Ray Taylor and Phil Spicer

San Antonio Area and South Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers

At the Law Offices of Ray Taylor & Associates, P.C., attorney Ray Taylor, has been practicing law in San Antonio since 1970. For 40 years he has provided vigorous criminal defense for his clients facing a wide variety of criminal charges.

For 30 years, veteran research-appeals attorney Phil Spicer has provided effective pretrial preparation and top quality research and appellate law services for our clients.

We regularly work with a very reasonably priced but top flight licensed criminal private investigator, who has won many cases for us at modest cost.

At our firm, we cannot stress enough the importance of having quality legal representation from the earliest stage of a criminal investigation.

Early representation is truly the key to success!

Please view our extensive qualifications and contact us to schedule a free initial consultation at our office. Call (210) 807-9916.

Choosing the Right Lawyer

A Letter from Ray Taylor

Dear Friend,

Choosing the right criminal specialist attorney when you are under criminal investigation will be one of the most important decisions you will ever make. Selecting the right attorney can be a simple a matter, provided you base your selection on persons who are highly qualified, and are dedicated to vigorously and aggressively representing you from the very start of your troubles.

But how do you select a vigorous and aggressive attorney when you do not personally know any criminal attorneys? Clearly the best way is to select a firm with the best qualifications, decades of willingness to go to trial when necessary, with a history of innovative techniques and successful investigation, through preparation and a history of winning not guilty verdicts.

How does a person determine which attorney has the best qualifications? It is simple: by asking each attorney specific questions about his or her qualifications and getting a written answer. Here is a list of questions to ask, and how Ray Taylor would answer those questions. Contact our San Antonio law firm today. Call (210) 807-9916.

Written answers to the above questions will insure honest answers and tell you how well-qualified an attorney candidate is to handle your case. Obviously, a criminal attorney Board Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and the National Board of Trial Advocacy has a long history of demonstrated success. They have been recommended by the San Antonio area judges for excellence, courtroom success, and the highest ethical standards. They have been required to have a minimum of five years experience after law school handling criminal cases and to have successfully tried many criminal jury trials. Additionally, they are required to demonstrate the highest ethical standards, stay current with the latest developments in criminal law, and demonstrate a consistent pattern of excellence in legal research and brief writing. They also must recertify every 5 years by demonstrating their special competence in criminal law in both State and Federal Courts.

Remember, an attorney's qualifications can range from never having tried a single criminal case (and such an attorney would not be required to tell you so -- and neither would the judge) to the qualifications set out above. The court will expect you to do your own research in selecting the attorney best qualified to help you. Use this checklist to compare attorneys, then call us to learn more about our qualifications. Get written answers to the above questions and you can objectively judge comparative excellence!

Please talk to a good criminal lawyer before you even consider talking to Child Protective Services or the Police. It is free, and might well mean the difference between going to prison or remaining free.

As a general rule, never talk to the authorities, and demand a lawyer from the first sign of trouble.

Again, your first appointment will usually be free, and will tell you much about the lawyer you are considering.

Does the lawyer have an extensive library? Are there professional paralegals helping him or just an answering service? But most important, does the lawyer, in your first free interview, give you his undivided courtesy and attention in a quiet confidential environment and allowing enough time for you to tell your story?

If not, see another lawyer.

Legal Fees

Legal fees are an important factor in lawyer selection. Remember, a lawyer must pay for rent, insurance, salaries for assistant lawyers, and paralegals and general over head, plus, of course, make a profit for himself if he is to take a serious interest in your case. A competent lawyer must have these resources to use for your benefit. No overhead means no support staff, and probably few clients have entrusted him with their fate

Bad results in court are nearly universal when an attorney is not paid as agreed.

COURT APPOINTED ATTORNEYS

The very poor (income of less than about $800 a month), the disabled, and those determined to "get it for free" by lying about ability to pay usually end up with a court appointed attorney appointed by the court.

The judge is doing you no favor. Since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Gideon case in 1964, that the poor are entitled to a court appointed attorney, the pay for these unfortunates has always been scandalously low, and their efforts on behalf of their nonpaying clients equally scandalous.

