San Antonio Criminal Defense Attorney

We are very proud that we have been able to develop good relationship with, opposing counsel, prosecutors and judges throughout south and central Texas. These relationships have allowed us to get cases dismissed and negotiate the best possible result for our clients. While relationships are not everything in criminal defense or family law they do help us resolve cases more efficiently than those lawyers who are just starting out.

Depending on where your case is heard, our attorneys either appear every day, or at the very least once or twice a month in the courthouse where your case may be heard. For example, I’m in Bexar County every day and in Comal County once a month. In addition, I’m in Guadalupe County once or twice a month, and in Hays County once or twice a month.

One of the ways that we keep up to date with criminal law is we attend continuing legal education. Shannon W. Locke is a Board Certified Criminal Defense Attorney which requires more continuing legal education than non-board-certified attorneys. Additionally, one of the things that we do that most other lawyers don’t, is we have handled appeals in the 5th Circuit and the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. What this means is that these are cases that have already been tried and sentenced. The defendants are looking for a new sentence or a new trial and we file an appeal and become very familiar with the current law. It really sharpens your ability to make arguments during a trial after you’ve already seen how someone else has done it and the mistakes they’ve made as well.

We always advise people if there are any additional legal fees, we will let them know in advance, so they can prepare for the legal costs. In DWIs, some additional fees need to be paid and these are almost unavoidable. For instance, when you have an ALR hearing, you have to subpoena the witness and pay $50 for the travel expenses of that person if they are coming from out of town and $10 if they live in town. You have to pay for an occupational license filing fee if the license is suspended, which is $250. These are expenses that you must pay. However, we explain this all to you upfront and if you choose to pay it then we go ahead and provide the service.

Another additional cost that frequently comes up are investigators or expert witnesses. They are 100% of the time outside of the criminal defense contract. Again, however, it will be explained to you why an investigator or an expert witness is necessary. If you approve that expense, you will be responsible for the fee. If you don’t approve that expense, then it’s not charged to you. The important thing is that nobody will ever get a bill for expenses they didn’t approve at the end of the representation.

When you hire us to represent you on a criminal case, we will charge a flat fee for our legal services. Criminal defense lawyers who work by the hour cannot do a good job. They are more concerned with their hourly rates, how much they’ve billed, and how much they’ve put into the case instead of whether they’ve achieved their client’s goal.

For instance, sometimes we see a “pocket,” and I call it a pocket because the prosecutor is suddenly willing to make an offer he wouldn’t otherwise make. If that offer achieves the client's goal, the client needs to be 100% sure, and the attorney needs to be 100% dedicated to accepting that offer. If the attorney hesitates to consider whether he or she can bill more time, that’s a conflict. We try to operate 100% of the time without conflicts by charging flat rates.

Different attorneys charge in different ways depending on the cases that they handle. Many people are familiar with lawyers who promise you won’t pay anything unless you win. These fees are called contingency fees. What it means is that the lawyer’s job is to get the most extensive monetary recovery out of the opposing party and then recover their fee from the settlement money. Family law lawyers handle things slightly differently and usually charge by the hour. Our attorneys will always attempt to estimate how much legal work they expect the family law issue to take and charge a retainer based on that estimate. Because another party is on the other side of the family law case, it is impossible to say how long a case will take after an initial consultation. The other side may not be interested in saving expenses or settling quickly, or maybe you aren’t interested in those things, and the cost of family law cases can increase based on the conflict present in the case.

Criminal defense lawyers usually charge flat fees. The State Bar of Texas prohibits attorneys from charging contingency fees or hourly rates. It is not proper for a criminal defense attorney to take an interest in the result of a criminal case. If any criminal defense attorney proposes a flat fee or an hourly rate to you, do not hire that person.

Before you come in for an initial consultation it is important to know if the lawyer will be charging an hourly or a flat fee for their representation. At The Locke Law Group, we represent people on an hourly and flat fee basis. The nature of the client’s case will determine which fee arrangement the attorney will choose for that client. At the end of the day, family law clients should expect to be charged by the hour and criminal law clients should expect to be charged flat fees.