By Ela Matters Staff 
Trial attorneys use the following steps to help create successful defenses for their clients.
This question probably comes to mind every time someone sees a good trial attorney at work.
When someone’s life is on the line and they are facing serious criminal charges, what can make the difference between walking out of that courtroom a free person or never walking out at all?
One thing – a good defense strategy.
And it is not just trial attorneys who have the secret to helping create successful defenses. It’s having a winning defense strategy. And the only way to create a successful criminal defense strategy is to work with seasoned trial attorneys who know how to build winning criminal defenses from the beginning.
It should not be shocking to learn that only 2% of federal criminal defendants actually go to trial. Those who make it that far and are brave enough to stand up to a jury’s opinion, less than 1% of the federal defendants will win their criminal cases.
These statistics are meant to make one point.
The right attorneys are essential.
What This Guide Covers
- The Investigation Process That Changes Everything
- Evidence Collection Methods That Win Cases
- Pretrial Strategies That Set The Stage
- Building Your Defense Theory From Day One
- Cross-Examination Techniques That Expose The Truth
The Investigation Process That Changes Everything
It is a common misconception that criminal defense work begins in the courtroom.
Think again!
Winning your case is often determined the moment an attorney is retained and the independent investigation process begins.
Seasoned trial attorneys work to help create successful defenses by doing independent investigation that will stand up to prosecution scrutiny. This means going beyond the information provided to the prosecution and investigating every avenue of evidence for the client’s case.
Experienced trial attorneys review every document. They question every witness. They double and triple check every fact. And most important, they never take the prosecution’s facts as true until and unless they can verify them.
This is how seasoned trial attorneys help create successful defenses for clients from the beginning.
Evidence Collection Methods That Win Cases
Here is a little secret about criminal defense work. The prosecution does not always have the best case. The prosecution just thinks they do.
Successful trial attorneys know how to find the holes in the prosecution’s case and learn how to use them.
Evidence collection is an art. Experienced trial attorneys know that collecting evidence is one thing. Presenting evidence in ways that juries and judges will understand is even more important.
Digital forensics. Surveillance video. Phone records. All of these require experience to properly preserve, document, and present in ways that give the evidence its maximum power and value in the courtroom.
Seasoned trial attorneys know how to use each piece of evidence to tell the best story to jurors. Skilled criminal defense attorneys know that winning cases often means collecting one overlooked piece of evidence that completely changes the entire case’s outcome.
This is how trial attorneys help create successful defenses for clients.
Pretrial Strategies That Set The Stage
For those who watch any true crime show, it’s clear that the trial is only one part of the battle.
Seasoned trial attorneys know that winning often means doing the hard work long before the first witness steps up to the stand.
Pretrial work for attorneys means using trial preparation time to help make successful defenses for clients.
Filing motions to suppress illegally obtained evidence. Challenging the prosecution’s witness list. Negotiating with the prosecution from a position of strength.
Skilled criminal defense attorneys understand that pretrial motions are surgical strikes that can often change the outcome before the first jury selection process begins. Defense attorneys achieved favorable outcomes in 26% of decisions from 2019 to 2023.
This is how successful criminal defense attorneys help create successful defenses for clients from the very beginning.
Building Your Defense Theory From Day One
It’s important to know that defense is not just about poking holes in the prosecution’s case.
Defense is also about presenting a defense theory that makes sense.
Successful trial attorneys often work from the very beginning to create a defense that will help make successful defenses for clients.
They work to make sure that every piece of evidence that is available is viewed through the prism of the defense they are building for their client’s case.
If the evidence supports a theory, they will do that. If the evidence does not support the prosecutor’s version, they will use that. And if there are holes in the evidence, they will work to create that reasonable doubt.
This is how experienced trial attorneys help create successful defenses from the very beginning of any case.
Cross-Examination Techniques That Expose The Truth
Cross-examination is a weapon.
Trial attorneys do not become seasoned trial attorneys by being aggressive or by bullying witnesses. Seasoned trial attorneys work to help make successful defenses for their clients by being surgical with cross-examinations that work to help them build defenses for their clients.
Cross-examinations that expose contradictions. Cross-examinations that allow for leading questions that can help a case. Cross-examinations that are designed to not let a witness “run with” their direct testimony.
Seasoned trial attorneys study hours of direct testimony, learn every witness statement ever made by a witness and then work to help their client by asking questions and the right questions in the right order.
Cross-examinations like this are an art form and experienced trial attorneys that do this often and do it well are the most successful in creating defenses for clients.
This is how trial attorneys help create successful defenses for clients.
Technology and Modern Defense Strategies
Defense work has changed over the years.
Trial attorneys help create successful defenses by embracing technology. Video enhancement technology. Social media analysis. Data forensics that will show or prove where someone was or was not at a given moment in time.
Seasoned trial attorneys are also now using technology to help prepare better for cases. Mock trials with digital jury analysis. Presentation software to present complex evidence in a way that is more easily understood. Database programs that will organize thousands of documents and make them easily searchable.
The best trial attorneys know how to use traditional legal skills and combine that with modern technology to help create successful defenses for clients.
The Human Element in Criminal Defense
The truth of the matter is criminal defense is a human enterprise.
Seasoned trial attorneys help create successful defenses for their clients every day by understanding the human element of defense work.
Successful trial attorneys work to understand the motivations and thought processes of every prosecutor and juror. Experienced trial attorneys know that sometimes the best argument is not the one that is legally right but the one that is the most persuasive.
Seasoned trial attorneys also know that building a successful defense for their clients includes a strong client relationship. Keeping clients informed. Managing clients’ expectations. Helping clients deal with the stress that comes with being charged with a crime.
Seasoned trial attorneys help create successful defenses by also being human attorneys.
Wrapping Things Up
Seasoned trial attorneys know that there is no single “secret” when it comes to successful defenses for clients.
Trial attorneys help create successful defenses for their clients by combining thorough investigations, strategic pretrial work, building a solid defense theory that make sense and skilled courtroom execution into a winning criminal defense strategy.
Seasoned trial attorneys know that skill, knowledge and experience are the only way to help create successful defenses for clients.
Remember those statistics mentioned earlier? The ones about how few federal defendants win at trial?
Those numbers are trying to tell everyone something.
No one can afford to leave their defense to chance. When someone is facing serious criminal charges and their freedom is on the line, they need an attorney who knows exactly how to help build successful defenses that work.
Seasoned trial attorneys have been in the trenches before. They have the knowledge and experience to know what works and more importantly know how to adjust their strategies to help create successful defenses that give every client the best possible chance for a successful outcome.