For criminal defense, you want attorneys who used to work in the prosecutor's office. Top of the list is probably a partner, who used to be a DA in the same county they primarily practice in now, with 20+ years of total experience. But you're looking at mid-to-high 3 figures per hour.

Really it boils down to experience, and how likely that person is to have a relationship with the prosecutors, judges, and clerks where you have a problem.

If you are under a time crunch, it can be an issue. Sometimes you just need to hire someone who will do the basic leg work to buy you breathing room until you can find the right lawyer.

Contact your local bar association, they almost always have referral services.

Also in many jurisdictions you can find local advocacy groups that can provide referrals.

Any lawyer not overburdened by public defense cases should be an improvement.

If you know who your judge will be, but you don't have a lawyer yet, just go sit in their courtroom for a while watching the defenders. You want the one that everyone from the state says hello to, and laughs and jokes with. Even better if they have the same type of rapport with the judge. Follow them out when they're finished, and ask them for their card. (reiterated from my other reply)

Ask around, good lawyers typically have a reputation, as do bad ones. Just like with any other kind of specialist that you hire, years in the field, track record and references.

How do you "ask around" if you're in jail already, though?

It's probably the place where you'll find the highest concentration of people who had to deal with a lawyer!

Perhaps the sample is biased towards people who dealt with a bad lawyer, though.

Good question, that's outside of my area of expertise, but my assumption would be that the justice system would at least allow you to communicate with your - prospective - lawyers. If not then it's a lost battle before it has begun.

It didn't work out that way in my case. Prison/jail phone systems are a wreck. I wasn't able to contact my attorney and when I brought this up to the corrections officers, they said that I had no right to. Whether this was true or just the whim of guards who take inflicting abuse as a perk of the job, the end result was the same.

That's utterly disgusting.

"Tell me, Mr. Anderson, what good is a phone call when you are unable to speak?"

Actually other inmates would be a great resource for an attorney referral. You could joke, or think common sense, would say you don't want the same lawyer as anyone who has been convicted...but the reality is even the best criminal defense lawyers will lose. You will be able to find people who have been charged with similar crimes or find convicts who have previously been charged with similar crimes and got off, but are in for something else now.

A good idea is to keep a list of lawyers, attorneys and other "can-use" people handy. Having a close one have access to that list and your banking details can help as he'll make the calls.

Have friends/relatives you can depend on. It is almost the only way

"Asking around" is worthless as every case is different, even at a high level of "what law(s) are you accused of breaking, in what county are you accused, and are you guilty?" When you get into the specifics of facts, alibi, your personal reputation should you have to take the stand, etc, your precise case has never been argued before and will need a unique defense.