Expungement is a legal activity that helps someone to remove the convictions and arrest history from their past. It involves vanishing someone’s public criminal record, making them clean to employers, landlords, schools, etc.
However, expunging doesn’t clear the record completely. Only a few authorized government officials can access the record.
It helps people to continue studying, get hired, or rent a place to stay. However, not everyone can be selected for expungement. You need to fulfill certain criteria and then apply to the court for expungement.
The legal professional who can help you with expungement is called an expungement lawyer.
Who is Expungement Lawyer?
An expungement lawyer is an attorney specializing in expungement law and assisting people in getting rid of previous arrest history or convictions.
An expungement lawyer is specialized in this specific law of the state. Rules and requirements for expunging are different in different states. So, the person should know the rules and requirements of the specific state well to practice expungement law and help people eliminate arrest records.
What does Expungement Lawyer Do?
I’ve already said the primary thing a lawyer for expungement does. But that’s not their only duty. Let’s see what they can do for you.
Assessing Your Case
Unfortunately, not all types of criminal records can be deleted. Only a few types of records that don’t have a severe impact can be vanished from public access. So, you need to identify first if your case is eligible for expungement.
The attorney you hire can assess your case to find it. As they have experience in similar cases, they know how things work.
Suggesting Your Next Step
After assessing your situation, the attorney can help you by suggesting your next step. Sometimes it is better to wait for a while before asking for expungement. On the other hand, you can ask for expungement immediately.
Based on your situation, they help you find your next step.
Helping You to Claim Expungement
Asking for vanishing crime reports from public records is a complex process. As public safety is directly related to it, the process contains some added security steps. Attorneys have experience with filing such claims. Taking help from attorneys help you complete the process faster.
Representing You in Court
If you want someone to represent you in court, your appointed expungement attorney is right there. They can help you by helping you face the court and handling all the related discussions.
Clearing or Sealing Your Record
After the approval from the court, clearing or sealing requires you to follow another process, which may seem complex to you. But, when you have a legal professional to help, worry not. After the legal permission, they start working on sealing the record or cleaning it from the public database.
Thus, an expungement lawyer can help you with everything regarding the process- from discussion to removal of the record. So, hiring someone to help you is a good decision indeed.
Types of Cases Lawyers Can Help You Expunge
Not all types of cases can be removed from public records. To protect the safety of people, only a few types of records can be wiped, including-
- Arrests caused by small wrongdoing that haven’t resulted in a conviction
- Convictions that are reversed or pardoned
- If the convicted person is a veteran discharged with honor
- Juvenile offenses (after a certain period)
- Dropped or dismissed charges
- Non-violent crimes
- Infractions
These are the most common cases that can be wiped from public records. There are a few more types based on the state you live in.
Some cases can’t be wiped out no matter how experienced lawyer you hire. Typically, wrongdoings that are related to public safety are not wiped out. Below are a few convictions you can’t remove from the public database.
- Murder
- Rape
- Assaults resulted in serious injury of a person or multiple people
- Capital offenses
- Terrorism
- Crimes that end up being the prison
Depending on the state you live in, expungement law varies a bit. Hiring an experienced legal professional would help you better understand your state’s situation and law. So, go for it.
How to Hire the Best Expungement Lawyer?
Hiring a compatible legal professional is necessary to eliminate small convictions or arrest records. You can’t expect the best benefit by hiring someone randomly.
I can suggest a process that helps to pick a compatible attorney from around you. It needs some time and effort but returns the best benefit.
Step 1- Look for Recommendations
Just like the process of hiring someone randomly, you need to look for recommendations in this process too. In this step, you should list 12-15 names of individuals or law firms that work on such cases.
The primary source of recommendation is your friends, family, and neighbors. Searching using search engines is another option you can try while looking for recommendations. It’ll help you with several names practicing this law around you.
If you know any lawyers, ask for their recommendations. Legal professionals know other lawyers working in a different field. Also, if possible, visit your local bar community for some suggestions.
Step 2- Evaluating the Options
Once you have a list of 12-15 names of different legal professionals or law firms working in your area, you can start the second step- evaluating the options.
In this step, you need to evaluate them based on the information available online. Most firms or professionals own websites or social media pages nowadays. Find the sites and check them. You’ll find valuable insights about their experience, the types of cases they work with, their success story, and more.
Also, look for their reviews and ratings on service review websites. This would help you with a clear idea about how they handle clients, what their clients have to say, and who can be a good pick.
Rate them based on the evaluation and pick the top 4-5 options for the next step.
Step 3- Direct Communication
Now you’ll communicate with the top options directly.
In most cases, you’ll find the first session free or low-cost. Contact them and schedule a meeting for free or low fee. Prepare a few questions to ask in the meeting.
In the meeting, discuss your situation elaborately. They need to know everything to help you well. So, don’t hide anything.
In this step, you’ll focus on their communication skills, experience, expertise with similar cases, approach towards your case, fee, etc.
