The # 1 Choice for Adams County

Criminal Defense Lawyer for Gettysburg, PA

Accused of DUI or other crime in or near Gettysburg, PA? If you want to hire a lawyer, we want to interview for the job. Steve Rice Law was the #1 choice for Adams County cases in 2021, 2022 & 2023. Let’s see if we are a good fit for your case.

Highlights

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Meet the Team

Atty. Steve Rice

Criminal Defense Lawyer
In Gettysburg
Adams County
Whitney S.

Legal Assistant
In Gettysburg
Adams County
Atty. Ruth Brown

Criminal Defense Lawyer
In Gettysburg
Adams County
Atty. David Erhard

Criminal Defense Lawyer
Serving Gettysburg
Adams County
Whitney C.

Legal Assistant
Serving Gettysburg
Adams County

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For Gettysburg, Adams County

Highlights

Here are some highlights about Steve Rice Law and what we have to offer people looking for a local lawyer.

We also help you spot the black hat competition—in the Wild West.

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The Wild West here

If you are searching on Google for “criminal lawyer gettysburg pa” or “near me,” be careful. It’s the Wild West out there. Look out for black hats.

Some “local” firms live more on the internet than they do in the real world. They use black hat tactics to trick Google—and you—into thinking they’re something they’re not.

They may say on a web page that they have a “Criminal Defense Lawyer in Gettysburg, PA.” But that doesn’t make it true. They may have no office or staff or lawyers here.

It gets worse. They may send a lawyer who has little experience doing criminal defense work here (or anywhere, for that matter, yet talk about how they’re the “best”).

Lawyer, staff & office here

What about Steve Rice Law? We tell it like it is, point by point.

For starters, we have the home field advantage.

We have our main office in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the county seat for Adams County. We serve Adams and surrounding counties from this office.

Above we list the members of our team who work in this office and those who normally work out of another office but serve Gettysburg.

If your case is in Adams County, see below for a table you can use to evaluate the local connections of firms you are considering.

Criminal defense here

Steve Rice Law is a criminal defense firm.

In other words, we have lawyers who practice criminal law and do it on one side of the fence. We defend people accused of crimes. We don’t prosecute them.

We are otherwise known as criminal defense lawyers/attorneys/counsel—whatever you want to call us is fine. :-)

Our lawyers are licensed to practice in Gettysburg and throughout Pennsylvania.

Well-qualified here

Steve Rice Law is well-qualified to practice in Gettysburg:

We have a dedicated practice.
We are seasoned.
We are led by a board certified specialist.
We know how to take off the suit and talk to juries like real people.
We regularly practice here.

And it shows. We are top-ranked in Adams County, where Gettysburg is located. We also have an A+ rating and accreditation by the Better Business Bureau.

Jump to qualifications (another page) >

Full-service here

Steve Rice Law provides a full-service for cases in Gettysburg. We do:

ALL CHARGES
DUI, sex crimes, domestics, etc.

ALL DEFENSES
Excuse, justification, mitigation, etc.

ALL DEALS
ARD, alternatives to jail, work release, etc.

ALL EVENTS
Preliminaries, pretrials, trials, etc.

Jump to services (another page) >

Ready-to-go service here

Steve Rice Law believes good service is about the basics.

SHOW UP
A lawyer has to show up to court, ready to go.

DO OUR HOMEWORK
A lawyer has to do his homework so that s/he is ready to go. Court is a test. We want to get an “A.”

MEET WITH YOU BEFORE COURT
A lawyer has to prepare his client so s/he is ready to go. That means a consultation for each event—before the day of court, not at court.

This is all part of our standard service for Gettysburg cases.

Us vs. them

Compare our firm with the internet firms for local connections in Gettysburg & Adams County. If not us, please consider another firm with a local presence. Back >

Hover over the bubbles if you want more information about a particular point.

