If you need a lawyer for the first time, that’s potentially intimidating. Maybe you’re in a situation where you’re facing a legal situation you never have before. Even if you’re not facing criminal charges or anything that scary, you’re in a scenario where you must hire a professional in a field you may know very little about.
You don’t need to know a great deal about the role of a criminal defense attorney, a real estate attorney, or an environmental lawyer to hire one. You just need to know the signs that you’ve found the right lawyer or law firm for your particular situation. We will talk about some of the signs that you have located the right attorney or firm in this article.
They Have Lots of Positive Online Feedback
If you need a lawyer, or a plumber, or just about any other kind of professional, you can find one near you through a Google search. You might also ask people you know for recommendations, but you’ll find the internet just as useful of a guide.
You should have no issue finding a lawyer or law firm near you, but what about their online feedback? It can tell you a great deal about what the public thinks about them, just like when you Google a doctor, a mechanic, or any other professional who might potentially do a job for you.
If you see a law firm that has a ton of five-star reviews, that’s a positive sign. By contrast, if you see some terrible reviews of a law firm or lawyer, you’ll know you should probably disqualify them and look at other possibilities.
You Get Along Well with Them
When you go to see a lawyer for the first time, they will doubtless give you a particular impression. Ask yourself what you think about them during that first meeting. Do they seem respectful and capable? Do they give you a negative impression instead?
You should trust your instincts when it comes to hiring someone, and that certainly applies to lawyers. If you feel that everything about this attorney seems professional, you should feel a lot more confident about hiring them than if they have an office in a seedy part of town and they remind you of a sleazy used car salesman.
They Charge You an Amount That Seems Acceptable
The amount of money that a lawyer will charge you for the job will always come into play. Maybe you feel confident about a particular attorney or firm, but you simply can’t afford them. If that’s the case, you must find someone else, since you can’t bargain with most lawyers if you can’t afford their fee.
If you and the lawyer can agree on a fee, and you will have no issues paying it, then you can probably move forward confidently. Just like any other service, you can’t enter into a contract with a lawyer knowing you don’t have the money to pay them once they do the job for you.
They’re Located Relatively Close to You
You must also think about the lawyer’s office location. Can you get there via a quick car, train, or bus ride? Must you drive for two hours to get to this attorney’s brick-and-mortar offices?
You will probably have multiple occasions where you must visit your lawyer. If so, they should have physical offices relatively close to you. It won’t do you much good if you find a lawyer who seems competent and they have a pricing structure you feel you can pay, but it’s a multiple-hour trip to see them every time you need their services.
They Have Handled Many Cases Like Yours
There’s perhaps one thing you should see from your lawyer or that you should ask them that might determine whether you hire them or not. That’s the question of whether or not they’re ever handled cases like yours before.
You likely already know that lawyers and law firms have all kinds of specialties. If you’re bringing a personal injury case against someone, it doesn’t make much sense to hire an attorney who doesn’t specialize in that aspect of the law.
When you meet with the attorney for the first time, ask them whether they’ve ever handled a case like yours before and how it turned out if they have. If they can reassure you that they’ve won many similar cases, you can hire them confidently.