The October issue of Washington Lawyer has an excellent article on how the federal Sentencing Guidelines have changed the practice of law. The article includes these facts about federal criminal cases:

• Only about 6 percent of criminal cases brought by the federal government go to trial.

• The government secures a conviction in about three-quarters of these cases. White-collar crimes constitute about 17 percent of cases in federal court.

• Each year approximately 19,000 “downward departures”—sentences below the minimums in the guidelines’ range—are granted by federal judges, and about 80 percent of these are requested by prosecutors, usually because of the defendant’s cooperation, under section 5K1 of the guidelines, which grants more lenient sentences for “substantial assistance to authorities.”

The article features interviews with six noted members of the Washington defense bar who describe how the guidelines have changed the way they represent their clients in federal court.