Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Domestic Violence Defense Lawyer in Michigan

The useful questions to ask a defense lawyer about a Michigan domestic violence case fall into five groups: experience with this kind of case in this court, the lawyer's first read of your case, what the fee is and what it covers, how you will be kept informed, and who will do the work. Michigan's professional conduct rules already answer some of them: the basis of the fee must be communicated, a fee cannot depend on the outcome, and the decision on a plea is the client's.^[1][2][4]

This checklist can be used with any Michigan attorney, and most of it applies equally to a public defender or assigned counsel. It does not recommend any lawyer or firm and gives no fee figures. Bring it, with the documents listed in What to bring to a first meeting with a lawyer.

Before the meeting

• Know your next court date and the name of the court. The usual 48-hour wait before a bench warrant issues for a missed date does not apply if the case is for an assaultive crime or a domestic violence offense as defined in MCL 764.3.^[5]
• Have your release paperwork in hand. A judge or magistrate who releases a person subject to protective conditions must state the specific conditions, either orally on the record or in a writing delivered personally.^[6] A lawyer will want to read the exact wording rather than rely on a summary.
• Do not ask the complaining witness or anyone close to that person to come with you, call the lawyer for you, or write a letter for you. A no-contact condition can bar contact of any kind.^[7]
• Plan to talk to more than one lawyer if time allows. The State Bar of Michigan has a free online directory searchable by practice area and location, and a lawyer referral service.^[8]

Questions about experience

1. How much of your practice is criminal defense, and how often do you handle domestic assault cases? You are asking about recent, relevant work, not years in practice alone.
2. How often do you appear in the court where my case is pending? The prosecutor has broad discretion to decide whether to prosecute and what charges to file, so it is fair to ask how the office handling your case uses that discretion.^[9]
3. When did you last try a case like this to a jury? A jury trial is available in every criminal prosecution, including a 93-day misdemeanor, and a district court jury has 6 members.^[10][11]
4. Have you handled the related proceedings that can come with these cases? A personal protection order is a separate civil case in the family division of circuit court.^[12] Custody and parenting time can also be affected, because domestic violence is a best-interest factor.^[13]
5. Who will actually appear with me at each hearing? For appointed counsel, the governing Act states the principle that the same lawyer continuously represents the client and personally appears at every court appearance, with exceptions for ministerial matters.^[14] For retained counsel it is a matter to settle in advance.

Questions about your case

A lawyer who has not yet seen the police report can give only a preliminary view. Each of these questions has a rule behind it.

1. What does the prosecutor have to prove? For domestic assault there are two elements, each to be proved beyond a reasonable doubt: an assault or assault and battery, and one of the listed relationships.^[15]
2. How and when will we get the evidence? On request the prosecutor must provide police reports, the defendant's recorded statements and any exculpatory information, and each side must comply with a discovery request within 21 days unless the court orders otherwise.^[16][17] In a misdemeanor case, witness lists and witness statements are exchanged only if the defendant elects to request them.^[18]
3. What happens to the case if the complaining witness does not testify or changes the account? The prosecutor, not the witness, decides whether to prosecute.^[9] Michigan evidence law gives the prosecution several routes in that situation, including statements to police under MCL 768.27c and 911 calls.^[19] Be wary of any plan that depends on a witness not appearing.
4. Are there defenses worth investigating? If there is some evidence of self-defense, the prosecutor must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did not act in self-defense.^[20]
5. Am I eligible for a deferral, and what would it require and cost me? A deferral under MCL 769.4a is available only to a person with no prior assaultive-crime conviction, requires the consent of both the accused and the prosecuting attorney, and can end in only one discharge and dismissal for any individual.^[21][22] Whether to seek one is the client's decision.^[4]
6. What will a conviction or a plea do to me specifically? Ask about firearms, since Michigan bars possession for 8 years after the sentence is completed and the federal ban has no time limit.^[23][24] If you are not a citizen, ask directly: defense counsel must tell a noncitizen client whether a plea carries a risk of deportation.^[25] Ask also about your job, any professional license, and your record.
7. Can the bond or no-contact conditions be changed, and what would you file? A court may modify a release decision on a party's motion, or on its own initiative, on finding a substantial reason; until it does, the order stands as written.^[26]
8. How will the defense investigate without my having contact with anyone the order protects? The answer should not involve you, your family or your friends reaching out to a witness. On credible evidence of intimidation by the defendant or at the defendant's direction, the prosecuting attorney may move to revoke bond.^[27] Appointed counsel can request funds for an investigator, and reasonable requests must be funded.^[28]
9. What should I do, and not do, while the case is pending? A careful answer will cover the no-contact condition, social media, firearms, and preserving evidence. An officer may arrest without a warrant on reasonable cause to believe a release condition has been violated.^[29]

