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Do you need to hire a lawyer? That’s a question that you have to ask yourself. I always tell people if you get a phone call from the police you should go and consult with a lawyer at the very least. Not necessarily, you might not necessarily be ready to hire one at that point but at least talk to a lawyer and see if it’s necessary. If you’ve been questioned by the police and they’ve taken a recorded or a written statement from you then yes, there are issues and problems with giving statements to the police officers or detectives before consulting a lawyer. Because as everyone should know you have an absolute right to remain silent and although police officers can lie to you to get you to give a statement, as I always tell people, if that police officer was being questioned I assure you he or she would be contacting a lawyer and not talking to the police either. And so, yes, when to hire a lawyer is a question between a lawyer and a potential client. When to consult a lawyer is anytime you have contact with the police. It doesn’t matter how minimal, how low, to make a 15-minute call to a lawyer to say hey, this is what happened and to get professional advice is extremely important.
Philadelphia, PA criminal defense lawyer Joseph Lesniak explains why it’s always a good idea to consult a lawyer when dealing with a criminal accusation.