Leonard Morales | El Paso Criminal Defense Lawyer

I have been a lawyer now over 25 years and in that time I have strived to give my clients competent, accurate and honest advice and counsel. I have in my time as a lawyer built a reputation on being up front and honest with clients. Sometime, clients don't want to hear the truth but I think this is a quality that brings clients back and leads to good referrals and word of mouth.

I believe that your lawyer should have experience with cases like yours, a good reputation (beyond just a few good or bad reviews) and an established practice - that is a track record. But most of all your lawyer should be someone that is willing to tell you the hard truths, not just what you want to hear. Because, you need someone that is willing to say what needs to be said before you put down thousands of dollars potentially on a case. Its easy for someone to tell you just pay me however many thousands of dollars and I'll get you what you want. Then to say sorry, it just didn't go our way. You need to have a lawyer that is willing to talk about both sides of the case. So that you, the client, can make an informed decision.

I would say it depends on whether we have a criminal or family case. In criminal cases there are two kinds of local knowledge. One is the locality of your case, in other words where your jury is coming from. The second is knowing the local court and how it operates. Both are important and are factors that have to be taken into account before making a decision. The second part is in family cases. I have always said that family law is a very local practice. And this is very true because Family Court judges have a whole lot of discretion in making decisions that will directly impact your life and your children's lives. So how a particular judge handles a particular case is very important. Bottom line, in family cases you should look for a lawyer that practices regularly in front of the judges where your case is going to be heard.

Depending on what information I have at hand and the accuracy of the information coming to me from the client or the clients representative, I can provide my opinion or advice about the case. That is to say that I am willing to answer any question my client might have regarding their case. For example, in a divorce case I can, just about every time, tell you what to expect and how the local courts will deal with your community estate (that is all the property, debt, assets or other items collected during the marriage). In a criminal case, this might be harder since I will rarely have access to the evidence in the case. But I can give someone an idea of the kinds of questions that need to be asked and the things that may need to be done to properly investigate the case.

It is always helpful to bring whatever documentation you have that pertains to the case. For example in a family or divorce case you should bring with you any prior orders of the court, prior judgments or decrease, and any other documentation that might be important. Documents such as these might be property records, appraisals, account statements and the like. In a criminal case, any information about the facts and circumstances would be helpful. Lists of potential witnesses, including names addresses phone numbers, social media and such. It may also be helpful to have a copy of the criminal complaint or indictment in the case; or the cause number.

I not only have over 20 years experience as an attorney. I also have probably the widest range of experience of any attorney in El Paso. I have handled criminal cases in federal court, state court and military courts-martial. I have handled appeals before federal, state and military appeals courts. My experience as a U.S. Army JAG provides me with insight in to the military family and the unique circumstances of those types of cases. But I don't just handle military family cases. I have represented every type of person and have seen just about every type of divorce, child custody dispute, retirement or property dispute.

I am a member of LULAC. I volunteer with the El Paso Municipal Court Teen Court Program.

• United States Supreme Court | Member | 2010 - Present
  Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces | Member | 2009 - Present
  Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association | Member | 2007 - Present
  Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit | Member | 2007 - Present
  Mexican American Bar Association - El Paso | Member | 2003 - Present

• Most Feared Lawyers | Most Feared Lawyers 2016 | 2016
  Top 100 Trial Lawyers | The National Trial Lawyers | 2014
  Invitation to Membership | National Child Abuse Defense & Resource Center | 2014
  Peer Review Rated | Martindale-Hubbell | 2014
  Outstanding Lawyer | El Paso Bar Association | 2012

• Case Results
  Lead counsel in 100+ jury trials.

• Soldier's Rights Panel | Civil Military Justice and the Soldier | 2012
  Indigent Defense Training | Collateral Consequences of Civilian Criminal Involvement for Military Members | 2012

Leonard C. Morales has been a Premium Member since August 13, 2021.
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