For those inmates lucky enough to have family or friends that can afford to hire a Texas Parole Attorney then difficulty then becomes "which one to hire?"

A few tips to making your selection (and we certainly hope you'll consider hiring one of those Texas parole lawyers  who advertise on this site):

1) Pick an attorney that you like. You will have to work with them for a little while and so you want it to be as pleasant as possible. Nothing is worse than having to work with someone for whom you don't care. In addition, if you don't like them then you probably aren't going to trust them.

2) Pick a lawyer who is experienced in Texas parole matters. While any lawyer is allowed to represent someone in a Texas parole case, you don't want them learning on your dollar or, more importantly, when the freedom of a loved one is at stake. ask them how many Texas parole packets they have prepared and what their success rate has been. Be aware that the success rate can vary a lot so don't put a lot of stock in this number. For instance, if a lawyer has represented mostly first time non-violent offenders then his success rate will be higher than that of a lawyer who has represented mostly repeat offenders convicted of burglary or a violent crime.

3) Pick a Texas parole lawyer who you can actually afford. You don't want to spend money making the initial payments and then not be able to complete the matter because the lawyer probably isn't going to give you any money back and you will have paid money for a packet that is never completed.

4) Ask questions. Many parole lawyers price the case assuming that you are going to help in putting together information, getting parole support letters together, bringing materials to them, etc. A parole packet with nothing in it is useless so be sure that you know what is expected of you and what the lawyer will need to prepare the best materials.

5) Be realistic. If this is the first time your loved is up for parole, but they have been in jail ten times for the same offense and never successfully completed parole then it is unlikely they are going to make parole on this go round. Ask the Texas parole attorney to evaluate your chances and give you a realistic opinion on whether you should invest the money now or later.

If you can't afford a Texas parole attorney then you can still prepare a Texas parole packet yourself and greatly increase the loved one's chances of making parole. Our e-book, How to Prepare a Texas Parole Presentation Package, available here as a digital download (and here as a digital download and a printed copy that can be mailed to you or to your loved one in prison) gives you many tips and examples on how to make the packet as complete as possible to increase the chances of parole and in many cases will allow you to do almost as good a job as a Texas parole lawyer would.