Where we fit in

We are there with you every step of the way for Adams County cases. And we talk with you before the day of court to make sure you are ready to go. Meeting. court date, meeting, court date, etc. Back >

COURT EVENTS
PRELIMINARY ARRAIGNMENT
This is when you find out how much trouble you’re in.
PRELIMINARY HEARING
This is when you see if there’s anything to the charges.
ARRAIGNMENT
This is when the clock starts for trial preparation.
PRETRIAL CONFERENCE (INFORMAL)
This is when the DA will provide an offer to resolve the case.
PLEA DAY
This is when you tell the judge what you want to do.
JURY SELECTION
This is when you get to unpick the jury for your trial.
TRIAL
This is when the government has to prove that you did it.
TALK BEFORE EACH EVENT
Steve Rice Law will have a consultation with you before each event except the pretrial conference.
The reason for the exception is that the pretrial conference is not really an event. Neither one of us appears for it.
Q&A regarding plea negotiations may occur throughout the representation and not at a single consultation.

LITTLE COURTS
The Adams County Central Court (a “little court”) is located at:
Adams County Human Services Bldg.
525 Boyd School Road, Suite 700
Gettysburg, PA 17325
(717) 337-9846
This is where preliminary hearings normally occur.
The individual Magisterial District Courts (other “little courts”) are located at:
District Court 51-3-01 (J. Harvey)
525 Boyds School Road, Suite 900
Gettysburg, PA 17325
(717) 334-7913
District Court 51-3-02 (J. Snyder)
45D West Hanover Street
Gettysburg, PA 17325
(717) 334-7810
District Court 51-3-03 (J. Little)
40 Church Road
East Berlin, PA 17316
(717) 337-5770
District Court 51-3-04 (J. Beauchat)
525 Boyds School Road, Suite 800
Gettysburg, PA 17325
(717) 337-3870
This is where preliminary arraignments and summary trials occur. Sometimes preliminary hearings will occur here as well, if they are expected to be long.
More about little courts >
BIG COURT
The Adams County Court of Common Pleas (“big court”) is located at:
Adams County Courthouse
117 Baltimore Street, 4th Floor
Gettysburg, PA 17325
(717) 337-9846
This is where arraignments, plea day, jury selection, and trials occur.
More about big courts >
DA’S OFFICE
County of Adams
District Attorney
117 Baltimore Street
Room 301
Gettysburg, PA 17325
(717) 337-9840
This is where the prosecutors work out of.
The only event that is held there is pretrial conferences for unrepresented defendants.
More about DA’s office >

LITTLE JUDGES
The judges of the Magisterial District Courts in Adams County (“little judges”) include:
- Mark Beauchat, Judge
- Matthew Harvey, Judge
- Tony Little, Judge
- Christopher Snyder, Judge
These judges preside over preliminary arraignments and preliminary hearings. They also preside over summary trials.
More about little judges >
BIG JUDGES
The judges of the Adams County Court of Common Pleas include:
- Michael George, President Judge
- Thomas Campbell, Judge
- Christina Simpson, Judge
- Shawn Wagner, Judge
- John Kuhn, Senior Judge
These judges (usually Judge Campbell or Judge Wagner) preside over arraignments, plea days, and trials.
More about big judges >
DAs
The Adams County District Attorney’s Office employs the following prosecutors (“DAs”):
- Brian Sinnett, District Attorney
- Robert Bain, First Assistant District Attorney
- Richard Aime, Assistant District Attorney
- Sara Miller, Assistant District Attorney
- Kyle Reuter, Assistant District Attorney
- Bernard Yannetti, Assistant District Attorney
The prosecutors are the lawyers for the government.
They generally appear for all court events except preliminary arraignments.
If you are unrepresented, they or their support staff will also deal with you at their office for the pretrial conference.
More about DAs >

How can you do it

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Make a call (full price). Book a call (5% off). Skip the call (10% off).

Whatever works best for you.

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No discount.

Make it.

Skip the discounts and give us a call. This is the best approach if you find all of this overwhelming. You get a little more hand-holding this way. No forms. Nothing to fill out. We do all that.

With this option, we do the intake call over the phone. We schedule the consultation from there.

Make a call

Save 5%.

Book it.

See if we’re a good fit. The consultation is free. Get 5% off the fee for representation if you hire us during the consultation. This is best if you’re more tech-savvy (e.g., use email & a calendar app).

With this option, you schedule the intake call online using our online calendar. Then during the call, we schedule the consultation.

Book a call

Save 10%.

Skip it.

This is the best value if you have already made up your mind that you want to hire us. You get 10% off. Right now we only have uncontested DUI cases and formal consultations available on our online store.

With this option, we schedule the consultation after you hire us. The consultation isn’t free, but the payment is refundable.

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