Are you in need of a suitable lawyer for your case, but you’re unsure where to start looking for one?
If the answer is yes, you’re not alone.
Finding someone who’s well-suited to your needs, whether it’s drafting a contract, providing advice on a legal matter, or helping you deal with a legal dispute, can be daunting.
That’s why we’ve developed 5 strategies that you can use to find a suitable lawyer in 2023:
1.Ask for referrals from friends and family
Do you know what’s better than spending hours researching and contacting different law firms to find a suitable lawyer for your case?
Asking for referrals from people you know and whose judgment you trust.
If you know someone who’s recently hired a lawyer to handle legal issues similar to yours, and they’ve had a positive experience with them, be sure to ask them about the following things regarding the lawyer’s work:
- Availability and responsiveness
- Professionalism and attentiveness
- Qualifications
- Effectiveness
- Communication skills
Keep in mind that although these referrals might give you an idea of what to expect, a referral is not a guarantee of a lawyer’s abilities. For that reason, it’s always best to supplement this strategy with an online search of your own.
2.Do an online search
Think of an online search of a law firm or a specific lawyer as your due diligence. This search will likely lead you to a law firm’s website first.
Law firm websites can be extremely useful in terms of giving you answers about the following:
- The practice areas their lawyers specialize in
- Qualifications of the lawyers you’re looking into
- A lawyer’s experience with cases similar to yours, and
- A lawyer’s success rate
For example, if you search for law offices of S&B on search engines, you’ll quickly learn that they primarily deal with personal injury and immigration law cases in NYC – and you’ll even be able to see some of their case outcomes right away.
To get an even more objective perspective and determine whether your chosen lawyer would be a good fit for your needs, you should also check out the reviews and ratings from independent websites and lawyer directories.
This way, you’ll get a better sense of their client satisfaction and reputation and the negatives of working with that specific lawyer.
3.Check bar associations.
Another way that you can perform a background check on your chosen lawyer is to look them up in bar association directories.
Bar associations are professional organizations that provide lawyer referral services suitable for particular cases.
You can use them as a resource to check whether your lawyer is in good standing with a bar and if they’re licensed to practice in your state. Moreover, you can use them to find out whether your lawyer has ethical issues or if they’ve violated the rules of professional conduct.
Some bar associations even offer client-lawyer matching programs, but as we believe that legal matching services deserve their spotlight, we’ll devote a whole new section to them right below.
4.Use legal matching services.
As previously mentioned, you can think of legal matching services as online platforms that make connecting clients with the most suitable lawyers cheaper, faster, and easier.
Sounds great, right? Let’s see more about how this works.
Usually, you’ll give these platforms information about your location and the area of law relevant to your legal issue, and in return, they’ll match you with a lawyer well-suited to your needs.
It’s important to remember that these platforms contain non-exhaustive lists of suitable lawyers, so they shouldn’t be the only place you visit before making a final decision. Moreover, not all legal matching services are equally credible, so make sure to check their ratings before using them.
5.Meet the lawyer:
Ultimately, the final decision on which lawyer to hire should be yours and yours alone. This is why your quest for a suitable lawyer should always end with an in-person meeting.
Schedule a meeting or a consultation with one or more of your chosen lawyers to:
- Ask them questions about their experience with cases like yours
- Get a sense of their personality, communication style, fees, and availability
- Establish trust
Last but not least: You’ll likely be working with your chosen lawyer for a while, so ask yourself if you feel comfortable in their presence and trust your gut. If something feels off, it’s okay to walk away.
Conclusion
When looking for a suitable lawyer, it’s important to consider their qualifications, experience, reputation, and communication style.
Also, make sure you trust your lawyer, as they will handle sensitive and personal information about you and your case.
By following these 5 strategies, you can improve your chances of finding a suitable lawyer who can assist you in resolving your legal issues and provide you with the necessary emotional support as you deal with the stresses of litigation.