In a typical situation, friends and family often seek a bail bondsman to take an arrested person out of jail as soon as possible. This decision is often uneducated and made in the moment of great stress and panic. There are certain advantages of hiring an experienced criminal defense attorney before a bail bondman.
1. You may be wasting money, a person who has been arrested may be released on their own recognizance as soon as they get before the court. In some instances, it may occur even the morning after the arrest.
2. The bond amount can often be reduced by the attorney’s negotiating skill with the DA and Judge. A recent nationwide study concluded that having a defense attorney at the first appearance results in defendants being released on their own recognizance TWICE as often than if they were unrepresented, and bail is reduced FOUR times as often for the remaining defendants.
3. The bond should be cheaper if the accused is represented by an attorney. If a lawyer has been retained it lowers the insurance cost for the bondman because the accused is less likely to skip court. These savings can be a significant amount of money.