Why You Should Consider a Lawyer for Your First Court Appearance
So you’re walking into the biggest night of your life. You’re nervous as hell. Just one hour earlier, you forgot the new lyrics. Your band is going to kill you if you messed up that song you wrote together, and more importantly, you’ll get booed off the stage. This is the night you break into the big league or pick yourself up off the ground and start over. You’re in search of your shot at the fame you believed you were destined for.
Even though you’re emotionally taut, when you finally make it out onto that stage, you play like p****. Live audiences are unforgiving; you only get one shot to wow ’em. After the show, all you can hope for is that the blogs won’t tear you apart. The next day, your phone is blowing up and you feel like a looser. So what did you get wrong?
If only you’d done a proper rehearsal with your manager who could have helped you fine-tune your songs and performance, let alone reminded you of your setlist and the words to your new song! How’d you like to have a professional on your team who could advise you about what songs and lyrics would impress and which should have been left out? And most importantly, how would it feel to have someone ask you open-ended questions to help you understand your likes and dislikes about concerts as well as how live shows work, including what you do if you are heckled? You would be far less nervous stepping out on stage with a manager on your team, right? You could have gone with a live performance-opener rather than making the audience endure a 21-minute apology, and elimination of an accidental cuss word (which pisses everyone off, including the courts, by the way).
The difference between a band’s first show and your first appearance is that all those errors while singing live can be lifelong career destroyers. If you know you will be charged with a crime, the obvious question should be: ‘do I need a lawyer for my first court appearance?’ A good criminal defense attorney is the professional who assists you with strategic planning, helps you understand the live show or courtroom procedures, and who will customize your set list or case based on you and your situation. If you’d had a lawyer on your team, chances are you would have paid close attention to what you were doing and acted in the best interest of your future.
The analogy is an obvious one, but many people don’t realize how accurate it really is. Musicians have found this out the hard way as they always do, but the reason they put down the bottle and rejoined the band is the same reason countless people hire a lawyer opposed to representing themselves in court. When the stakes are high, go with the pro, even if you think you might be able to do it yourself; you cannot advise yourself properly because you are in the moment. For those who’ve done this before and tell you otherwise, think about it: why do you think lawyers have to pass the bar, pass continuing legal education classes, pay for insurance against mistakes, and spend years practicing their specialty? Go ahead, ask that question, and then think about your songs again.
