes sense to hire a lawyer, I explain that my job is mainly to eliminate the uncertainty factor.  I have been in court before and I know how the process works.  I have perspective about what constitutes a “reasonable” plea bargain and when the prosecutor’s case is weak enough to take our chances in court.

Take a look at this blog post entitled Bargaining for Freedom, A Day in Criminal Court.  The author, a lawyer who does not handle criminal matters, describes the experiences of a friend who appeared in court without a lawyer.  While this article describes a day in a Los Angeles criminal court, the experience he describes is fairly universal and could have happened in any busy Atlanta area court as well.