What should the relationship be with my lawyer and how do I choose an attorney?

 

Many people have their entire future lives at stake when they choose a lawyer. Some people have their entire financial well-being at risk when they choose a lawyer, and yet there is almost no real way to know if you’ve chosen wisely until it’s too late. Or is there?

Here are 3 quick tips on choosing a lawyer even if you don’t know them.

1. Research Before You Meet with the Lawyer

You need to spend some time doing research. This involves internet research, several phone calls and may involve a field trip if needed. Find out if an attorney has references that you can call and interview.

2. Set the criteria

What are the criteria that you are going to use for choosing the right lawyer? Is it going to be
A. the right balance between price and experience
B. the right experience, regardless of the price
C. the right price, regardless of the experience and qualifications
D. some other criteria, like years spend practicing a particular branch of law, or how fancy the office is (which shows how well paid they are, which could indicate their effectiveness) Make a specific list so that you can move on to step number 3 in choosing the right lawyer.

3. Plan the Meeting

Based on the research that you’ve completed, you need to figure out how the meeting will play out. What are the criteria? Make a list. Figure out if you want them to explain their services and experience to you, or if you prefer to do it more interview style so that you can ask each lawyer the same exact questions and then later compare the answers to weigh out the value of their answers. The interview style can be most effective, however some attorneys may then not bring up valuable information that might help make your decision easier. The best way around that is to make your questions open-ended so that they have to answer in many sentences and not simple yes or no questions. Asking “Do you have experience in divorce law?” will get a different answer than the question “Can you please explain to me your experiences with divorce law?”. The first questions will likely get you a yes or no answer, but the latter will give them the chance to tell you about their cases they have handled and allow you to listen.

While you are listen to their answers, you need to listen for what they do not say, as well as what they do say. Missing information can be more significant than you can imagine. They could tell you a bunch of information about a particular case they have handled, but you might later discover it was the only case they have ever tried. That would be disappointing if you never found out how many cases they were involved in. So, make sure to adlib follow up questions to make sure you’ve gotten complete answers.

If you do follow these 3 simple steps 1. Research, 2. Set Criteria, 3. Plan the Meeting you’ll be on your way to choosing a great attorney and unleashing the power of their experience as they are in your corner and fight for you in the justice system.

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Filed under: Lawyer

Print This Post Print This Post

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!