HOW TO FIND THE RIGHT LAWYER

HOW TO FIND THE RIGHT LAWYER

After practicing law for over 10 years and meeting
with thousands of clients, I have learned about the importance of choosing the
right lawyer for the right case.  The
beginning of the lawyer/client relationship sets the tone for the entirety of
the case.  Whether you have a divorce
matter, boundary line dispute, or have been arrested for a crime, the same
suggestions apply when making the important decision of choosing counsel. 

Before I outline my observations, I want to point
out that not every client and lawyer will be a good fit.  The reasons are too numerous to list, but it
seems that the personality of the parties may be the most important aspect of
problems with attorney/client relationships. 

Based on my experience assisting people in our
community finding a lawyer for their particular issue and representing people
accused of crimes, I have found the following considerations to be very
helpful. 

1. TURN TO THOSE YOU TRUST – The vast majority of my
clients became a client because they were specifically referred by another
attorney, former client, or someone else in the community.  In these situations, the client asked their
friends and/or family about who would be the lawyer to turn to. 

2.   RESEARCH – There are really only two ways to
get the background on a lawyer.  The                   first is to simply make an
appointment and conduct an “interview”. 
You may even want to interview multiple lawyers to see who you feel most
comfortable with.  Second, you can
perform some internet research.  This is
fairly easy to do by simply doing a Google search on the lawyer or lawyers who
you are interested in knowing more about. 
By doing an internet search on a lawyer, you can find out about their
background, disciplinary history, website, former client reviews, and much
more.

Obviously, not everything on the internet is
true.  However, there are many reputable
legal                              websites that provide information
on attorneys.  Some of these include, but
are not limited to, www.lawyers.com,
www.avvo.com,
www.findlaw.com,
and www.martindale.com. 

3.  REPUTATION
– While this aspect of finding a lawyer is similar to talking with trusted
friends and family, it is probably wise to ask about a lawyer’s general
reputation in the community.  Some
questions may be:  How has the lawyer
treated prior clients?  Is the lawyer
considered trustworthy in the community? 
Does the lawyer behave in a professional manner?  Does the lawyer have the respect of his or
her colleagues and the judges who the lawyer appears before?

4.   TRUST – I
saved this for last because it is by far the most important aspect of the
attorney client relationship.  Every time
I have a potential client enter my office and ask me to represent him or her, I
suggest that the client to do one thing. 
Make sure that you are choosing the lawyer that you truly trust.  Whether that is me or someone else, I always
ask them to choose the person they are most comfortable with.  I would much rather see a person who is in
need of legal services hire someone else if they are more comfortable with
another lawyer.  The level of trust and
cooperation during a legal case will have a direct impact on the results of the
case.  Disaster is inevitable when trust
is either non-existent or broken during the pendency of the litigation. 

I hope that I have provided some guidance in
choosing the right attorney when a legal situation arises.  I strongly believe that putting in some time
in making this important decision will benefit citizens needing legal counsel
in all areas of the law.