Located in San Francisco, The Law Office of Scot Candell represents clients throughout the San Francisco Area, including San Mateo, Santa Clara, Alameda, Marin, Contra Costa, and Sonoma Counties. Our firm specializes in criminal defense and personal injury litigation, as well as mediation and arbitration for a variety of types of cases.

Our law firm was founded by Scot Candell in 1997, with a purpose of providing sophisticated, experienced representation to clients needing assistance in criminal defense or personal injury law. Mr. Candell has built a reputation as an aggressive litigator handling complex and sensitive cases, and providing a level of client service that seeks to uphold the very best standards of the legal profession. Mr. Candell relentlessly pursues justice for his clients, and strives to make their experience with the legal process as worry free as possible.

At the Law Office of Scot Candell, we understand that much of the fear and anxiety involved with the legal system are the result of dealing with the unknown. We reduce your anxiety by taking the time to listen to your issues and by carefully explaining the legal process and your options to you, while reassuring you that you will receive the highest quality legal representation you seek and deserve.

We handle criminal cases, including: DUI & Traffic, Drugs, Firearms, Domestic violence, White Collar crimes, Fraud, Embezzlement, Credit Card & Identity Theft charges and all misdemeanor and felony charges.

We handle personal injury cases including: Automobile and Motorcycle Accidents, Products Liability, Slip and Fall Accidents, and Construction Related Injuries.

“Our law office acts as mediators and arbitrators in various cases with outstanding success. As part of our mission to help individuals facing legal problems that might otherwise seem overwhelming, mediation and arbitration has allowed us to assist in resolving cases quickly, cheaply, and painlessly. See our mediation/arbitration page for more information.

STEPS TO RETAIN ATTORNEY:

Do I need to hire a lawyer?

If you have been charged with a crime:

If you have been charged with a crime, the short answer is Yes. The court generally will not let you proceed without a lawyer to insure that your rights are protected. If you would like to be represented by the Office of the Public Defender, and if you earn less than a certain amount of money per year (each county has different threshold amounts), a Deputy Public Defender will represent you for free. However, at the end of your case, the court may hold a hearing to determine if you have the ability to pay for the legal services you were provided. If the court determines you do have the money to pay for a lawyer, you may receive a bill.

If you would like to hire a lawyer, you should consult with more than one. See How do I Choose a Lawyer?

You have not been charged with a crime

If you have not been charged with a crime but think you may be in the near future, you want to talk to a lawyer. There are things that a lawyer can do to keep charges from getting filed against you. You should meet consult with several lawyers and see what each can do to help you, and how much they will charge you for their services. See How do I Choose a Lawyer?

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How do I choose a lawyer?

You’ve decided you need a lawyer. How do you know which lawyer to hire

There are several important things to consider when hiring a lawyer:

1. Trust

When choosing a lawyer to represent you, the most important thing is that you choose someone you trust. As your case progresses, your lawyer will be evaluating the evidence and giving you advice. As you are not a lawyer, you will be relying on his or her expertise. It is important to remember that your lawyer is not making the decisions. You make all decisions involving your case. You should have the kind of relationship with your lawyer so that you can listen to his/her advice, question it, talk about your concerns, and then make your own decision.

The best way to find out if a lawyer is right for you is to meet with him/her in person and talk. Most lawyers will have free initial consultations, so meet with more than one if you can. I’ve listed some suggested topics for initial lawyer consultations. If you don’t feel that your lawyer is working for your best interest, it’s time to get a new lawyer

2. Specialization

Let’s say you hurt your eye and needed to go to a doctor. When looking for a doctor, the first thing you would do is find a doctor who specializes in eyes. You can go to the best doctor in the world, but if he/she is a foot doctor, they won’t be able to help you.

Law is similar to medicine in this way. It is complicated, and it is impossible to master all areas of law. Lawyers specialize in certain areas. While many lawyers can write a will or look over a simple contract, only lawyers that devote a large amount of their practice to criminal defense or personal injury are qualified to handle those cases. Do not go to a lawyer for a criminal case that is a “general practitioner” and has handled a couple of DUIs. They won’t understand the system and you will not get a good result.

3. Time

Different lawyers run their practices differently. Some take as many clients as they possibly can, charge less, and spend less time on each case. While this might save you money in the short run, this type of lawyer will not be able to achieve the same results as a lawyer that takes fewer cases and spends more time on each case. At the Law Office of Scot Candell, we limit the number of cases in order to insure excellent representation for each client.

