Criminal Law

Criminal law has massive consequences for the rest of your life. Who you choose to represent you can make all the difference in the world. What sets us apart is lengths we go to in order to enable client decision-making. The biggest complaint that people have about their attorneys is communication.  You have the right to know what is happening with your case, and have access to the same information we do.  This means getting a copy of your discovery, to enable you to make an informed decision about your future.  One thing we do in every case is to give you a written letter in the beginning about your case that details the charges against you, the elements of the charges, any relevant definitions the court would provide, and the maximum punishment you are facing if you go to trial and lose. This should be standard amongst attorneys, but sadly it is not.  We provide this in writing because our mantra is that if we are not willing to put our advice in writing, then we shouldn't be saying it.  

Part of enabling client decision making is advising clients to be smart with their money.  No attorney can ever guarantee a result, and if they do they are either a fool or a liar.  You will get an honest assessment from us about what we can realistically expect by going to trial.  You will know if we are facing an uphill battle, or if we have a genuine story we can tell in front of a jury.  You are the only person who can decide what to do in your case.  If you are choosing between misdemeanor consequences versus paying tens of thousands of dollars for trial, I know what most people would choose.  If you want to go to trial, we are going to be prepared to litigate your case to the end.  If you choose to accept an offer and minimize the damages, we will support you in that decision too.  Our mission is to help make that decision an informed one.  

Going to trial is serious business and a tremendous amount of work.  You are trusting your fate to twelve strangers who have their own biases and experiences that shape how they will view their case.  One thing the military taught me is the importance of always having the initiative in an encounter.  We do not want to be reacting to what the other side does, but want to have our opponent reacting to us.  The courtroom is like a battlefield, and every word we say is an arrow aimed at the other side.  With that mindset, you need to have a strategy that you can articulate long before you enter the courtroom that will advance your theory of the case.  We believe in approaching a trial with intentionality.  What that means is that we come in with a strategy and a plan, and stick to that strategy.  I choose my strategies from military leaders in history.  If I can borrow a plan from Hannibal or Julius Caesar, using their strategic genius to out-think my opponent is much more likely to succeed than winging it and reacting to the evidence as it comes in.  We must advance our theme and theory at every stage of the jury trial, and in doing so we put you in the best position to succeed.  This approach is what separates the litigators from the amateurs who think of themselves as trial attorneys.   

Not every case needs to go to trial, in fact, most don't.  When we enable client decision-making, sometimes it makes sense to accept a plea.  Often times, you will get an offer that is wholly unreasonable.  That does not necessarily mean that all hope is lost.  Making an effort to try to sway either the DA or the Judge for a better offer is always possible.  What we don't know in advance is whether it will work.  But you will fail 100% of the time if you don't try.  Other people hire us simply because they grow tired of attorneys who are always seeking more money out of them, or do not communicate what is going on in their case.  Having an advocate on your side who is transparent and honest gives you peace of mind.  This is why you should choose your attorney carefully.  

When you are considering who to hire, we always recommend hiring local counsel.  A local attorney is going to know the DA's, and know the Judges.  We know the procedures, the arguments which work on individual DA's and Judges.  Our office is located in San Luis Obispo, and we handle criminal matters here every day.  Out of town lawyers love to advertise they practice in San Luis Obispo County, but in practice they are never here.  When they sign an out of county case, they contact a local attorney and request a courtesy appearance for your case.  We know this, because they contact us asking for that exact favor.  After being polite in the first years of opening Taylor Defense Firm, our approach now is to let out of town attorneys know that if they advertise in this county, they can show up themselves to handle their own cases.  

Having a criminal charge hanging over your head is scary.  Our approach when first talking to you is to provide you with calm rational information to enable you to make the best decision possible, not a decision under pressure.  We post our prices on our website so we can be transparent about what to expect, and prefer to offer flat fees so you know exactly what to expect from the beginning of a case.  If our approach and our philosophy sounds good to you, we look forward to speaking with you.