Criminal Law Attorneys in Illinois

The penal jurisdiction of state covers a lot of ground—from minor traffic offenses to misdemeanors with up to a year jail time and felonies that could send one to a state penitentiary for a long time. Whatever the offense, an attorney with a concentration in criminal law can help reduce your proposed penalty and perhaps have the crime expunged from your record in the future.

Perhaps you feel at risk of being suspected for a crime—in which case criminal attorneys can offer legal advice to sidestep a law. Just as a convicted criminal asks an attorney’s advice as to how not to implicate himself in a crime, a criminal attorney can explain common law provisions such as investigative cooperation. Many individuals who may have indirectly abetted a crime do not know the extent of inchoate criminal laws. Assuredly, it’s hard to fathom a situation where one would be inchoate for a traffic crime where an individual gets in a collision with a parked car. Common inchoate criminal laws often include sexual harassment, terrorism and conspiracy. Charles Manson, for instance, was never arrested for murder but for the conspiracy of the Sharon Tate murders.

Some criminal laws can almost guarantee certain jail time—drug possession, drug abuse, or weapons offenses are prohibited by law and carry rigorous consequences. In many cases of drug possession or a positive DUI, the only argument one can make against a conviction is to dispute how the officer handled the arrest. Should you have been granted a warrant in your situation or would the officer been allowed to assume probable cause? Fitzpatrick & Harrop attorneys of Illinois are adept at answering these pertinent questions that can mean a felony conviction that can follow you throughout your entire life. Without any expungement, that felony can be crippling. Call an attorney specializing in criminal law at our Chicago offices at 312.553.2200. In Grundy or LaSalle Counties, please contact us at our Morris location at 815.942.0071.