Cite as: 528 U. S. 470 (2000)
Opinion of Souter, J.
matively to ensure that the client understands the right to appeal.
Where appeal is available as a matter of right, a decision to seek or forgo review is for the convict himself, not his lawyer, Jones v. Barnes, 463 U. S. 745, 751 (1983), who owes a duty of effective assistance at the appellate stage, Evitts v. Lucey, 469 U. S. 387, 396 (1985); Penson v. Ohio, 488 U. S. 75, 85 (1988). It follows, as the majority notes, that if a defendant requests counsel to file an appeal, a lawyer who fails to do so is, without more, ineffective for constitutional purposes. But, as the Court says, a lesser infidelity than that may fail the test of lawyer competence under Strickland v. Washington, 466 U. S. 668 (1984), which governs this case. I think that the derelict character of counsel's performance in this case is clearer than the majority realizes.
In Strickland, we explicitly noted that a lawyer has a duty "to consult with the defendant on important decisions . . . in the course of the prosecution." Id., at 688. The decision whether to appeal is one such decision. Since it cannot be made intelligently without appreciating the merits of possible grounds for seeking review, see Peguero v. United States, 526 U. S. 23, 30-31 (1999) (O'Connor, J., concurring); Rodriquez v. United States, 395 U. S. 327, 330 (1969), and the potential risks to the appealing defendant, a lay defendant needs help before deciding. If the crime is minor, the issues simple, and the defendant sophisticated, a 5-minute conversation with his lawyer may well suffice; if the charge is serious, the potential claims subtle, and a defendant uneducated, hours of counseling may be in order. But only in the extraordinary case will a defendant need no advice or counsel whatever.
To the extent that our attention has been directed to statements of "prevailing professional norms," Strickland v. Washington, 466 U. S., at 688 (Strickland's touchstone of reasonable representation, see ibid.), they are consistent with common sense in requiring a lawyer to consult with a
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