How to Find a Lawyer in 6 Steps
A Guide on Finding a Lawyer
It is always wise to find a professional lawyer to handle all paperwork and representation required whenever faced with legal-related matters. For some, knowing how to get a lawyer might be strange and something new. As a result, they might make mistakes throughout the journey. Unfortunately, making a mistake in choosing the lawyer can potentially lead to huge losses in money and time, and of course, you might lose peace of mind. Here is a guide on how to get a lawyer as conveniently as possible.
Different Tasks of a Lawyer
Hiring a lawyer has more than one benefit because they take care of different legal tasks upon request. In a professional business setting, lawyers can proofread legal documents and agreements. When faced with difficult customers who do not settle invoices on time, a law firm can write notices and letters of demand. If the issue is not resolved within a certain number of days, lawyers can escalate it to a courthouse capable of resolving that problem.
In a personal setting, lawyers can help guide families through legal separation, divorce and even prenuptial agreements. If caught up in a tough legal spot, such as getting arrested, a lawyer also assists with litigation and advisory comments.
Step 1: Search Within the Relevant Field
The first step to finding a lawyer is searching within the relevant field. Determine what type of lawyer you need by choosing between business, family, or criminal justice attorneys. Use further sorting criteria to find the best lawyer for your legal matters. For example, granulate the search by including industry or specific acts when looking for business legal assistance.
Finding an expert in the exact field will improve the chances of getting the best help available. For personal legal matters, there are limited options since it is mostly either family law or criminal justice. In some cases, you might require legal representation for deceased estates, wills and trusts. Search for the most relevant to your legal matters and be specific when searching the internet.
Step 2: Identify the Type of Legal Help You Need
Once you have established the field to search, determine what type of legal help is required. As mentioned above, lawyers have different tasks, including litigation, advising and drafting or proofing legal documents. Some legal matters might require just one of these services, whereas others might need a combination.
You can ascertain what type of legal help is needed by assessing possible roadmaps of that specific matter. If there are disputes within a registered company, the potential resolutions are arbitration or litigation. In this case, finding a business lawyer that specializes in legal representation and litigation would be the best decision.
Step 3: Consider Pro Bono Options
Pro bono lawyers are a provision very few know about that can help disadvantaged communities, families, or groups of people. Racial, societal, or environmental cases have higher chances of being taken on pro bono. Not all cases qualify for pro bono assistance since lawyers handpick matters.
In some countries, large legal firms are compelled to give away a certain number of hours doing pro bono work. Therefore, ascertain your case merits and compare it with what warrants a viable pro bono case and choose whether to go this route or not. Lawyers that provide this service usually stipulate their qualification criteria. It might be best to read it in detail before reaching out.
Step 4: Ensure the Law Firm is Legal
The next step is ensuring that the law firm is legal before reaching out. Unfortunately, we live in a day and age where everyone with internet access can create a website. This poses a problem if you are searching for a lawyer on the internet, as you might stumble on a bogus website. There are some ways to ensure if a law firm’s website is credible or not.
One of those effective methods is checking out their address and doing a quick Google Maps street view. The offices of the legal firm should show up, and if not, this might be an indication of a bogus law website. If possible, cross-reference the practice number with local verification provisions available.
Step 5: Write a Clear Proposal
Once you have determined that a law firm is credible, it is time to make sure they can help with your matters. Write a clear and formal proposal detailing the problem, when it started, measures that have been taken to resolve it and so forth. For complex, business-related matters, prepare a detailed report with evidence of any wrongdoing or misconduct.
Some large legal firms might want you to state your budget range, so conduct some cost-related research. Find a reasonable price for the type of legal help or representation you need. Although their quote might depend on the firm’s policies, having this research at hand can help with negotiating.
Step 6: Compare Costs and Scope of Services
After sending through the proposal and receiving a response, compare costs between lawyers or the law firms. Ensure that you send the proposal to the top five most relevant lawyers, and once their response is back, check out their cost estimates.
Cross-reference those costs with the scope of services each lawyer has agreed to provide. Some lawyers might agree to a lower price, but the scope of services may not be sufficient to cover you as comprehensively as possible. If clarification is needed on the scope of services, contact the lawyer and confirm with them before agreeing to that quotation.
How to Find Pro Bono Lawyers
Finding pro bono lawyers is not easy because everyone would be trying their luck. Although you might find some by adding pro bono to your internet search, this might not be the full list. Therefore, to find pro bono lawyers, visit different law firms. Ask if their pro bono hours have been used up, and if not, what type of services are covered. From then on, detail your problem for the law firm to determine if they will tackle the matter.
