Aside from reputation and experience, pricing is among the first things potential clients always ask about when attempting to hire a private criminal defense attorney. This makes sense because most people have never experienced hiring a criminal attorney before and are completely oblivious as to what it will actually costs.  In fact, clients are often so afraid of discussing the topic of cost that they just stick with a public defender even when they do not want to.  This is a tragedy because one can often find very competent counsel at reasonable prices.