While a tiny minority sincerely try, the simple economics of the court appointed attorney system is such that to make a living, court appointed attorneys must promptly plead nearly all their clients guilty with little or no effort or research or investigation on behalf of the client.

But how much should he work . . . and how much should I pay?

The simple truth is that lawyers will not do the work if they are not going to get paid a reasonable sum for doing the work.

Federal trials can and sometimes do go on for months. No general rule can estimate how long a federal trial will likely take. The only accurate measuring stick is that of years and years of trial experience in federal court.

While generalities always involve some guesstimation, the "average" non sex related state felony takes about 100 hours of pretrial preparation and a jury trial of about 4 or 5 days.

The average sex related case, such as involving claims of child molestation average about 150 hours of pretrial preparation and consultation with your private investigator, and trials average between 5 and 8 days, with the occasional difficult case taking more than two weeks.

Just as it takes a crew of carpenters an approximate number of hours to build a 2,200 square feet house, so it takes an efficient and experienced lawyer an average of so many hours to prepare a particular type of criminal case for court, if he is going to do his job properly.

Going to court unprepared is much like going to a gun fight with an unloaded gun. No good can come of it. This is why clients should demand to be keep timely and completely informed as the case winds up toward a trial date. If no motions have been filed 30 days before trial, you are in trouble. Demand to see the attorney's research and the applicable statute (the law you are accused of violating) and the cases found in research. Find out what investigation has been done and what witnesses have been prepared for testimony. If none of this has been done well before trial, say three months, your lawyer is not doing his job and you should change lawyers.

While pretrial preparation is often a 9:00 to 5:00 job, trial days are certainly longer, harder and more stressful, with late night burning of midnight oil, as the rule and not the exception. Working all night is not uncommon.

As of 2011, even rock bottom minimally qualified lawyers charge $150 an hour or so, it is easy to see that, if the work to properly prepare a case is going to be done, about 200 hours of work needs to be done. You need to check to see if it is being done.

Case Study - A Court Appointed Attorney

The male defendant was charged with a very defensible aggravated sexual assault of a stepchild, who hated the defendant. The mother and complainant continued to live with the stepdad.

Though the client, with some effort, could have afforded a criminal specialist, he claimed poverty and, (though facing up to life in prison) lied on his poverty affidavit. He got a court appointed attorney.

He later explained he did not think any jury would believe the boy's unlikely story.

The boy's mother was at first supportive, but when Child Protective Services threatened to use her lack of support for the child's sex abuse story as a reason to take her child away, she withdrew her support for her husband shortly before trial.

An older, distinguished looking lawyer was appointed by the court from a list of volunteers. He was a retired Patent Office Examiner who was practicing criminal law part time, and had pled every single client guilty.

The client refused a 10 year plea bargain on the basis of his innocence and insisted on going to trial.

His court appointed attorney had never tried a civil or criminal case. He had taken a course in criminal law in another state some 40 years earlier. He had attended no criminal law seminars, had no office, secretary or library, and had never seen a criminal trial. He knew nothing of the law of jury selection, and did not know he was entitled to exclude the four jurors because they could not consider probation in a child molesting case. He did not know how to exclude a potential juror who said he did not believe defendants should have the right to exercise their right to remain silent at trial, or to get anything other than the maximum sentence. Another juror did not believe the state should have to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. They all remained on the jury.

The lawyer did not know the rules of evidence, and had never opened the Code of Criminal Procedure. He did not know how to preserve error for appeal, or how to properly object. The client was convicted and given 60 years. Efforts by Ray Taylor to get him a new trial have so far proven unsuccessful.

HOW TO PICK A CRIMINAL LAWYER

Picking the right attorney for your criminal case may well be the most important decision of your life, as your freedom is on the line. It can be a difficult decision, since few people actually know a criminal lawyer personally.

There are three major considerations: the lawyer's qualifications and reputation, the legal fees he will expect to be paid soon after you hire him, and whether he will give you the uninterrupted time and attention to listen to you and your troubles, and answer your questions courteously and uncritically.

