When you are detained by law enforcement, you may be so caught off guard that you act out of the ordinary. Instead of complying with the orders of the officer, you might inadvertently act defiantly simply because you are nervous and afraid. Despite your wishes to obey the orders being given to you, you could instead find yourself facing additional charges on top of whatever for which you have been arrested. By hiring a criminal defense lawyer to defend you for resisting arrest NJ defendant's like you might beat the charges and be exonerated entirely.

Before you hire a lawyer, it can be helpful for you to know for what qualifications to look in potential counsel. To start, you want a lawyer who specializes in criminal defense. You do not want to hire an attorney who practices bankruptcy or personal injury law, for example. You need someone who is intimately familiar with the criminal defense codes in your state.

Likewise, you probably want an attorney who has handled cases similar or identical to yours in the past. You may prefer not to take your chances on a novice lawyer who is brand new to the courtroom. You similarly want to avoid hiring someone who has lost more case than he or she has won in court if you want to beat the charges against you.

After you check out the lawyer's win-loss record, you can then focus on how much your defense will cost you. When you are strapped for cash and do not have any money to retain counsel, the court legally has to provide a lawyer for you. In fact, as the officer reads you your Miranda rights, you will hear him or her say that you will have an attorney appointed for you if you cannot afford to hire one for yourself.

When cash is not an issue, however, you still may want to know what you will be paying for and how much the total case will cost you. A typical attorney will usually charge a flat retainer fee and then an hourly rate for most clients. The hourly rate can cost hundreds of dollars. The fees cover everything from copying of documents to send to court to courier services.

Most law firms will provide clients with an itemized list of expenses prior to a contract signing. This list can come in useful when you are deciding what services you want to include in the case. You also can refer to it when you are deciding whether or not to liquidate assets or apply for finance with which to fund your defense.

You typically can get all of this information in a free consultation prior to retaining a lawyer. Most lawyers will allow clients to consult with them at no cost for at least one hour. During that meeting, you can ask the most important questions about your case and what will be involved should you decide to put the attorney on retainer.

After being arrested for resisting arrest, you might wish to retain a lawyer immediately. You may use some caution before putting one on retainer, however. These qualifications may come to mind during your overall vetting process.