Make sure you contact a licensed attorney.
Keep in mind that these people are not with professional, licensed skills.
Rather they just have some knowledge and experience and may be doing their own studies — all for money.
Remember that professional attorneys are bound to rules of professional conduct and have passed the Texas State Bar. Or if you are in another state, the same thing, they are bound by their state bar.
These folks oftentimes don’t have the best skills
We hear of writ writers in prison and some who have gotten out and try to use what they’ve learned in the law library of the prison.
- They have read a lot about the criminal appeal.
- They may be more capable of doing it than you on your own.
- They may impart knowledge from their experience.
Be aware that they are not regulated. Their experience and education aren’t something they really talk about.
Experience and education are important.
The criminal writ and appeal process has structured timelines and deadlines and if you don’t follow them properly you may miss out on your opportunity to properly do a writ or criminal appeal.
Understand that licensed attorneys who do writ work are bound by rules of professional conduct.
- They could be fined for improper actions.
- They could lose their attorney’s license for improper actions.
These other folks are not licensed professionals who don’t face the same rules and regulations.
- They take advantage of people.
- They aren’t going to get arrested for taking your money and not doing anything really beneficial to your case.
With attorneys, you can investigate their credentials. You can check their license with the state bar, their websites for information on their education where they received their college and law degrees.
That plus take a look at any awards, board certifications, or organizational memberships that are important when choosing someone to help you deal with your case.
It doesn’t mean that the process can’t be done on your own. It doesn’t mean these people can’t be helpful to you.
But from what we hear from people who come to us for help, many stories mind you, some have told us they’ve $5,000 to hire one of these people to help them, and in the end, they didn’t do a thing.
It’s a common story. I’ve never heard from anyone who has said they hired one of these people and they were able to get their loved one out of prison.
That doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened, but from our experience, they haven’t been successful.
About The Attorney
Jacob Blizzard is board certified in both criminal law and criminal appellate law.
He regularly practices in the areas of state and federal criminal defense, criminal appeals, post conviction writs of habeas corpus.
In Texas, there are more than 100,000 attorneys licensed to practice, but only 7,450 are board certified.
In the entire State of Texas, as of the 2019 certification year, there were only 87 attorneys board certified in both criminal law and criminal appellate law, making Mr. Blizzard one of 0.00087% of attorneys in Texas to hold both of those certifications.