Also, will he send you copies of the motions and other pretrial research and work as he does it? Perhaps most importantly, will he promptly return your phone calls?

The issue of whether he will give you the time and attention you need will be answered in your first meeting. Does he give you ample and uninterrupted time in a quiet law library to discuss confidently and compassionately your problems? If not, seek out another.

You will learn this at your first free meeting.

A fourth consideration is harder to measure: will he offer you the kind and courteous support you need during what is almost certainly the worst time of your life? Is he a good listener, honestly but gently reassuring, and will he take the time to tell you what to expect next, and the likely outcomes?

We will discuss each in course.

Qualifications are the best way to start, and unlike the qualifications of doctors, they are easy to check on line.

Regrettably, some attorneys are skilled at evading pointed questions as to the specifics of their qualifications. There is a checklist here to help [click here for qualifications checklist], but to promote candor, it is best to get simple yes or no answers in writing and signed by the lawyer. For example, one local attorney, when asked if he is Board Certified in Criminal Law, replies, "Why, I am an expert at criminal law. Ask any judge. I have been doing it for twenty years."

Since no one will have a chance to ask a judge such a question and the judges will not discuss with you the merits of a particular lawyer, the statement is completely unverifiable as to whether he has actually tried a single criminal case in that 20 year period. The answer is both evasive and uninformative.

These days, virtually all top flight attorneys are Board Certified in their specialty, be it criminal law, family law, or wills and estates.

The problem is Board Certification in another specialty does not indicate competence in criminal law. Indeed, the fellow who did a good job on your divorce can always accept a criminal case, recommend a plea bargain, and you, the client, will never really have a chance at an acquittal. Nor is the judge able to tell you about the qualifications, or lack thereof, of your attorney. They cannot discuss such matters with you, as it violates judicial ethics rules.

So the starting point, as a minimum qualification, is Board Certified in Criminal Law.

There are about 87,000 lawyers licensed in Texas as of 2011. Of these attorneys, all are authorized to appear on your behalf in a criminal case, but only 856 of the 87,000 are Board Certified in Criminal Law, less than 1%.

The next step up and the highest Board Certification is the National Board of Trial Advocacy. In Texas, 36 attorneys out of 87,000 are Board Certified in Criminal Trial Advocacy.

All these attorneys must prove by documentation a consistent pattern of criminal courtroom excellence in actual criminal trials and additionally high ethical standards to be eligible to take the difficult written exams they must pass for Board Certification. They must also be recommended for this high honor by the criminal trial judges before whom they have appeared and tried to completion enough trials to show consistent competence and substantial involvement in criminal law.

The Texas Board of Legal Specialization exam in criminal law focuses on the Texas Penal Code (the criminal laws) and the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure (the complex rules of what the prosecution and in turn the defense attorneys must do or not do and when they must do it). They must also pass an ethics background check and an ethics exam and an exam on the Texas Rules of Criminal Evidence.

Being Board Certified in Criminal Trial Advocacy by the National Board of Trial Advocacy, as is indicated by the small number so certified statewide (36 certificates out of 87,000 lawyers), has far more stringent requirements:

Applicants must qualify generally as above, but also general and constitutional law questions are stressed in their written exam, as is the American Bar Association version of the Canons of Ethics, the rules used in Federal Court. The Federal Rules of Evidence are part of the exam, as are the Federal Penal Laws and the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. One's ability to solve complex federal procedural issues correctly is tested. Federal law questions are stressed.

A far more detailed process of qualifications regarding past performance is conducted.

Most difficult of all, writing samples actually submitted to the courts that demonstrate competence, creative legal thinking and thoroughness, to be graded by those already Certified in Criminal Trial Advocacy are required.

Proof of success in criminal trials must be documented for both certifications.

However, a non-Board Certified lawyer need only to be licensed to practice law in Texas to accept any criminal cases. He does not need to do any of the above, nor have any criminal law training or experience, nor even pass an exam on criminal law.

