CASE REVIEWS
It was seeing inmates and their families taken advantage through the years working as a law clerk inside that drove me to create Prisoner Connections, LLC. I was successful in creating a legal team of dedicated, competent and ethical attorneys that directly supervise the paralegal work I do on cases; the same paralegal work I have been doing inside and out of prison for over 26 years. To keep your costs as low as possible, I and my staff conduct the initial case review and report my findings to the supervising attorney. The attorney and I then meet about the case, discuss and review my findings. The attorney will then contact the inmate directly, provide them with a hard copy of my case review report as well as his legal advice on how to proceed and the fee for doing so. We are usually able to save clients thousands of dollars in attorney fees by doing the case review first as this saves the attorney valuable time and resources in your case.
Even if you do not go further with us, you will have a comprehensive case review summary and the attorney’s identification of meritorious grounds and the procedure he recommends to address those grounds, that you can use as you deem proper. Please visit our associated attorneys’ websites to learn more about them and their firms. I have provided a link to their sites on this website under the “Our Team” tab.
I understand that you have many questions and that navigating the post-conviction legal processes can be challenging. I want to supply as much assistance to you as possible and to answer all your questions fully. However, before I can do that we need to conduct the case review. A comprehensive case review allows me to look at your specific case details, searching for any meritorious grounds to challenge your conviction and sentence. I use checklists of over 200 potential post-conviction grounds as I review everything that was filed and occurred in your case then I report my findings to one of the attorneys I work with. Please allow me to explain the case review process we offer.
Step 1: A member of my staff will assemble all records from the clerk of circuit court and/or what you send to us and upload everything into our computer system. That staff member will then read the entire case file in order and develop a written Case Review Report of his/her findings.
Step 2: A senior paralegal will then review the Case Review Report and read the entire case file to identify any and all meritorious grounds for relief and provide suggestions to the reviewing attorney for litigation of those grounds in the proper venue.
Step 3: The Case Review Report then comes to me with the identified meritorious grounds listed for my review. I also review the entire case file and the Case Review Report with the listing of meritorious grounds. I verify the senior paralegal's findings and arrange a conference with all involved staff about the case. After our analysis is completed and the Case Review Report is done, I set up a meeting with the supervising attorney who will review our Case Review Report and listing of meritorious grounds. The attorney will then verify our findings and discuss the case in depth with me. Thereafter, the attorney will contact you and provide you with a copy of the Case Review Report, his legal findings and advice on the case along with his quote for representing you going forward.
In order to conduct the case review, we will need to obtain a copy of whatever court documents you and/or the inmate has including the transcripts from the trial or plea and sentencing. If the inmate’s appellate attorney has not sent them the “Record on Appeal” yet, tell the inmate to write to them and ask for it. If you are unable to obtain a copy of the Record on Appeal, we can access the court records on line in most counties. We will review the material sent to us and go over our findings with the supervising attorney. The fee for conducting the case review, meeting with the attorney and providing you and the inmate with a written report on our findings is $1,500 - $3,000 depending on the size and complexity of the trial record. You can make payments on the fee, but we must receive half of the total fee before work begins and the balance must be paid in full before we complete the case review. Typically, a case review will take from 6-8 weeks to complete. Additionally, the attorney will take case review fee you paid into consideration when setting his fee for representing you in your post conviction proceeding. Usually, we save clients thousands of dollars in attorney fees due to the work we accomplish through the case review process.
If these terms are acceptable to you and the inmate, please contact us to make arrangements. Please note that we take case reviews on a first-come-first-served basis so your prompt action in retaining us is recommended.
I regret to say that we are not in a position to offer pro bono paralegal assistance. Usually, organizations that do so are working under the funding of a grant or are public agencies funded by the government. I do not know of any law firm that offers pro bono legal services to those convicted of a crime.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us. It is our pleasure to serve you and look forward to a positive result.
Sincerely,
Ron Baker
President
Prisoner Connections, LLC