Ineffective assistance of counsel

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Related areas of law
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Ineffective assistance of counsel is an issue raised in legal malpractice suits and in appeals in criminal cases where a criminal defendant asserts that their criminal conviction occurred because their attorney failed to properly defend the case. In order to prevail on such a claim, the plaintiff or appellant must show two things:

Deficient performance by counsel.
But for such deficiency, the result of the proceeding would have differed.

Some states limit the use of this appeal to mistakes the counsel made at trial.^{[citation needed]}

In Strickland v. Washington (1984), the Supreme Court of the United States established that failure to inform a defendant of the direct consequences of a sentence qualifies as ineffective assistance of counsel, but failure to inform of collateral consequences of criminal charges does not. All immigration related consequences are considered collateral. ^[1]

Having the benefit of counsel or assistance if counsel means that the party (defendant) has had a competent attorney representing him or her.

[edit] References

^ United States v. Sanctlises, 509 F2d 703 (2d Cir. 1975); United States v. Romero-Vilea, 850 F.2d 177, 179 (3d Cir. 1988); Fruchtman v. Keaton, 531 F.2d 946, 949 (9th Cir. 1976).

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