This is why it is best to have a criminal law specialist. He has proven consistently excellent results and the highest ethical standards.

Unfortunately, criminal specialists tend to be located in larger cities, and rural areas are dramatically underserved.

For this reason, most criminal defendants tend to check for a specialist in a nearby larger city.

What about criminal appeals law?

The State Bar has just announced a Board Certification Program in Criminal Appellate Law. No lawyers are yet certified.

As to reputation:

A lawyer's reputation is established in many ways, but nearly always it is a combination of all the credentials discussed below:

First, there must be a consistent pattern of courtroom success that the public may or may not know about. Not all courtroom victories are publicized and often, the most important and valued work of an attorney takes place before a case even gets to the courtroom, such as an agreed dismissal of all charges, or pretrial diversion in Federal Court (an agreement not to prosecute in lieu of good behavior for a specified time). However, the judges and prosecutors certainly know of these successes. They do talk among themselves, and frequently! Some District Attorney's Offices privately rate defense lawyers in a book available only to prosecutors in that office. They rate on willingness to go to trial, the thoroughness of defense preparation, the quality of pretrial motions, trial ability, knowledge of criminal law, frequency of acquittals or very low sentences from juries, and willingness and ability to do good quality appeals.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys have a similar system, but it is open to all Assistant U.S. Attorney's nationwide. They simply call the U.S. Attorney in the defense lawyer's hometown, preferably talking to the last Assistant U.S. Attorney against whom the defense lawyer tried a case to get firsthand information on willingness to go to trial (the single most important factor to an Assistant U.S. Attorney) trial ability, quality of pretrial preparation, and willingness and ability to put together a good and possibly successful appeal if necessary.

That is why a consistently successful trial lawyer can frequently make plea bargains other lawyers can only envy.

This is particularly true in Federal Court. A defeat or hung jury at the hands of a skilled defense attorney can cost an Assistant U.S. Attorney his annual raise.

Sometimes Assistant U.S Attorneys are willing to make an unusually good deal (even probation) with a lawyer known for putting up spirited, skilled, well-prepared, and imaginative defenses.

Next in importance is ethical standing. One cannot have a high reputation with a bad record for honesty. Prosecutors tend to push to trial and abuse such lawyers by focusing on attacking the clients of such lawyers.

Frequent speaking at criminal law seminars or workshops is good for a lawyer's reputation, particularly for younger lawyers on the way up and hoping to get referrals from other attorneys. However, many very successful or older lawyers eschew speaking engagements, as they take a lot of time to prepare for, and those who are already successful do not have the time or need. Besides, the lawyers do not get paid for the speaking engagements.

Publication is another, though rare, path to an outstanding reputation. This is especially true in national publications, such as the top rated "Model Trials" Series. Publishers only ask the best in their fields to write books for publication.

Publication in the Texas Bar Journal is a good reputation builder, as are specialized State Bar publications. The State Bar only publishes about 70 lawyers a year and publication is a tribute to the lawyers standing in this specialty, scholarship (quality is rigorously checked) and readability.

Every Texas judge and lawyer reads the "Texas Bar Journal" and thus knows of a lawyer's publications.

Having a successful case defense written up in "Texas Lawyer's Weekly" or a like publication is good for short term fame, but is soon forgotten.

Martindale Hubbell Lawyer Rating Service has been in the business of rating lawyers for almost 150 years, and is the most reliable and relied upon indicator of ability and integrity, as it is based on actual and confidential feedback from the trial and appeal judges before whom a lawyer regularly appears.

The ratings, from top to bottom are "Preeminent,” "Av" for excellent, "Bv" for very good, "Cv" for average.

The "v" stands for very ethical, and one cannot be rated at all if one does not meet this high ethical threshold.

Most American attorneys practice their entire careers without reaching even the "Cv" rating level.

Contact Us for a Free Initial Consultation

Do not trust your freedom to anyone less than a fully qualified criminal law specialist. Contact us at our San Antonio law firm to arrange a free initial consultation and case analysis at our office. Call us at (210) 807-9916.

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