It’s probably one of the most common questions I hear when i first speak to families that are faced with a loved one in custody.  Their initial response is to rush to bail him out.   Whether this is a good idea or not, depends on two factors.  If your loved one is facing criminal charges, he will appear in court within 48 hours, not including weekends or holidays.  At that hearing the Judge or magistrate will decide to either release him from custody on his own recognizance (commonly called an O.R. Release) or to set a bail amount.   At that first hearing, we can move to get our client out on an O.R. release (which means that his promise to appear is sufficient and he need not put up any money or collateral).  We can also request that his bail amount be lowered.  One a couple of recent cases, we were able to reduce bail from 8 million to 1 million and from $120,000 to &20,0000.   On a 10 percent premium, that could save you at least $10,000 on bail.

The ultimate question remains, can you afford to bail him and AND get him proper representation.  If you can afford both an attorney and bail, then by all means get him bailed out.  You may still want to talk to us to see if we can lower the bail further or if we can guide you towards trustworthy bailbonds company. 

But if your finances don’t allow for both, then you are putting yourself in a very precarious position by bailing him out and then facing the criminal justice system without an attorney.  I have seen people bail out and appear in court without an attorney just in time for the bail to be increased and they go right back (obviously without an attorney to argue for them to stay out)

So the final word on the question of to bail or not to bail:  If you have the resources to bail and get strong representation, by all means bail them out (first consult us to see if we can save you money).   If you have to choose between bail and an attorney, remember that posting bail only gets him out that day and the criminal charges are still waiting for him.  

Best of luck,