subject: How To Pick The Right Attorney [print this page] You never know when you might need a good attorney. Things happen in life, sometimes quite unexpectedly, like accidents, crime, medical mishaps and other events that are injurious, economically costly and even fatal. Getting the right advocate on your side for, say, a personal injury case or a wrongful death suit, is the most effective thing you can do to maximize your chances of prevailing. You are probably never going to get used to tragic occurrences, and will find that you operate differently during times of high stress. Lawyers, on the other hand, deal with these kinds of events for a living, and know how to keep a cool head.
No one hires an attorney on a lark. Something valuable is at stake, damage has been done, injuries have been sustained, lives may have been lost. These are incidents that challenge the strongest people, and motivate both weak and strong to get support from those they can trust and with whom they can clearly communicate. From the many, many attorneys practicing in Southern California, or wherever you happen to live, just how do you go about finding the right one? It is not easy, but anything good takes time, so read the remainder of this article and, when you need a lawyer, apply the principles and suggestions patiently but firmly.
Personal referrals
It is called word of mouth, and it has proven to be among the most reliable indicators of service and product quality. There is no reason whatever to think that shopping around for a lawyer should be any different than getting quotes on a gardening job or auto repair. You want to know what people whose opinions you value have done, and what attorneys they have worked with. You do want as much pertinent information as you can get, but it falls short of being gossip (or you should ensure that it does). That said, you need to seek out people in your personal and professional circles to get input about lawyers who specialize in the field(s) you need help with.
On the professional side, you should give a great deal of weight to the judgment of you financial adviser, accountant, banker or insurance agent. These are excellent places to start because they are also part of other, wider circles of professionals and have many, many contacts to mine for good information. On the personal side, your relatives, friends, coworkers and fellow members of community groups or churches can be good sources, as well. Of course, when you do get referrals from either personal or professional sources, you want to get as much information as possible, such as the kind of case, the character and attitude of the attorney, the fees and, of course, the outcome of the case.
Lawyer referral services
There are many, many pages in the phone book and on Internet-based yellow pages that list plenty of lawyers. These are advertisements, of course, and will tell you nothing except what the attorney wishes to project. Without any other input, such as personal referrals, you cannot possibly make an intelligent choice from a list of names. There are also lawyer referral services, which in some countries (like Canada) are run by the provincial governments, but which in the U.S. are usually part of a state bar association or local branch thereof. In some cases, they are even private businesses or co-operative marketing arrangements for a self-selected group of attorneys. Again, being on some ad page or referral list is no particular imprimatur for an attorney, absent other information gleaned elsewhere.
Hiring decision
When you retain an attorney, the most important thing is expertise with your particular issue. These days, lawyers are just as specialized as doctors, with common specializations being litigation, wills and estates, family law, taxes, real estate, employment law and corporate/commercial law. While this works against the notion of having a single old-style family attorney to handle everything like the old-fashioned GP doctor did (even making house calls), it results in better outcomes for clients because of specific expertise.
Don't forget that mutual respect is part of the formula. You need to be able to trust your lawyer, as well as respect her for her experience and abilities. It is not so important to be personal friends, but it helps to be friendly with your attorney, just as it is counterproductive to have one that is off-putting, rude, arrogant or disorganized. If you note personal and professional habits that do not comport with expertise and ability, your search is not over. You will need to meet a few lawyers in person before making your decision.
Bottom line
Get as many personal referrals as possible, check out prospective attorneys with the local bar to see about complaints, meet with several promising candidates and make a decision. Do not ignore your gut feelings or intuition, but balance them with the information you have obtained. When you follow these simple principles, chances are you will discover how to pick the right attorney without much muss or fuss at all.
