Do I need an attorney?
The short answer is “No”. You can buy an online estate-planning
package or download infinite contracts and legal documents via Rocket Lawyer. You
even have the right to represent yourself in court. However, you get what you
pay for. If you’ve done any of the above, I’m not picking on you. But when the
“crap hits the fan” (which unfortunately it tends to do once in a while), you
need legal advice from a person with a law license.
Lots of times people feel like they can handle legal issues
themselves. They really don’t want to part with the whole pie, not realizing
that by not giving up a “reasonable” percentage in the form of an attorney fee,
they risk losing all of it. It doesn’t help that we lawyers don’t exactly have
the greatest reputation for being honest, which makes the process of finding
the right attorney even more frustrating.
So how do I find the
right attorney?
Glad you asked. Your body included a keen sense of direction
called “going with your gut”. If you don’t feel comfortable with the attorney
after meeting with them, don’t move forward. Almost NEVER hire a lawyer over the phone
(save exigent circumstances where meeting face-to-face is impossible). I have had this come up only once where a man moved to Michigan but was involved in an
accident in Tennessee. He only had one week to file his lawsuit and we had to
act fast. Only after a two-hour phone conversation (and all of his questions were answered) did he decide to hire
our firm.
Unfortunately, there are MANY empty promises made by
attorneys during an initial consultation. In this meeting, the attorney
is playing 50% doctor, 50% salesman. But use this meeting to interview the attorney:
Ask him/her how long they’ve been practicing
Ask how many cases like yours that
he/she has handled
Ask what the potential difficulties
in your case are (hint: there are always
difficulties and if you are told
otherwise, RUN!)
A reputable attorney will not guarantee a certain outcome. A
reputable attorney will not guarantee you a certain amount
of money. A reputable attorney will not use legalese and verbose words to puff
up their image, but will explain in layman’s terms what the process is for your
case. If you can leave the meeting with a clear sense of understanding of how
the attorney plans to best represent you, you’ve found a good one.
Just please
don’t cheap out and go at it all by your lonesome. I speak with far too many people who have killed
their case/claim/issue through self-inflicted wounds by holding out on
hiring an attorney.
