Arraignment: Your first court date is usually an arraignment. The purpose of the arraignment is to ensure that you understand:
The charges against you;
Your pretrial release or bond conditions; and
You have the right to be represented by an attorney;
If you hire an attorney before the arraignment, generally your lawyer will be able to take care of the arraignment for you and you do not have to appear for the initial court date. The reasoning being that you already discussed the charges you are facing and your bond conditions with the attorney you retained. Your attorney and the prosecutor will pick a new court date generally 1 to 2 months from the arraignment to provide us with time to prepare your case to negotiate with the prosecutor about your case.