What is a prefile defense?
Often when reviewing a case with our clients we have a situation where a client is being accused or investigated for a crime, but the crime has not yet been charged. In this situation we almost always advise that we be retained to handle a prefile defense of the accusation or investigation. Many attorneys advise clients to wait until they are charged and then come back. We think this is not sound advice in most criminal cases.
A prefile defense case is all about timing and positioning. It is only effective, in most cases, if the client immediately retains a criminal lawyer upon discovery of the accusations or investigation. By definition if the case has progressed to a charge, the prefile opportunity is forever lost.
What a criminal attorney attempts to do in a prefile defense can take a number of different forms. Among these forms would be: stopping the client from talking with the police or to anybody about the case, identifying witnesses and defense th
