Key Takeaways
- So I think it’s a good idea to have a blend of both, and what I really recommend is, no matter whom you hire, whether it’s our firm or somebody else, go interview them, go talk to them about what t…
- So make an informed decision, talk to criminal defense counsel, weigh the pros and cons, and make a decision from there.
Should I hire a criminal defense attorney, or should I hire a criminal tax attorney? My answer depends. There are different people who do different things. My experience with criminal defense attorneys is that most criminal defense attorneys have a good handle on state cases because they see a lot of them. Even among those who handle federal cases, a lot of them do not practice tax cases very often. They may have experience trying a criminal tax case because oftentimes charges from the tax world get wrapped up into things like money laundering and bank fraud and a whole host of other crimes. But they’re not specifically a
tax specialist.
A tax specialist is very valuable during a criminal tax investigation because we kind of understand the playing field. We know how the civil audit side is supposed to respond. We know how civil collections works. We know what constitutes willfulness in a tax case. We know what positions the client takes, we understand the return. So a criminal tax attorney really understands these issues and can really work
to mitigate.
The downside with a lot of criminal tax attorneys is trial experience. Criminal tax attorneys live in the tax world. We are not necessarily experts in criminal tax procedure. So if your case goes to trial, you probably want somebody who’s an expert in criminal trial procedure. Most criminal defense attorneys, because they spend the majority of their time in the courtroom, are experts at criminal defense and criminal
defense procedure.
So, what I usually do is I recommend a combination of both parties. If you have a team of people who have criminal tax experience and potentially criminal trial experience, then you’ve got a very
well-rounded
defense team. And oftentimes, a lot of our most successful cases come with working in tandem with criminal defense counsel. It’s not always needed. You don’t necessarily have to hire two attorneys, and oftentimes the criminal attorneys can kind of divide the work so they’re not doing everything together necessarily. But it’s a good thing to have. If you’re going to be charged with a criminal matter, if you’re in the middle of a criminal investigation, or even if you have reasons to suspect, you want to have the best team possible because the consequences are
so severe.
So I think it’s a good idea to have a blend of both, and what I really recommend is, no matter whom you hire, whether it’s our firm or somebody else, go interview them, go talk to them about what their level of experience is, go talk to them about ways they think they can help in the investigation and get honest feedback. You know, you have the right to choose who your
counsel is.
So make an informed decision, talk to criminal defense counsel, weigh the pros and cons, and make a decision
from there.
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