After a session with the top picks from your list, rank them.
Step 4- Pick One
Now you’ll pick one based on the evaluation in the third step. You’ll go for the first one, maybe.
Pick a person or firm with experience, good communication skills, a positive approach, and a moderate fee.
What to Ask While Choosing an Expungement Attorney?
In the third step of choosing the best expungement lawyer, you must ask some questions regarding your situation when meeting face to face. The answers to the questions help you to decide the person or firm to choose.
Some of the most common questions are-
Does my case qualify for expungement?
Not all records can be cleared from the public database. So, after describing your case, you must ask this question. Besides the black and white area, there is a grey area too. If your situation falls in the grey area when you don’t understand if your crime qualifies for cleaning or not, asking this question is a must.
What are the documents I need?
You must have some documents related to your case to claim for expungement. Most of them are legal documents regarding your past crime. Without all the documents, the application won’t be valid. So, ask the lawyers about the documents you need.
Have you handled a similar case before?
Crime can be of different types. Thus, the consideration of expungement varies a lot. Ask this question to have an idea about their experience with exact similar cases. As you would want to select an experienced lawyer, someone who has handled a similar case would be a great pick.
What is your success rate in expungement cases?
Asking about the success rate is not a big deal. You want to be sure about their compatibility before choosing one. The lawyers know this too. So, ask about their success ratio in similar cases.
How much is your fee?
The fee varies based on several factors. But having a clear idea about it before deciding allows you to be aware of what’s coming next. So, ask them about their fee, how they charge it, and their payment options.
Questions an Expungement Attorney May Ask?
Besides answering your questions, the attorneys may ask you some. They must know the situation completely before discussing the possible solutions or outcomes. So, you may face some questions like-
Tell me about the offense in detail.
By this statement, they want to know exactly what, when, why, and how the occurrence took place. You shouldn’t leave any point behind while answering this. Tell them everything so that they can make better decisions.
You shouldn’t hide anything from your lawyer and your doctor.
Were you convicted?
Sometimes you’re charged, and sometimes you’re convicted. Also, sometimes you’re just arrested. The approach is different in different situations. So, they ask whether you’re convicted or not. Handling convictions is complex.
How old were you at that time?
Age is a prime factor in such cases. So, they must ask for your age at the time of the occurrence. If you were underage, the scope of getting rid of the charge is a bit easier.
Do you have evidence of rehabilitation?
The court would ask for evidence that you’ve changed yourself. So, going through a rehab process would be helpful to convince them. If you have such evidence, it becomes easier for the lawyer to help you.
These are just the primary questions an attorney may ask you. Don’t hesitate to answer completely. Keeping gaps in your information won’t help you. It may result in a worse situation.
How much do Expungement Attorneys Cost?
The cost of lawyers for an expungement case varies based on several factors. Based on the complexity of your case, attorneys calculate the fee. Also, their experience plays an important role in determining the amount they charge.
In such cases, most of them charge an hourly fee. Some may ask for a monthly fee too.
The hourly charge of an expungement attorney is around $100-$400, depending on their experience and other factors. They keep track of the number of hours they work on the case. You need to pay based on that.
The total fee varies based on the amount of work they have to do for you. It usually ends up within the range of $1,000 to $5,000. Based on the characteristics of your case, the total fee may go more than $5,000.
Is Hiring an Attorney for Expungement a Must?
According to law, hiring an attorney for such cases is not a must. You can handle it on your own. The problem happens when your case belongs to the grey area.
If you have a previous history of arrest or conviction eligible for expungement in your state, clearly written in any section of the law, you can proceed to handle it on your own. Handling it won’t be tough as it’s directly supported by law and doesn’t fall in the grey area.
But if it is not clearly written, it’ll be tough for you to handle it. In such cases, you can take the help of an attorney. They can help you with the complete process. If you hire a legal professional to work for you, they’ll handle everything.
If you find the cost of hiring someone huge, there’s another option. You can proceed to handle the case on your own. Anytime you face a problem or complexity, book a consolation session with a professional to take their suggestions.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Do expungement lawyers work on other cases too?
Yes, most of them work on criminal cases, too, as these two laws are closely related. You may find some criminal lawyers also practicing expungement law.
However, picking a lawyer working with a specific type of law is a wise choice in most cases. They have a better idea as they specialize in only that specific type of case.
Can expungement lawyers make a difference?
Yes, they can.
The problem is that most crimes are unallowed to be removed or cleaned from the public database as public safety is directly related to it. Only small crimes that don’t harm the public are expungable. If your case is non-expungable, lawyers have nothing much to do about that. That’s why some lawyers fail in such cases.
If I fail once, does hiring a new attorney help me?
You can try again if you think you’ve failed because of the attorney’s inefficiency. But in most cases, it won’t bring any better results as expungement is allowed for only a few types of cases. Failing once means your case is not eligible for expunging by the court. In this case, a new attorney can’t bring a better result.