What To Expect From Your Attorney

Have you hired, or plan to hire, an attorney but have no idea what to expect from him/her/them? We are here to help you get started. It was reported that in 2018, 77% of US citizens didn't hire a legal representative even though they had a present legal issue. The most common problems that are presented when people are struggling with a legal issues are: not knowing when to hire an attorney, not knowing what they would need an attorney for, not knowing what they should look for when hiring an attorney, and issues with attorneys fees. In this blog we will give you 5 main characteristics to build a foundation of what you can look for when hiring an attorney. We hope this list helps give you confidence and standing on navigating our vast legal field.

1.   The ability and patience to listen

We understand that, for many of you, this may be your first time seeking an attorney or legal counsel. When issues arise of importance and you are forced to seek counsel it can feel like a very vulnerable time. Whether you are filing for divorce, seeking help with a shady landlord, trying to file taxes, or even have a criminal issue to sort out, all of these examples can feel like the walls are closing in on you and you need to get them taken care of right away. When you are seeking an attorney it is important to look for those who have the ability and patience to listen to your case. There are many attorneys out there who have a ton of matters in their office that requires their attention and they may not have the patience to sit down and listen to your worries or concerns. Some attorneys may even ask to reschedule or blow off meetings with you to handle their other cases. In these events it could be wise to ask the attorneys, in the consultation, what their workload is like and how do they divvy up their time in between clients. You want to make sure your matter is handled with care and diligence and not looked over or pushed to the back of the line of importance.

2.   Knowledge of the law

This may go without saying, but it is a very important factor to point out. In our 9 years of experience we have run into a few attorneys who take on cases they are not familiar with or haven't practiced that area of law to a certain degree, just to gain experience and/or see if they can handle it. If you have a case of importance or even feel uneasy with looking for an experienced attorney to handle a matter with care, it might be very beneficial to do some research on your lawsuit and gain some basic understanding as to prepare yourself with questions to ask your attorney and ensure that they are not using your legal matter as a test subject to boost their law firm.

3.   Passion

In alignment with point number one, the passion of the attorney you are considering is an important thing to consider in our opinion. The truth of the matter is is that your case is significant and is impacting your life one way or another. If you find an attorney who doesn't take this into consideration nor do they care how drastic your case is and will be then, more than likely, you will end of constantly trying to get your attorney to show some sort of care of concern for your case. We'd like to use the example of an intimate partner who doesn't care about the a relationship they are on. 9/10 times their partner spends more time than they should trying to get the disinterested lover to care. In both instances, this should not occur. There are plenty of attorneys out there, as well as intimate partners, who will go above and beyond for you and your legal issues. Do not settle. We know that it can be hard to find the needle in the haystack but a passionate attorney is out there for you and you deserve the best care for your case.

4.   Perseverance

Cases, like life, don't always turn out the way we want. Sometimes the judge doesn't rule in our favor, other times opposing counsel is really convincing, many times it just isn't in the cards for us to win the first time around. When these things happen it is crucial that you have an attorney on your side who won't throw in the towel so easily. Defeat is not an easy thing to get back up from but when you find an attorney who has perseverance, you can trust that they will get back up every time and continue to fight for you. In 1857, United States 16th President Abraham Lincoln took on the case of Duff Armstrong and Norris pro-bono. At this point in Abrahams career he had handled over 400 cases and lost more than half. Abraham decided to take on one more case and do it for free as a favor to a family friend. Because of his perseverance and tenacity to see win this case for someone he cared deeply about, Abraham succeeded by getting his client acquitted which eventually put him on the map as on of the most famous lawyers in the U.S. When you have an attorney who will fight for you tooth and nail than you have already won in our books.

5.   Responsiveness

According to the ABAJournal, the number one complaint against attorneys is the failure to communicate with their clients. Now we understand that there are some boundaries that goes with this key factor. Most attorneys are not available 24/7 and there needs to be some respect and understanding, on the consumer side, that attorneys do have other clients to attend to. However, this does not mean that you should be going days or even weeks without hearing from a legal professional. Making sure to ask the potential attorneys what their in-house client communications is like or what you can expect as far as updates on your case is a critical point to make during the initial consultation. You want to be sure, from our opinion, that you are paying for the services you want. If you want an attorney who provides you with updates every week, make this known to them. If you are seeking an attorney who will send you daily updates on your matter, even if nothing is happening, tell the professional this. We want to really harden on the fact that if you do not make your expectations known then the attorney will default into how their firm operates. It could be less frustrating, for both parties involved, to make your expectations known with communication so that you are hiring an attorney that best suits your needs.

There are of course other characteristics and factors to be on the lookout for when hiring an attorney but these are the top 5 that we have come up with that are predominant when selecting an attorney to handle your cases. We hope that this has given you some insight and understanding as to how to go about finding the appropriate legal professional for you. If you would like us to dive into any more points or have any questions regarding what we have discussed here please feel free to leave a comment below or contact us directly!