This page was written, edited, reviewed & approved by Brian LaVine following our comprehensive editorial guidelines. Brian LaVine the Founding Partner, 10+ years of legal experience as criminal defense attorney.
Key Takeaways
You prepare for a criminal defense consultation by gathering your paperwork, writing down what happened, and deciding what you need answered. A lawyer can only evaluate the case you actually describe, and the details that matter most tend to blur within days of an arrest. Court settings arrive on their own schedule, which often means the meeting happens before you have collected everything.
At LaVine Law Firm, we defend people facing misdemeanor and felony charges in Houston, and the consultations that accomplish the most are the ones where the client arrives organized. You can call us with whatever you have, even if that is a single citation and a date.
Many people hold back during a consultation because they fear the lawyer will repeat what they hear. Texas rules answer that fear directly. Knowing the protections lets you speak freely enough for the meeting to be worth your time.
Under Texas Rule of Evidence 503, you count as a client the moment you consult a lawyer with a view to obtaining legal services. Hiring is not required for the privilege to attach. A consultation you walk away from stays confidential.
Criminal cases receive broader treatment under the same rule. A client may prevent a lawyer from disclosing any other fact learned through the attorney-client relationship, not only the words exchanged. One exception matters: The privilege does not cover a request for help committing or planning a future crime or fraud.
Article 1.051 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure gives a defendant the right to counsel, including the right to consult privately far enough ahead of a proceeding to prepare for it. That right belongs to you from the beginning.
After an arrest, Article 15.17 requires that you be brought before a magistrate within 48 hours. The magistrate must inform you of the accusation, your right to retain counsel, your right to remain silent, and your right to have an attorney present during questioning by officers or prosecutors.
Paperwork does more than fill a file. Each document tells us which court you are in, what the State has alleged, and which deadlines are already running.
Gather several categories of material before you arrive:
Gaps in that list are normal rather than a setback. Under Article 39.14, we request the State's file directly, and prosecutors must produce offense reports, witness statements, and designated documents as soon as practicable after a timely request.
If your setting date is close, call our team at 713-965-7305 before you spend another day guessing. We can tell you what to bring and what to leave alone until the file has been reviewed.
Documents show what the State says. Your account fills in what the paperwork leaves out, and that is usually where a defense begins.
Start with a written chronology covering the hours before, during, and after the incident. Note who was present, where you were, and what you were doing at each point.
Then record the specifics that carry legal weight. Write down what officers actually said, whether anyone told you that you were free to leave, whether a search happened, and whether you agreed to it. Exact wording matters far more than your summary of it.
A few choices made before your consultation can cost you leverage that no lawyer can recover later.
Do not speak with investigators without counsel present, and do not post about the case anywhere. Avoid contact with a complaining witness when bond conditions or a protective order forbid it. Never delete messages, photographs, or accounts, because deletion can support a separate charge and often looks worse than the original content.
Criminal charges can change your life—Get the defense you deserve.
A consultation runs in both directions. You are deciding whether this office can handle your charge in your court, and the answers should be specific rather than reassuring.
Several questions separate a useful answer from a sales pitch:
Write the answers down while they are fresh, then compare them across every office you meet.
You cannot judge advice about an offer without knowing the exposure behind it. Texas Penal Code Chapter 12 sets the range for each offense level, and enhancements can push a case above it.
A Class C misdemeanor carries a fine up to $500 with no confinement attached. Class B raises that to a fine up to $2,000, up to 180 days in county jail, or both.
Class A sits at the top of the misdemeanor levels. It carries a fine up to $4,000, up to one year in county jail, or both.
Felony levels begin with the state jail felony, which carries 180 days to two years in a state jail facility. A third degree felony carries two to ten years in state prison, and a second degree felony carries two to twenty years.
First degree felonies carry five to 99 years or life in state prison. Every felony level also allows a fine up to $10,000.
Yes. Texas privilege rules treat you as a client once you consult a lawyer about obtaining legal services, so the conversation stays confidential whether or not you retain that office.
We recommend coming alone. A third person in the room can undercut confidentiality, and people tend to hold back details when a relative is listening.
That is common, and it does not slow us down. We request the State's file under the discovery rules, then review it with you once prosecutors produce it.
The hardest part of a first consultation is usually deciding how much to say. Privilege rules exist so that you do not have to make that calculation alone, and we would rather hear the difficult facts now than discover them the week of trial.
Our team defends misdemeanor and felony charges in Houston and the surrounding counties. We examine the offense report, the stop or search that produced the evidence, and the conditions attached to your release. We will also tell you plainly what we cannot assess until the State produces its file.
Bring what you have and we will work from there. Call Brian LaVine at LaVine Law Firm at 713-965-7305 for a free case evaluation with a Houston criminal defense lawyer.
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