Questions about fees and scope

The rules set a frame and leave the rest to agreement. The basis or rate of the fee must be communicated, preferably in writing; a contingent fee is not allowed in a criminal defense matter; and a fee may not be illegal or clearly excessive.^[1][2][30]

1. Is the fee flat or hourly, and what exactly triggers additional charges?
2. Will you give me a written fee agreement before I pay anything? The rule prefers a writing.^[1]
3. What does the fee cover? The court rule describes a trial lawyer's responsibilities as including all trial court proceedings through initial sentencing, but it does not define what a private fee includes.^[31] Ask specifically about motions, a trial, a bond-violation hearing, a probation-violation hearing, a personal protection order hearing, and an appeal.
4. What costs are separate from the fee? Examples are investigators, expert witnesses, transcripts and copies of recordings.
5. If the case ends early, or if I change lawyers, how is any unearned portion handled? When a representation ends, a lawyer must refund any advance payment of fee that has not been earned.^[32] Ask how the agreement decides what has been earned.
6. Who may pay, and does the person paying get information about my case? A lawyer may accept payment from someone other than the client only if the client consents after consultation, the payer does not interfere with the lawyer's independent judgment or the client-lawyer relationship, and the client's information stays protected.^[33] A lawyer may reveal a client's confidences with the client's consent, and only after full disclosure.^[34] If the person offering to pay is someone your release order protects, raise that with the lawyer rather than with that person.

Appointed counsel is the other route, and the same conduct rules on communication and client decisions apply to it.^[4][3] A defendant who cannot obtain competent, qualified representation without substantial financial hardship is considered indigent, and the ability to post bond does not make a defendant ineligible.^[35][36] Appointed counsel is not necessarily free: a defendant able to pay part of the cost may be ordered to contribute, and after a plea or a finding of guilt the costs a court may impose include the expenses of providing legal assistance.^[37][38] See Court-appointed or retained counsel.

Questions about communication

1. How will you keep me informed, and how quickly do you return calls or messages? A lawyer must keep a client reasonably informed about the status of a matter and comply promptly with reasonable requests for information.^[3]
2. Will I see the police report and the recordings myself? A lawyer must explain a matter to the extent reasonably necessary to permit the client to make informed decisions.^[3]
3. Will you tell me about every offer, even ones you think I should refuse? The rule requires prompt notice of all proposed plea bargains.^[3]
4. If we disagree about whether to plead or go to trial, what happens? The decision on the plea, on waiving a jury, and on testifying is the client's, made after consultation.^[4]

Answers that should make you ask a follow-up question

• A promised result at the first meeting. Before anyone has read the police report, heard the 911 recording or seen the body-camera video, an outcome cannot be known. Ask what the prediction is based on.
• "You only pay if we win." A contingent fee for representing a defendant in a criminal case is prohibited.^[2]
• "Have the complaining witness call the prosecutor and ask for the case to be dropped." A no-contact condition can bar contact of any kind, and the prosecutor, not the witness, decides whether to prosecute.^[7][9] Separately, MCL 750.122 makes it a felony to use threat or intimidation to influence testimony or to discourage a witness from attending, or to offer anything of value for the same purpose, and it applies even if no subpoena has been served.^{[39][40][41][42]} A person facing charges should not be the source of any such request, directly or through anyone else.
• A firm recommendation to plead, or to go to trial, before the evidence has been reviewed. The 93-day maximum for a first offense is one consequence among several, a plea gives up the trial rights the court must list, and the choice of plea belongs to the client after consultation.^[43][44][4] Ask what the recommendation rests on and what each course would mean for you.
• No questions about your immigration status, firearms or children. Federal immigration law, the firearm bans and the custody statute each attach consequences to a domestic violence conviction or finding.^[45][23][13]

If your lawyer is appointed

You do not interview an appointed lawyer before appointment, but the questions about the case and about communication are the same, and the same conduct rules apply.^[4][3] The Michigan Indigent Defense Commission standards add specifics: counsel conducts an initial interview as soon as practicable, within three business days for a client in local custody, in a private and confidential setting to the extent reasonably possible.^[46] Counsel conducts an independent investigation and requests experts where reasonably necessary.^[28] Eligible defendants have counsel during plea negotiations and at other critical stages.^[47]

After the meeting

Write down what you were told the same day. Compare the answers on scope and communication as carefully as the fee; the duty to keep a client informed and to pass on every proposed plea bargain applies to whichever lawyer you choose.^[3] Then read the guides that explain what the lawyer was describing: Possible outcomes of a domestic violence case, the MCL 769.4a deferral, discovery, defenses, and Plea or trial: how to think about the decision.