Sentencing: The Paradox of Winning

Acquittals, Plea Agreements, and Sentencing Strategies

No lawyer can guarantee an acquittal. Most criminal prosecutions are resolved not in a trial, but in a negotiated guilty plea.

The paradox is this: When good lawyers start their practice, they can only charge modest fees, and are retained in cases which are winnable. As the lawyer improves his or her skills, the lawyer’s reputation climbs and more difficult and complex cases are referred by their civil colleagues. The lawyers can now charge higher fees, but achieve fewer acquittals. Finally, the criminal defense lawyers at the pinnacle of the profession are retained in the most difficult cases, can charge the highest fees, and secure even fewer acquittals than they achieved in the prior decades of their practice.

The Shellow Group recognizes that some cases will be lost and that many will be ultimately resolved by negotiation. Regardless of the probability of a trial and the probability of an acquittal, Robin Shellow and The Shellow Group plan a sentencing strategy from the day they are retained. Extensive interviews are conducted with the defendant, his family, friends, co-workers, colleagues, teachers, priests, rabbis, ministers and everyone whose perspective of the defendant will add data to an integrated and compelling sentencing memorandum which will convince a prosecutor to give a reasonable recommendation and allow the judge to really know the defendant before sentence is imposed.