How to Pick a Good Lawyer
Lawyer... just the word conjures up an image of someone in
a stiff suit arguing a case before a judge and jury. Books
and television have promoted various images of lawyers.
Many of us don't trust them. It seems like they know too
much or that they manipulate facts in order to win. But is
that true? Really?
No, probably not. Lawyers are really just people who have a
job working to assist us with different legal issues. They
are paid for their special knowledge about the details of
law that you and I are unlikely to have time to figure out
for ourselves. Oftentimes, we only need that information
once in our lives.
We want to hire a lawyer who has already spent years
studying and practicing in the area we need help with. What
we need to know is how to find a good lawyer we can trust.
The best source of information is friends and family who
have used a lawyer. Referrals are often the best source of
information because they come from people we already trust.
They will have had experiences they can tell you about to
help you decide. But we don't always know anyone who has
had our specific need. What if you need someone to
negotiate contracts for you in Germany?
Lawyer referral services are another option. You can do a
web search and find quite a few of them. In a quick search,
I found www.legalmatch.com and www.lawyer.com. When you do
your own search, type in your state and a word or two about
the type of legal issue you have so you'll find lawyers
nearby who know the rules of your local city, county or
state government that apply to your situation. This will
give you more specific help and advice.
Lawyers tend to specialize in one area of law. Their
specialty may be about business law or personal law.
Personal legal matters may involve traffic citations,
divorce, child custody, real estate purchases, wills or
personal injury. Most of these situations will require a
lawyer, especially if the parties involved have different
needs and opinions that they can't work out on their own.
Business law would include things like employment
contracts, copyrights, mergers, incorporation and taxes.
Yes, there is frequently some overlap in these specialties.
Real estate includes purchases by both individuals and
businesses. Both could declare bankruptcy. Spend a little
time finding lawyers in your area who have the experience
you need for your situation.
Take the time to choose a lawyer carefully, the way you
would with any type of professional. It's best to have at
least one introductory meeting in person to get to know him
or her a little to see if this is a person you can work
with or not. You might have to pay for this first visit, or
maybe you can talk to the lawyer on the phone without
charge for at least a few minutes. Face-to-face meetings
will always give you more information. You'll get a better
picture of the lawyer and how you interact.
Like it or not, personality still plays a role in how well
people work together and you can't tell much from just an
advertisement or a name. I recommend that you talk to at
least 3 different lawyers before making your choice. There
are no guarantees, but if you do a good job of getting
referrals, talking with them and asking questions about how
they can help you and what they will charge, you stand a
good chance of choosing a lawyer you can trust to help you
with your legal issues.
Trevor Hartfield can be reached at http://familybusinessconsulting.com.
Trevor Hartfield is a law paraprofessional and student.
You can read more articles about lawyers at
Lawyer
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