Questions to Ask a Lawyer Prior to Hiring Them

It is recommended that you “screen” your potential lawyer first before hiring him/her

Before hiring a lawyer, it is important that an individual interview them. It is never a good idea to hire an attorney sight unseen or without first speaking with them. If a person does, they may find that their experience is a bad one. It is best to avoid attorneys that are not familiar with the particular area of law a person needs representation in, that charge really expensive rates and/or hidden fee and/or those that have too little experience. This information can only be gleaned from an interview.

In order to determine whether or not a particular lawyer is a good fit, sitting down with him or her (this can also be done over the phone) and asking a few questions is a good idea. Below, we have listed a few questions that individuals should be sure to ask Now, the interview shouldn’t necessarily be restricted to these questions. Individuals will need to ask any additional questions they feel they need to.

1. Do you specialize in a particular type of law? Some lawyers may specialize in abortion malpractice while some may be experts in handling estate problems. It is imperative that you ask this question first in order to make sure that you are hiring the right lawyer for your case. They will thus know it very well. If a person has an issue regarding child support and custody, they may want to hire an attorney who specializes in child support and custody matters, because it might give them a better shot of winning their case such as with walaw.us.

2. How much experience do you have? This is a good question to ask. Sure, there may be times when hiring a lawyer fresh out of law school is perfectly fine. However, attorneys with a lot of experience are often preferred because not only are they more likely to know the ins and outs of the law, they will have gone “through the fire a bit” making them a formidable opponent in court such as Masson & Fatini.

3. Can you legally practice law in this state? There are very stringent guidelines concerning who can and can’t practice law in a particular state. One of the very first things a person should ask is whether or not an attorney is able to practice law in his or her state. If not, they must automatically be eliminated from contention and the search for an attorney needs to be continued.  Be sure to check out wrongful death lawyer in Houston as well.

4. What are your prices? This is an extremely important question. It won’t matter how great an attorney is if a person cannot afford his or her rates. Because this is the case, an individual should ask about price very early in the process. This will save both them and the attorney a great deal of time. The attorney won’t have to sell him or herself to someone who can’t afford their services and the person looking for a lawyer won’t have to sit through the pitch.

5. Do you offer any flat-rate packages?: Many lawyers will package their services and make them available for a flat fee. For instance, they may offer divorce or bankruptcy services for a set amount. This fee would cover everything regardless of how complicated the case is. Now, there may be some exceptions but for the most part, a person gets everything for a set amount of money. This can make some services much more affordable because it places a cap on how much a person will be charged.