It has been nearly 3 months since "the knock" for me and thanks to this forum, I'm a lot more informed about the types of things to expect. Today I had a call with my legal aid solicitor and directly asked him if any restrictions imposed on me at the point of conviction would be challenged if deemed as disproportionate to my crime. He seemed to imply that he'd just accept whatever restrictions the court decides are fitting, and that I shouldn't make a fuss about it, which I wasn't pleased to hear.

Separately, I may be due to come into some money soon, so I was considering changing solicitor due to the above and other similar conversations. Does anyone have any tips on how best to choose a solicitor? I see a lot of them claiming that they are specialists in online sexual offences, but I don't know how to tell if that's true, or if it even makes a difference.

For context, my charge is related to indecent online communications with an older child and I live in Scotland.

I'm aware of the R v Smith (2011) ruling, but I'm unclear if that can be used as relevant case law when it comes to Scots law.