The ineffective assistance of an attorney refers to a situation in which the legal representation of a criminal defendant does not meet minimum standards of competence. However, not all of an attorney's mistakes will be considered ineffective assistance. Lawyers are human beings and can make mistakes. To be considered ineffective, the errors must be serious and must have changed the outcome of the trial.
Basically, there's a good chance that the trial would have ended differently if the lawyer had done a better job. Ineffective advocacy aggravates each of the causes of wrongful convictions listed in the table above. How can this be? Because research, the thorough practice of motions, and enthusiastic defense are the main controls of our system. If the defense attorney strives to obtain Brady's material, insists on litigating over the admissibility of evidence or the right to present a defense, and asks difficult questions both in and out of court, there is less chance that other causes of a wrongful conviction will prevail. Defense attorneys cannot engage in this type of defense when the number of cases is monstrously high, resources, such as researchers and experts, are scarce, and the prevailing view is that if the defendant did not commit this crime, he probably committed something else. The effective assistance of an attorney benefits everyone, not just the defendant.
A society that cannot trust its criminal justice system fails. Communication with the client and research are part of preparing for the trial, but in addition, the lawyer must study the discovery material to know him better than the opposing party's lawyer. Beard, the Supreme Court blamed the defendant's lawyer for failing to review a file that the lawyer knew the prosecution would use in the sentencing phase of trial. The law recognizes that attorneys have ample freedom to make tactical decisions, and only serious errors or omissions affecting the outcome of the trial are likely to meet this standard.
In a criminal case, when the client cannot rationally assist him in his defense, an attorney may need to submit a request for a competence evaluation. If the lawyer believes that the client could be exploited because of the condition, he can take steps to protect the client, and this rule authorizes the disclosure of privileged information that would otherwise be protected under Rule 16. In addition, your lawyer's lack of response to your questions, confusion or uncertainty about the law after having time to conduct the proper investigation, or unprofessional conduct in or out of court could be signs of an ineffective attorney. Alabama, the Supreme Court declared the action of an attorney ineffective when he did not request funding for a better ballistics expert, even though he was legally authorized to do so. In the United States, a lawyer was declared ineffective when he did not object to the judge's miscalculation of the defendant's sentence. Based on the review of discovery and pre-trial hearings, the lawyer should have an idea of what the main legal arguments and the main issues of admissibility of evidence will be.
There are many examples of how an attorney can perform poorly and still not fall below the standard of reasonableness. Therefore, a defendant who filed for the first time a writ of habeas for the first time would argue that he did not do so before in a direct appeal because the lawyer was not effective in that moment. Clients almost always turn against their trial attorneys after a conviction, so they must document in their notebooks or trial files what they did and why they made certain decisions if the client files a claim for ineffective assistance or files a complaint. Let's think of the defendant's lawyer who advises the client to accept a settlement without fully explaining the consequences or appoints an attorney with no experience in a complex criminal case.
Charles “Tim Laughlin”, Oklahoma City defense attorney, receives the National Bar Association's Public Defense Champion award. Washington, DC (May 27, 2002). The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) awarded Charles “Tim Laughlin” the Public Defense Champion Award of 2025. You are not a lawyer and, therefore, it can be extremely difficult to determine if your lawyer was competent during your criminal trial. In general, an attorney is considered ineffective if there are reasonable grounds to believe that your lawyer's unprofessional errors were serious enough to change the outcome of your case.