Criminal Defense

The single most consequential decision in any criminal matter involving a foreign national is when to engage counsel. The right answer is always: immediately. The investigation phase in Vietnamese practice typically lasts two to four months and is when the case file — the evidence the court will eventually rule on — is built. Without counsel, foreign clients commonly say things in initial questioning that are mistranslated, misunderstood, or used in ways they did not intend. With counsel from the first hour, the file develops with the defence position represented, the rights of the accused exercised, and the path to a favourable outcome substantially clearer.

Equally, many criminal matters involving foreign nationals begin as something else: a commercial dispute that the other side reframes as fraud, a traffic accident that authorities investigate as a criminal matter rather than a tort, a regulatory issue treated as criminal by an investigating department. In these cases, the boundary between civil and criminal is precisely where the matter is decided — and skilled counsel can often have a matter declassified or redirected before charges crystallise.

I work closely with the consular sections of foreign embassies and consulates in Vietnam. Embassies cannot intervene in legal proceedings, but they can ensure that detention conditions are humane, family is informed, and the accused has access to a list of qualified local counsel. I have established working relationships with most major embassies in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and routinely coordinate with them in matters involving their nationals.