There are 1.3 million lawyers in the US. That means when it comes to choosing one, you aren’t short of great choices and even your local area likely has a lot of them.
Not all of them are created equal, however. When choosing one, you should be careful and make sure you find the best fit for you.
So just how do you find the best attorney in your area? By following these steps.
Ask for Recommendations
Asking for recommendations can be the best way to find any service. You can ask your friends and family about who they’d recommend — or who they’d avoid due to bad experiences! They’re sure to give you some names to start your journey.
If your friends and family don’t have any recommendations to get you started, you can always head to your neighborhood Facebook group or Nextdoor. Posting on there is sure to bring up some names that you can then look into.
Remember, don’t take the first recommendation that you’re given — this is just a starting list so you can dive into some research.
Read Reviews
Once you’ve searched on Google for the best local lawyer and asked for some recommendations, you should now have a list of names to get you started.
The next thing you should do is look at their reviews. They should have a good overall rating on whatever platform you can find them on, and you can also dive into the high and low reviews to get exact details about how their services go and what they do well.
Reviews are mostly left by independent strangers with no influence from the lawyer, especially if they’re on neutral third-party platforms, so they’re invaluable to your search. It’s also important to make sure they have a lot of reviews so that the overall opinion is more balanced — and it means they’ve had a lot of clients.
Check Out Their Website
Web design is a very different industry, but the best law firm will still have a clean and accessible website. They’ll have details about who and what they represent, and what exactly their expertise is in.
You’ll want to choose a lawyer who seems to know what they’re doing in the area of the law you need help with.
They may also have client testimonials on their website and you can look at these alongside reviews to come to a decision about them.
Most importantly, their website will have their contact details.
Ask for a Consultation
The next step is to ask for a consultation and to actually meet with the lawyer, whether that’s virtually or in person. Make sure you’re aware of the pricing of this consultation — many lawyers will offer one for free, which is ideal, as you can decide if you want to go with them at no cost to yourself.
When you go to the consultation, you should take the time to really consider if they’re right for you. They should be friendly but professional, and their confidence should give you the impression that they know their way around the law.
The office should also make you feel relaxed. Remember, you’ll have to be completely honest with your lawyer so they can determine the best course of action. If you can’t do that because you don’t trust them, it might be time to try and find someone else.
Consider Their Pricing
You’ll have to make sure the lawyer is within your budget. Ask about their pricing and how much this is likely to cost you. Most lawyers charge per hour, and the price can be pretty steep.
Remember though — although it’s important to make sure that the lawyer is within your budget, don’t just go with the cheapest attorney you can find and consider nothing else. The cheapest attorney may be inexpensive for a reason. Perhaps they don’t have a good track record, aren’t super experienced, or simply have bad reviews that they need to make up for before they can get business while charging more.
Consider the pricing along with everything else and make sure you can afford it, but that it seems appropriate for the expertise you need in your case.
Ask About Their Experience
Make sure they have a lot of experience and that it’s in the area of the law you need it to be. For example, if you need someone who knows about workers’ rights, make sure they have handled a lot of cases involving that (find more info from felaattorney.com on that here).
You’ll also want to make sure they’ve been in practice for a long time. Although a new lawyer might be great at what they do and eager to learn, if you want the best attorney, they should have many years behind them.
Lastly — but this is perhaps the most important thing of all — make sure they’re qualified. The road to becoming a lawyer is long, and they should hold a full practicing certificate by the time they come to represent you.
Choose the Best Attorney Carefully With These Steps
It can be daunting to look for the best attorney in your local area. After all, you don’t want to play around with the law, so it’s non-negotiable to have the best possible lawyer available.
Make sure you ask for recommendations, read reviews, check out the website, and ask them all of the questions you need to. Any good attorney will be understanding, patient, and transparent as they give you all of the answers you need to feel comfortable hiring them.
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