Sometimes, lawyers seem to come from an entirely different species—and I’m not trying to make a lawyer joke. It can be downright hard to communicate with a lawyer. However, if you’re having trouble talking to your lawyer, you’re probably making the communication process harder than it has to be. Here are a few tips to help you talk to your lawyer.
Fully Disclose All Pertinent Information
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If it’s your first time dealing with a lawyer, you’re probably not very well-versed on what to tell them and when. That’s fine. Everyone has to start somewhere. One of the most important things to keep in mind is that the attorney-client privilege doesn’t come into play until the attorney agrees to represent you and you’ve officially hired them. Do not tell them anything incriminating about you or your case until that point.
Once the attorney-client privilege is established, tell your lawyer anything and everything pertinent to the case. Your lawyer cannot represent you effectively without knowing as much about the case as you do. You wouldn’t want to be sitting in court and have the opposing counsel bring up information you chose not to tell your lawyer. It could completely wipe out your chances of winning your case. Make sure to let your lawyer know all the facts.
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Use Your Time and Money Wisely
Unless you have a lawyer on retainer from a firm like Bronson & Jones, your lawyer will charge you by the time they spend on your case. That includes time spent answering questions you have about your case in any type of communication you may use—whether via phone, email, or fax. Because of this, make sure you have multiple questions or topics to discuss when contacting him.
Don’t simply call or shoot an email every time a question comes to mind. Jot it down, because you might have another question come to you a few hours later, and you don’t want to fill up your lawyer’s inbox with single question emails. It’ll take a lot more time to read and answer each of those emails than it would to answer one email with multiple questions, and that extra time will come out of your wallet.
Educate Yourself in Matters of Law
Lawyers are legal counselors. A large part of their job is to counsel you on legal matters. However, this doesn’t mean that you should sit back and let the lawyer take the reins. On the contrary, you should learn a bit about your type of case and other matters of law. Then, you’ll be able to ask questions that will benefit you. Instead of giving you general advice, your lawyer will be able to gear his counsel directly to you because you’ll be asking questions about what you need to know, rather than staying silent because you don’t understand what’s going on.
Know Who’s Working on Your Case
One thing you need to know is that lawyers rarely get into the nitty-gritty details of their cases. That’s paralegal work. Hardly ever does the lawyer work on collecting all those details and putting together the case file. Because of this, you need to find out who is working on your case. By having the paralegal’s contact information as well, you’ll be able to get new information straight into the case file, which can be important in an emergency.
Pay Your Bills On Time
The best way to keep a good rapport between your lawyer and you is to pay your bills on time. If there ever comes a time that you can’t afford the bill, let the lawyer know immediately why you can’t afford it and when you will be able to. The more honest and upfront you are with your lawyer, the more likely he will be to work out a deal with you, like a payment plan, to cut you some slack on your finances.
Whether you need someone specializing in personal injury or ICBC, lawyers from Vancouver to Virginia Beach can help you, and by using these tips, you’ll be able to communicate clearly with the lawyer you hire.
