Criteria for Coverage

Yes, whether it’s a misdemeanor like brandishing or a serious felony involving deadly force, you deserve legal protection from the start, so long as the following three requirements are met:

1. You are charged, or reasonably concerned about being charged, with either a felony or misdemeanor crime;

2. You reasonably and in good faith assert you acted in self-defense or defense of a 3rd party as a defense to the charge; and

3. The incident occurred after you became a member of Attorneys On Retainer.

Yes. AOR provides its members with comprehensive legal coverage, including criminal matters related to self-defense, in all 50 states.* Our attorneys can appear via the pro hac vice rules in any state, and you can obtain a local co-counsel of your choice.

*States Only. AOR does not cover U.S. territories like Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, or the Northern Mariana Islands.

With AOR, you don’t need to wait until you’re officially arrested or indicted to get legal help. If you’ve been involved in a self-defense incident and believe there’s a reasonable chance you could face charges, our team is prepared to defend you.

Example: Imagine you draw your firearm to stop an attack. The aggressor flees, but police later question whether your defensive display was justified. Even if you’re not arrested, the risk of prosecution is real, and that’s when AOR steps in.

“Good faith” is a key legal term that refers to honesty of intention and the absence of intent to deceive or commit wrongdoing.

In the context of a self-defense incident, good faith means:

• You reasonably believed you or someone else was in danger.
• You acted to stop that danger, not to provoke, punish, or escalate.
• You weren’t committing another crime at the time (for example, robbing someone or brandishing a gun out of anger).

This good faith requirement for coverage gives AOR the flexibility to defend members even in gray-area cases, as long as you genuinely believed you were acting in lawful self-defense and your belief wasn’t fabricated or made up after the fact.

At AOR, our legal defense team is prepared to work on your case immediately after your self-defense incident, whether you are ultimately charged or not.