South Carolina Criminal Defense Blog

Client etiquette should dictate some form of gratitude, or at least civility, following the dismissal of your case. As much as I am used to the varying degrees of reactions from clients following nothing short of a complete victory, it still rubs me the wrong way when a client or their family attack me in a negative way after I've just gotten their case dismissed.

At one extreme is the client who is ecstatic. Their tense, frightening trip through the South Carolina justice system has come to an end, they have won without ever having to pick a jury, they hug myself or other staff from my office, and within a week I receive a thank you card that brings tears to my eyes.

At the other extreme is the client who, upon hearing that their case has been dismissed, immediately finds something to blame on the attorney and begins heaping abuse on us. For example, I inform my client and his family that the client's case will be dismissed within a short period of time, however we are only waiting for the paperwork from the prosecutor to make it official. We have prepared the case for trial, we have interviewed witnesses, we have prepared a pre-trial motion that will win if we ever see the inside of a courtroom in this case. I have spoken to the prosecutor and he/she realizes that this is not the best case for the state and, as is sometimes the case, it is the right thing to dismiss this particular charge.

I am told by the family that if I don't get them paperwork right away the client will lose a valuable job prospect. I let them know I have spoken to the prosecutor about it and will get them the paperwork as soon as possible. They continue to call, and I in turn continue to ask the prosecutor, needing a disposition sheet. Finally I get a call from client's mom informing me that my client has lost his job because I did not get the case dismissed fast enough.

There will be other job opportunities. In the meantime, your son is not going to jail and does not have to suffer the uncertainties and fear of a trial by jury. His record is clean. A simple thank you would have sufficed.

When a client is looking for either a dismissal or a jury trial, it will take time. In my initial consultation with any client, I am upfront and honest about how long any given case could take before it comes to trial and I never tell a client that they will get a speedy disposition. In Myrtle Beach city court, for example, it can take over a year for a simple misdemeanor case to come to trial. In the magistrate courts, six months is average and in general sessions two years or more is not unusual. If we have a case that should be dismissed, that does not mean that it will and if it is, it is not likely to happen until it is close to the time in which the case would have gone to trial. Regardless of the merits of our defense, we have to be prepared and you have to be willing to take the case to trial because, unless the injustice of an arrest is clear, the prosecutor has no obligation to dismiss your case.

I'm really not so bitter about the few clients who are not grateful for the work that we do for them, although I do need to vent once in a while. I do what I do because I love what I do, and, although I appreciate it, I don't need thanks to continue doing my best. And, while many defense attorneys complain about how this is a thankless job, I truly have found that I am thanked constantly by my clients and their families.