FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION:  Jonathan Laurans guarantees maximum effort on your behalf, and he will work with you to do his best to achieve the results you want, given the situation in which you find yourself.  Please e-mail your questions to:  jlaurans@msn.com.  We can then arrange an initial consultation which is convenient for your schedule, offered to you at no charge.  Put your case in Jonathan Laurans’ hands, and let his experience work for you!

Experience Counts!

Over the years, Jonathan Laurans has successfully handled literally hundreds and hundreds of criminal cases on both the federal and state levels.  While Mr. Laurans appears most often in the federal and state courts of Kansas and Missouri, he has handled criminal cases in many other states as well, like Colorado, Wyoming and Arkansas, to name a few.

Make Sure Your Attorney Has Experience In The Court Where You Are Charged!

Federal and state courts are vastly different.

 The biggest difference is in the severity of potential penalties.  The United States Congress - which is made up of an overwhelmingly large number of former federal and state prosecutors – has passed a set of “mandatory minimum” sentencing laws which proscribe the least amount of jail time a judge may assess against someone convicted of a crime in federal court.  In other words, if a person loses their case and is thus convicted of a crime, in a federal court that individual will most likely go to jail, regardless of the circumstances of either the crime or the person’s past history of outstanding citizenship.  The best way to avoid the harsh penalties issued by Congress is to hire an experienced trial attorney who can fight and win your case at trial.  And in those instances where the facts and evidence dictate that a plea bargain must be negotiated with the prosecutor, you should hire an attorney who is intimately familiar with the few narrow exceptions to Congress’ minimum sentences.

Like the federal government, many states, Kansas among them, are following form and also imposing sentencing guideline laws with minimum penalties, taking discretion out of the judges’ hands and treating people alike who are otherwise incredibly different, arriving in court following unique circumstances.

So, how does one find an experienced federal criminal defense attorney?

 First, ask the attorney you are considering hiring to tell you how many federal criminal cases he or she has handled.  Then, call the clerk of the federal court and ask for an approximate tally of criminal cases in which that attorney has been involved.  While this does not necessarily translate into meaning that the attorney is competent, there is hardly a substitute for experience.  A lawyer who has appeared in front of the federal court many, many times is usually and generally competent.  Otherwise, these powerful federal judges would remove the attorney from the case.  Federal judges do not indulge unskilled lawyers very often.

Next, call the state bar associations in which the attorney you talked to is licensed.  Ask if the attorney has had any bar complaints.  These are most often filed by dissatisfied former clients whose lives have been adversely  (and often irreversibly) affected by the attorney’s mistakes.  (Sometimes former clients file baseless bar complaints, but these are generally weeded out by the bar association’s counsel who supervises attorneys’ ethical conduct and rules on the complaints.)  It goes without saying that an attorney with a discipline history from the bar association should be avoided.

In fifteen years of practice, no former client has filed a bar complaint against Jonathan Laurans.

Remember, the only moment worse than being arrested and charged with a criminal offense is learning some time after a conviction that your attorney missed a key legal defense or incorrectly assessed critical evidence.  Because Jonathan Laurans has handled a large number of appeals and post-conviction cases for people who were dissatisfied with their previous trial attorneys, he is all too aware of these scenarios and the impact on those clients’ lives.  The best way to avoid becoming dissatisfied with your trial attorney is to hire the right lawyer for you, the first time.

            Of course, this sounds much easier than it is.  Ideally, you would want to test a prospective attorney’s knowledge about the court in which you are charged, and about the type of crime of which you stand accused.  And, you would want to ensure that your lawyer understood your rights, and the many constitutional violations of those rights routinely committed by law enforcement and prosecutors.  Yet most people who find themselves accused of a crime have never been in trouble with the law before and are not fully aware of the complexities within our legal system, and therefore they are not in a position to quiz an attorney’s record or assess his or her competency.

            Worry not because this can be overcome.  Simply stated, you should be hiring the attorney who is most readily available to meet with you, and who affords you the most time to discuss your issues.  Hire that lawyer who you most easily understand, the one who converses with you in terms that do not leave you confused, so that you came away with much more knowledge about the charges you are facing.

          Jonathan Laurans pledges his effort to those who hire him.  If you select Jonathan Laurans to handle your representation, rest assured that he will work to achieve the results you want, given the facts and circumstances of your situation.  Please e-mail your questions to:  jlaurans@msn.com.  We can then arrange an initial consultation which is convenient for your schedule, offered to you at no charge.  Put your case in Jonathan Laurans’ hands, and let his experience work for you!

DUI/DWI   Criminal Law   Appeals   Notable Decisions  Post Convictions   Attorney   Felony   Litigation  Estate Planning  Contact

Copyright 2007