What To Look For When Hiring An Attorney For A Juvenile

Interviewer: Are there attorneys that specialize in juvenile offenses? What should someone look for when they’re evaluating one of these kinds of attorneys for hire?

Amir Ladan: It doesn’t take any kind of special certification to handle juvenile cases.
The bar doesn’t distinguish from someone who’s bar licensed to practice law versus bar licensed to practice juvenile law. In evaluating an attorney, what would be noteworthy to me, as a parent, would be what this attorney’s experience level is in the juvenile system.

Look for Experience in the Juvenile Court System

One good measure of experience would be if this attorney had ever been employed as a prosecutor or public defender in juvenile court. The processes and procedures are different for juvenile court. It’s helpful to be familiar with them.

Having experience in that field is absolutely a prerequisite. It would be for me, if I were looking for somebody to represent my child. However, there isn’t any special certification that you can look up in the Florida Bar website that says this person is certified to handle juvenile offenses.

Interviewer: When someone’s searching for an attorney, they would expect a lawyer that practices juvenile law to advertise that fact on their website. Is that correct?

Amir Ladan: Absolutely. You’d hope that they would be highlighting their experience in the area as well as the types of juvenile cases they’ve handled and perhaps any special experience they’ve had there.

This Attorney’s Experience

I was a prosecutor for three years, and during the three years I prosecuted, I spent an entire year in juvenile court. I was in court everyday handling juvenile cases, dealing with the judges, dealing with all the procedures and processes. I mentioned earlier that these processes are slightly different than adult court. Spending five days a week in juvenile court gives you a basis and familiarity.