For the 2024–2026 possession cases, approximately 62% of represented defendants received probation compared with about 57% of self-represented defendants. More significantly, approximately 23% of represented defendants received a state-prison sentence compared with about 31% of self-represented defendants. That means the observed prison rate was approximately 24% lower, on a relative basis, among represented defendants.

 

      Differences also appeared in the length of confinement. Among defendants sentenced to local jail, the median term was approximately 180 days for represented defendants compared with 270 days for self-represented defendants. Among defendants sent to state prison, median initial confinement was approximately 360 days for represented defendants compared with 540 days for self-represented defendants. Median probation and extended-supervision terms, however, were essentially the same.

 

      Those differences remained in the same general direction even after accounting for the sentencing judge, prosecutor, and year. The statistical uncertainty was too large to prove that having an attorney caused the better outcomes, but the data show an association between representation and more favorable sentencing results, particularly a lower likelihood of state prison and shorter periods of confinement when incarceration was imposed.

 

      That distinction is important. The data do not establish that hiring a lawyer automatically produces a better sentence. Represented and self-represented defendants may differ in ways the dataset does not measure. Criminal history, prior revocations, whether the defendant was already on supervision, companion felony charges, repeater allegations, treatment options, plea agreements, and the prosecutor's sentencing recommendation may all have substantial effects on the sentence.

 

      Still, the data provide considerably more support for the proposition that having legal representation is associated with a better sentencing outcome than they do for the proposition that any particular lawyer consistently produces better sentences than other lawyers.

 

      That brings us back to choosing an attorney.