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.

For more life tips and other advice, check out the rest of our site law.

Do you suspect that you might have a so-called lemon car on your hands?

If you bought a new or used vehicle recently and you’re already having car problems with it, you might just have a lemon. Surveys have shown that about two-thirds of lemon cars will need to have car repairs made within one month of being purchased.

If your car keeps breaking down on you, you should make sure that you take the right steps to deal with the situation. No one deserves to go through the trouble of buying a car only to discover that a car is a lemon.

Today, we’re going to talk about which steps you should take after learning that you were sold a lemon car. Find out about them below.

Make Sure You Actually Have a Lemon Car on Your Hands

If you buy a new or used vehicle and you have car problems almost right away, you might automatically assume that you were sold a lemon car. But this isn’t always the case.

A lemon car isn’t just a car that gives you trouble right away. It’s a car that has been shown to have a “substantial defect” that cannot be fixed within a “reasonable amount of time.”

If your car doesn’t fit this description, it might not be a lemon car after all. You’re going to have to be able to prove that there is a serious enough issue with a car that makes it a lemon.

Read Up on the Federal Lemon Law

The federal lemon law—also known as the Magnuson Moss Warranty Federal Trade Commission Improvements Act—is a law that was created to protect those who have written warranties for consumer products. It’s important for you to understand this.

Because of the way in which the lemon law was written, those who have lemon cars that didn’t come with warranties aren’t eligible to take legal action. You need to have a written warranty for a lemon car to do anything about it.

If you choose to take legal action after buying a car that is a lemon, you’ll essentially be arguing that the warranty for it was no good. And if a judge sides with you, an auto manufacturer will need to refund the money you paid for a lemon car or replace it entirely.

You should try to have a basic understanding of the federal lemon law. It’ll help you to figure out if you will have a strong enough case after buying a lemon car.

Check Out the Lemon Law in Your Specific State

In addition to taking a look at the federal lemon law, you should also sneak a peek at the lemon law in your specific state. Many states have lemon laws that more clearly define what a lemon car is.

For instance, some states will give auto manufacturers a certain number of tries to fix car problems. If they aren’t able to repair a car after, say, three or four attempts, a car will be considered a lemon at that point.

You should be aware of what the lemon laws are in your state. They could help determine whether or not you have a case that would stand up in court.

Prepare the Proper Paperwork for Your Lemon Car

If you decide that you’re going to try and take legal action after buying a lemon car, you’ll need to obtain quite a bit of paperwork. The more paperwork that you can gather, the better your chances of being victorious in court.

For starters, you’ll want to secure any receipts tied to car repairs that you’ve had done to a lemon car. You’ll also want to keep any copies of correspondences that you’ve had with car dealerships, auto manufacturers, etc.

By doing these things, you’ll be able to prove that you did everything in your power to repair a lemon car before going the legal route. You’ll feel like you have a stronger leg to stand on when you’re armed with the right paperwork.

Speak With a Lemon Law Lawyer About Taking on Your Case

If you ultimately decide that you’re going to try to take legal action against an auto manufacturer after buying a lemon car, you’ll need a reputable lawyer on your side. You should look high and low for a lawyer who has experience with lemon law cases.

Googling something like “lemon law used cars” should reveal a long list of options in your area. You should speak with a few prior to hiring a lawyer that you feel you can trust.

Avoid Driving Around in a Lemon Car at All Costs

If you have the slightest inclination that a vehicle might be a lemon car, you should avoid driving around in it if you can. Even if you’re able to start a lemon car and drive it, it could break down on you at any time and cause big problems.

You could also hurt your case if you continue to drive around in a lemon car. You might end up proving that it’s not in as bad of shape as you say it is. You would be better off leaving it parked somewhere until you get your lemon car situation figured out.

You Don’t Have to Get Stuck Dealing With a Lemon Car for Long

The second that you realize you might have a lemon car on your hands, you should stop driving it and take the steps we just laid out. They’ll help you decide if you might be able to take legal action under your state’s lemon law.

You should also strongly consider speaking with a lemon car attorney about your case. They can shed some more light on which other steps you might want to take.

Check out some of the other articles posted on our blog to get more tips on making car repairs.