Not everyone believes that you have the right to self-defense. An ideological prosecutor can bring spurious criminal charges against you, just ask Daniel Penny. An unscrupulous attorney can convince the aggrieved family of your attacker to slap you with a civil suit to extract a monetary settlement or damages from your assets. Regardless of the situation, you need an aggressive and intelligent legal defense.

Your Legal Defense Options

Broadly speaking, there are three options you can take for securing a legal defense:

1. Do nothing today, and hope you can find an attorney after you’ve been charged with a crime or served with a civil suit.
2. Pay a law firm a retainer, so you can contact them if you find yourself charged with a crime and/or in a jail holding tank with others over the weekend while waiting for an arraignment hearing.
3. Secure self-defense legal protection from a reputable organization specializing in self-defense criminal and civil cases who can support you from trigger to trial, and the longer-term aftermath.

The first option, unfortunately, is the most common. All too many hard-working, intelligent people who take care to be law-abiding are leaving themselves, their livelihoods, wealth, and families vulnerable. If you fall into this category, then we encourage you to reevaluate your situation and add legal protection to your toolbox.

Why Legal Defense Membership Plans are Better than Paying an Attorney on Retainer

There are some significant differences between what a Self-Defense Legal Protection organization can do that a law firm cannot.

The Importance of Local Legal Representation

If you are charged with a crime arising from a self-defense incident, your best representation is going to come from a lawyer who practices in the jurisdiction where you are charged. You will benefit greatly by being represented by an attorney whose kids go to the same schools and participate in the same sports and activities as the children of the prosecutors and judges. Familiarity builds trust over time and these relationships provide better communication and effectiveness in navigating the court system. If your attorney has a good relationship with court personnel it is highly likely that your case will run smoothly, documents will be completed and filed on time, and nothing will fall between the cracks.

Let’s look at a common situation – You are charged in a different jurisdiction than where you live. For example, if you were forced to use your firearm while on vacation to protect your family in Colorado, but your attorney on retainer is licensed to practice law in Arizona, your lawyer cannot immediately represent you.

Unless the state your attorney is licensed has bar reciprocity with the state where you are charged, he must obtain a “pro hac vice” admission (pro hac vice means “for this occasion”) before he can represent you. If the incident occurred on Friday night, you’re stuck in jail with real criminals until Monday at the earliest. Whether you walk out of jail as the same person you entered after spending three days and nights in a cell with hardened repeat offenders might be an open question.

Limited Resources – What Happens If Your Attorney On Retainer is Too Busy?

There are about 450,000 law firms in the United States, and various estimates show that the number of small firms (1-20 lawyers) make up nearly 40% of them. If you choose to put an attorney on retainer or a small law firm, they might be specialized in handling self-defense cases, but they most likely have limited resources.

This can become a major factor if your small law firm must defend multiple clients in different jurisdictions. They may not have enough qualified staff to handle your case effectively. Given the complications and delays of securing Pro Hac Vice Admissions (see above), you might wind up staying in jail much longer than if you had experienced local representation.

Who is Calling The Shots?

Some organizations that offer self-defense protection coverage are themselves insured by an insurance company. Meaning, the insurance company is the one deciding which members are covered based on their interpretation of a case. There have been publicized incidents of an insurance company declining to cover the legal expenses of a member because she was wrongfully charged with a criminal offense.

Law firms are businesses too, and they must look at their own bottom lines. If your case is a complex one and the bills are mounting, then there is the possibility they could reduce the time spent on your case. Before putting a law firm or an attorney on retainer, make sure you are confident they have the resources to back you up when you need them most.

The 9 Good Reasons to Choose Second Call Defense

1. We are the oldest self-defense legal protection organization in the nation. Second Call Defense was founded in 2013 by criminal defense attorney Sean Maloney. We provide immediate, comprehensive, nationwide, 24-hour support for members who are forced to use a weapon in self-defense, which among other things could include firearms, knives, rocks, hands, feet, and more.
2. We have a nationwide network of local, vetted attorneys specializing in self-defense cases ready to represent you. Because we were the first self-defense legal protection organization, Second Call Defense has cultivated strong relationships with leading attorneys throughout the country. We have developed the means and process to immediately vette lawyers for legal expertise, relationships, track record, ethics, personality, and ability to provide you with an aggressive legal defense.
3. Our network and vetting process ensures we can provide expert legal representation to multiple members anywhere in the United States simultaneously. We do not need pro hac vice admissions, because we have legal boots on the ground in every state.
4. We provide IMMEDIATE cash for bail bonds. If you are arrested and jailed at the police station pending bail, we provide you with the immediate cash you need to post up to a $1 million bond.
5. We provide IMMEDIATE cash for attorney retainers. We have stroked a check for $100,000 for securing expert local legal representation for a member wrongly charged with criminal offenses related to a self-defense incident where he saved his own life, and we will do it again for any covered member.
6. We have the resources to provide you with UNLIMITED legal defense coverage for both criminal and civil cases. Most attorneys don’t have an upper limit on what they might charge you, and in the case of a legal defense plan they may put a limit on how much protection they will provide.
7. We have a 100% success rate defending our members. Second Call Defense has never lost a member’s case, denied coverage for an act of self-defense, or failed to protect a member against civil suit liability.
8. We have NEVER dropped a member or billed them for legal fees. There have been several well-publicized incidents of so-called CCW insurance providers dropping coverage of a member because they may have committed a crime and in some instances sued the member to recoup monies spent on their behalf! Self-defense is never a crime, and we have never clawed back money from a member.
9. We help you survive the aftermath of a violent self-defense encounter. Most of us will go through our lives never encountering a situation where we have to defend ourselves with a weapon. Self-defense encounters are usually violent, fast, and traumatic. The aftermath of surviving a self-defense incident commonly involves post-traumatic stress, anxiety, and depression. Not treating these effects in a timely manner can result in job loss, the failure of relationships, addiction, and other life-threatening behaviors that are no fault of your own. We have provided expert counseling to our members and helped them emerge from what was a dark time in their lives to lead healthy, productive, and satisfying lives. Law firms typically don’t offer this service.

The Importance of Self Defense Legal Protection

With Second Call Defense, you have an UNLIMITED legal defense budget at your disposal for both criminal and civil cases. Immediate up-front self-defense legal protection with nothing out of pocket, nothing to repay ever.

We have a 100% success rate defending our Members and we will never ask you to pay us back for your legal defense. Unlike other programs that make you pay upfront and reimburse you later, SCD covers your legal defense immediately, including attorney fees, bail, and even civil lawsuit damages. When the government or anti-gun prosecutors come after you for exercising your constitutional rights, SCD fights back without ever asking you to pay them back. Your freedom, future, and financial security are on the line, why take the risk?

Join Second Call Defense Today

Second Call Defense has a 100% success rate defending our Members. We ensure that you’re never alone in the aftermath of a self-defense incident and we will never ask you to pay us back for your legal defense.

Second Call Defense is not insurance and does not sell or promote insurance products.  Second Call Defense is a membership organization that provides its members access to the “Second Amendment Support Foundation, Inc.,” which provides the means necessary to protect Second Call Defense members from the legal aftermath of exercising their right to self-defense. For an overview of the differences between Second Call Defense Member Benefits and traditional insurance, click here.