The answer is: NO
(Stopping reading now is optional)
Let me ask another question: Would you let your child decide whether or not you should refinance your house? Why?
The same rules apply to the selection of a lawyer. They don’t have your life experience.
Your child will be focused on the fact that he is “right” and the cop is “wrong,” but be completely oblivious to the fact that if things don’t go well, his life will be permanently changed.
You, as parent, need to step in and tell him or her that you know what’s best and need to participate in the selection of a lawyer as well as monitoring the case.
Of course you can listen to your child’s input; but you need to be heavily involved. One other thing: this doesn’t mean the child shouldn’t bear the financial burdens associated with being charged with a crime. It just means they may need to borrow money and pay it back.
And there’s an added benefit to the selection of a better (and often more expensive) lawyer: quite often a good result means lower costs and less inconvenience to the client.
