DM Cantor is presenting you with a general outline of how your case will proceed with our Firm once you retain our services.  The first documents that are filed on your behalf are the “Notice of Appearance” and “Request for Discovery.”  The Notice of Appearance informs the Court that we will be appearing on all future court dates on your behalf and, in most cases, you do not need to actually appear in court with us on the designated court dates.  If you do need to appear, we will notify you by mail and by phone.

Your very first court date is what is known as an “Arraignment.”  At this point, we will enter a plea of not guilty.  After this, “Pre-Trial Conferences” will be held approximately every thirty (30) days between ourselves and the prosecutor.  The purpose of the Pre-Trial Conference is to determine whether all of the “Discovery” has been completed.  Discovery includes investigation of all witnesses, all forensic evidence, documentation, consultation with experts (if necessary) and all other issues which need to be explored prior to the consideration of any type of “Plea Agreement” or “Motion Filing.”  All Motions and Motion Hearings will be conducted during this Discovery phase and you will be informed whether your testimony and presence will be necessary at any potential Motion Hearings.

Remember, it can take three to five (3-5) weeks before we receive the Police Report from the Prosecutor after we submit our “Request for Discovery.”  Therefore, it is not necessary to call our staff in the days immediately after you retain to ask “have you gotten the Police Report,” “what’s going on with my case,” “what is my case status,” “what happened at my first Court date,” etc.  The main progress regarding your case will begin once the Police Report and other Discovery is obtained, roughly three to five (3-5) weeks after you have retained our DM Cantor.

After all Discovery is conducted and completed and all Motions have been filed, you will be brought in to discuss the basis of those motions and whether you will be required to testify at those Motion Hearings.  Once the Motions are argued and ruled upon by the Judge, you will be informed of the outcome.  If the case is not Dismissed during the Motion Process, Final Plea Negotiations will be entered into with the Prosecutor.  After a Final Plea Offer is received, you will be brought in to our office to discuss whether you choose to accept the Prosecutor’s offer or whether you wish to proceed on to Trial and fight the State’s allegations.

When you retain DM Cantor, we ask that you do not direct any legal questions to the staff; they are not Attorneys and they are not allowed to answer any technical, legal questions. However, they can answer procedural questions which deal with the “when” and “where” of your case’s standing. Only the Attorneys can answer the “how” and “why.” Although you will have the entire DM Cantor Defense Team on your side, the bulk of the work on the cases are typically assigned to one Partner and one associate (the “Primary Attorney”). Because the Partner cannot be everywhere at once, the Primary Attorney will do most of the leg work, and you will have most of your contact with them and their Legal Assistant.

DM Cantor maintains an open-door policy and you can call in to have questions answered at any time, or set up an appointment to meet in person.  We normally attempt to return phone calls within twenty-four to forty-eight hours.  Please keep in mind that we are very busy and we are in court and meetings most of the day.  We are not ignoring you if it does take up to 48 hours to get back to you.   We normally maintain updates and contact approximately every thirty days (usually after each Pre-Trial Conference).

If you receive any mail from the Court or police, contact DM Cantor immediately.  Do not discuss your case with the Police, Insurance Companies or Witnesses.  Have them contact us if they have questions.