4. Fees

Your lawyer should be clear about the fees up front. Some lawyers will charge a flat fee for an entire case, while other lawyers will charge on an hourly basis. At the Law Office of Scot Candell, we give you the choice of which of these fee options you prefer. At the initial consultation, we will give you a flat fee for all criminal cases based on the estimated number of hours it will take to represent you. In addition, we will give you the option of depositing a retainer fee in our attorney client trust account and hiring our office on an hourly basis. If money is left in the trust account when your case is completed, it will be returned to you within 14 days. If you are unhappy with our services, you can terminate them at any time for any reason, and any unused money will be returned to you within 14 days. For the fee structure for personal injury cases, click here.

5. Experience

You can learn about being a lawyer in law school, but the only way to become a good lawyer is through experience. Your lawyer should have many trials under his/her belt. Each case has the potential to go to trial, and you want a lawyer that is not afraid to go to trial if it is in the client’s best interest. An experienced attorney is able to accurately evaluate cases, negotiate the best deals for his/her client, and get the best results if a case goes to trial.

The lawyer you choose to handle your case is the most important decision you will make. Interview many lawyers and ask difficult questions. You have a lot riding on your case, so get the best lawyer that you can.

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Legal consultation

At the Law Office of Scot Candell, we offer a free initial legal consultation, in which we will do the following:

(1) Meet with you to learn the facts of your case.
(2) Give preliminary advice regarding the law pertinent to your case;
(3) Answer any and all of your questions to help you to better understand your legal situation, issues and goals, the Court System, the potential or likely outcomes of your case, your legal options, and explain how we might be able to help, advise, or represent you, and what are the Legal Fees for those services would be.

Based on our meeting, you can later decide if you would like our firm to represent you.

Fees for representation

Criminal Cases:

Criminal cases are charged one of two ways - an hourly fee, or a flat fee

Hourly fee: A retainer fee is deposited into an attorney client trust account. This money remains yours until the work is done on the case. As the work is completed, money is withdrawn from the trust account. Any money remaining in the trust account at the end of the case is returned to you. If the money in the trust account is depleted before the case is resolved, you will be asked to deposit additional money into the account to fund the continued legal representation in the case.

Flat fee: After the initial consultation, we will estimate the number of hours it will take to represent you for your case, and will calculate the applicable fee. That will be the fee regardless of the number of hours required for representation.

In both cases, you may chose to end our representation at any time. In that case, the amount of time spent on the case to that point will be calculated, and any additional funds will be immediately returned, no questions asked.

If charges have not been filed against you yet:

We work with you, advise, counsel, and research for you to help you better understand the nature of what charges could be brought against you, the criminal justice process, what you are facing, how, if possible to avoid or alter impending charges, what your legal options and strategies are, and how we might be able to help represent and defend you, if charges were to be filed and what the costs of that would be.

Personal Injury Cases:

Personal Injury Cases are handled on a contingency basis, which means that you pay us nothing, and we only recover money if we win your case for you.

COUNTIES
San Francisco (San Francisco - city & county)
San Mateo (Burlingame, Milbrae, San Mateo, Redwood City, Menlo Park,
(Daly City, South San Francisco)
Santa Clara (Palo Alto, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, San Jose)
Marin (San Rafael, Mill Valley, Sausalito, Tiburon, Larkspur, Corte Madera, Novato)
Contra Costa (Walnut Creek, Martinez)
Sonoma & Napa (Sonoma & Napa - city & county)

The Law Office of Scot Candell has provided Aggressive yet Affordable Legal Representation in San Francisco and entire Bay Area for over 10 years. Contact us for a free consultation.

For more information about California criminal law, personal injury law, mediation, arbitration, or to discuss your legal issue with an experienced attorney, please call us at 415-445-2144, e-mail us, or fill out our intake form on our Contact Us page. With the Law Office of Scot Candell, you come first!

Disclaimer:

The materials found in this website have been prepared for information purposes only; the information should not be construed as legal advice nor does the information imply any guarantee as to the results of future litigation. You should not act or rely upon this information without seeking formal professional counsel specific about your case. The Law Office of Scot Candell’s offer to provide a free case evaluation is not intended to create an attorney client relationship between the Law Office of Scot Candell and you.

The information provided at this website is advertising material and is for general information purposes only. The material on this site does not constitute legal advice. DO NOT act upon this information without first consulting an attorney. No Attorney Client relationship is formed unless specifically agreed to in writing. This website and the associated documents are provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.

Our website contains links to other websites and publications. These links and references are there for your convenience; they do not mean that The Firm vouches for the accuracy of the information contained in them or that The Firm is associated with them.

We also remind you that email is not a secure or necessarily confidential form of communication.

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