What are the best qualities to look for when hiring a lawyer to defend me for Medicare Fraud in Florida?

Medicare fraud is a federal offense, so you need an attorney who understands federal court — different rules, different prosecutors, different stakes. Look for someone with experience handling federal healthcare fraud cases specifically, not just general criminal defense. They should understand the complex regulatory framework (False Claims Act, Anti-Kickback Statute, Stark Law) and have relationships with forensic accountants and healthcare billing experts who can challenge the government's calculations. Federal sentencing guidelines are unforgiving, so your attorney needs to know how to negotiate with federal prosecutors and, if necessary, fight at trial. Ask about their federal court experience directly — many state court attorneys are out of their depth in federal cases.

I would suggest a four prong approach:

1. Experience
2. Service / Resources
3. Reputation 
4. Your Gut

First, it is important to determine if the attorney has experience in handling a case like yours.  Be sure to get details on how many cases like your's they have handled, what strategies did they employ, what results did they get, etc.  You do not want someone learning on the job in a serious criminal case.  In my humble opinion, typically the best defense attorneys are former prosecutors, but that is by no means a hard and fast rule.  Think of it as you would with picking a doctor.  Doctor's not only go to medical school, but they undergo a residency where they are trained to employ the information they learned in medical school by those with extensive experience.  In other words, they are trained to actually do the job by doing the job while being guided by someone who has done if for years.  Unfortunately, attorneys do not have that same process.  Any attorney can graduate law school and hang up a shingle.  However, someone who works at a State Attorney / US Attorney office or public defenders office essentially goes through a legal residency in that they are tought and guided to do the actual job by those with extensive experience. 

Second, pay attention to whether the attorney explains the process to you.  I always make sure any prospective client gets off the phone knowing everything they need to know about the process so they can make the best decision for themselves when deciding who to hire.  Additionally, dealing with a criminal case, especially a serious one, can be terrifying and overwhelming.  One of the best tools we, as attorneys, can use to ease those fears of the unknown is educating our client on what to expect, how it is going to happen, what is the next step, etc.  See if they give you the time to explain this.  The attorneys who look at this as just a job normally will not put a lot of time into something until they are hired, but there are some of us where this is not just a job, but a way of life.  The ones, like me, that go the extra mile to provide information and education, you can tell they actually care.  Are you getting a good service and attention out of the gate? 

Also see what resources they employ and how they use those resources.  I employ an in house investigator, no other criminal defense firm in my region does, which allows me to provide my client with services no one else can provide.  Do they have associate attorneys and who is going to do what in your case?  Almost every firm in the country hires assocaites so they can take on more cases by assigning one attorney to one case beacuse they think it is a waste of time and resources to have more than one attorney work on a single case.  At my firm, it is the opposite, I think it is the best use of time and resources for both me and my two assocaites to work on the same case.  Three heads are better than one and I know I can't come up with every great idea and I need to most talented attorneys around me to tell me when I am wrong.  So, find out how the firm operates and who will actually be doing what on your case. 

Third, what is the attorney's reputation?  Look at the attorney's reviews.  No one will be able to give you more incite on the service you will recieve than those who have received the service of the attorney before.  You can look at google reviews, findlaw reviews, avvo reviews, justia reviews etc.  Also look to see if they have been rated by Super Lawyers or Martindale Hubbell.  Lastly, go to the Florida Bar website and see if they have any disciplinary history.  If they do, read the Supreme Court opinions so you know what the actual misconduct was because some are worse than others. 

Lastly, go with your gut.  If something feels off or you feel uncomfortable, there's probably something wrong.  God gave us intution for a reason.  You can have the best attorney in the world, but if you don't trust them, have faith in them, or feel they care about you, it can be an unnecessarily painful process.  However, this does not mean you pick someone who just tells you what you want to hear to give you the warm and fuzzies.  It's important that your attorney care enough about you to tell you the truth, but is is also important that is done with empathy and sympathy.  

I hope this helps.

Sincerely, 

D. Scott Monroe, Esq.

Monroe Law Firm