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The Law Office of Andrew G. Griffin


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 Should you hire an attorney, or should you just use your appointed military attorney?

Only you can answer that question.  Many military members choose to hire a civilian attorney, while others do not.  Here are some things to consider.

  • Military defense counsel are busy.  They don't get to pick and choose their clients.  Many times the workload can be overwhelming, and many military defense counsel wish they could limit the amount of clients they must represent.
  • Military defense counsel are only able to spend a portion of their time on each court-martial, because they also have to represent clients facing nonjudicial punishments, discharges, and so on.   
  • Because of the workload and the time-crunch, it can be tempting to prioritize clients based upon chances of an acquittal versus pleading out.*
  • Many military defense counsel are inexperienced, junior officers.
* Sometimes the best plan of attack is to get a good plea agreement, once you've exhausted all possible plans of defense that could lead to an acquittal.  The point here is that it can become tempting to focus more energy on a client that appears, at first glance, to have a better defense, rather than investigating possible defenses for a client that seems to have no shot at an acquittal.


These are just some points to consider.  Many military defense counsel are very good and highly dedicated to their clients.  However, even the best  can get overwhelmed with the workload.  

As a civilian counsel, I have the privilege of turning away clients if I am too busy.  My clients deserve my fullest dedication and efforts, and if taking on a new client would diminish my ability to fight for them, then I won't take on the new client.  I'll refer the new client to someone else.

If you do wish to retain civilian counsel, you do not need to find an attorney in your local area.  The only time it is necessary for your counsel to travel is shortly before the trial.  Investigations and legal research can be done over the telephone, through the internet, through email, and through video conferencing.  What is important though is that your civilian counsel should be familiar with the military justice system.  Someone who's worn the uniform, who can better communicate with the military jury that you may face.

Contact me and we'll talk about your case.  Initial consultations are always free.

If you choose to retain me, I will fight hard for you.  It's your chain-of-command's responsibility to enforce good order and discipline at your installation, not mine.  I'll fight to defend you and your rights.  That's my duty as your counsel.





Dedicated to defending those that defend our freedom.