Oliver Janssen, 14, of Our Lady of Victory Catholic School, far left, makes his way to the courtroom for a mock trial.
Jett Taylor, 14, of Our Lady of Victory Catholic School, talks with other members of his defense team during a mock trial of the Boston Tea Party on Friday inside of the Victoria County Courthouse.
Members of the jury go over the evidence during a mock trial of the Boston Tea Party Friday inside the Victoria County Courthouse.
Ethan Estraca, 13, of Our Lady of Victoria Catholic School, gives his closing statement to the jury during a mock trial of the Boston Tea Party Friday inside of the Victoria County Courthouse.
Brawling Espinoza, 14, of Our Lady of Victory Catholic School, fixes her hair before the start of a mock trial.
Students from Our Lady of Victory Catholic School make their way into the Victoria County Courthouse for a mock trial.
Oliver Janssen, 14, of Our Lady of Victory Catholic School, questions a witness during a mock trial at the Victoria County Courthouse.
A defense attorney is a lawyer who focuses on representing a client who has been charged with a crime, beginning with their arraignment where the official charges are read. From the arraignment on, a defense attorney will be with their client every step of the way, and will advise them on entering a plea, making statements during the pre-trial proceedings, and ultimately crafting a path forward to a positive or favorable outcome for their client.
Ultimately, the goal of your defense lawyer is to avoid going to trial so that you can retain a say in the matter. Once your case goes to trial, the outcome is entirely up to the judge and jury.
From the arraignment on, a defense attorney will be with their client every step of the way, and will advise them on entering a plea, making statements during the pre-trial proceedings, and ultimately crafting a path forward to a positive or favorable outcome for their client.
If your case needs to go to trial, meaning you have gone through every step of the pre-trial and have still been unable to reach a resolution, then the next step is the actual trial . This will involve a variety of additional steps that many defense lawyers may never need to go through during their career, including jury selection, cross-examining witnesses, and communicating a clear and strong argument under the high pressure of the trial atmosphere.
If you are unable to afford private counsel, you will be given a public defender because having legal representation is very important in the United States. Take a look below to learn more about why trial lawyers are so important, and why they are different from a defense lawyer.
While there is no legal distinction between a trial lawyer and a defense attorney in the United States, any legal professional will tell you that there is a significant difference in duties and expertise between the two fields.
As you can imagine, this means that most defense lawyers have an extensive amount of experience defending their clients in the lead-up to a trial, but do not have nearly as much experience standing up in court during a trial. This is where a trial lawyer comes in. In the United States, there is nothing barring a defense lawyer from acting as ...