- Depending on your legal needs, you may need a lawyer with different specialties—like criminal law, bankruptcy law, or family law.
- Get lawyer recommendations from friends, search LegalZoom.com, or browse the bar association's listings. Then, research each lawyer's website.
- Attend consultations where you'll suss out potential lawyers' skills and weaknesses. Ask questions about their success rate and availability.
Finding Lawyers
Determine what type of attorney you need. It is always preferable to locate an attorney who has specialized expertise in the practice area that your case involves (e.g., malpractice law, bankruptcy law, etc.). It’s also a good idea to find attorney familiar with the courts and laws of the area where you live. This will enable your attorney to best represent your interests. Some examples of practice areas include: Bankruptcy law. This will be helpful if you are struggling with your finances. Criminal law. An attorney who specializes in criminal law is important if your case involves a crime or potentially illegal activity. Disability specialist. Disability specialists can handle Social Security and/or veteran’s disability claims. Trusts and estates. This type of lawyer deals with issues such as estate planning, qualifying for Medicaid, probating an estate, and obtaining guardianship of an elderly parent or grandparent. Family Law. Family law attorneys handle matters such as separation, divorce, pre-nuptial agreements, adoption, guardianship, child custody and support. Personal injury law. Personal injury attorneys handle cases involving medical malpractice, dog bites, car accidents and any injury to a person that may be the fault of another. Employment law. Employment attorneys can help your business set up employment policies or handle cases where either an employee sues a business for wrongful termination or a where a business is sued. Small business or corporate law. If you are looking to establish a business, a small business attorney or corporate attorney is your best choice.
Contact your local bar association for qualified attorneys in your area. State bar associations keep public records about complaints and disciplinary actions taken against attorneys licensed to practice in the state. Most local bar associations also have free referral services that can help you find an attorney to suit your case's needs. You can find your bar association’s website by selecting your state from the State & Local Bar Associations page provided by the American Bar Association.
Review online listings of attorneys. Many websites offer free reviews of businesses. Some places to look for lawyer reviews include: LegalZoom, Rocketlawyer, LawTrades, and Avvo.com. Some websites, such as LawHelp.org, focus on helping low-income individuals find attorneys. Cross reference reviews from more than one website. This will help counter any bias in reviews you find.
Get referrals and recommendations from friends and family. Talk to friends and family members who used an attorney. Find out who they hired, for what type of service, if they were happy with the services, and why or why not. Ask if they would recommend the attorney.
Make a list of the potential attorneys you have found in your area. Include the attorney’s name, address, phone number and website address. This will help you organize your search as you move forward.
Review each attorney’s website. You will want to look for information about the type of law the attorney practices. In addition, look for background information on the attorney, such as his or her law school and areas of specialization. Look for some general information about the type of legal issue you need help with, including a frequently asked questions (FAQ) section, or a blog with articles pertaining to your legal issue. The best attorneys will maintain well-developed websites offering a lot of information. Most attorneys’ websites will provide information about each attorney working for the firm. Take a look at each attorney’s educational background and work history. Typically, you should look for an attorney with at least three to five years of experience practicing the type of law you need help with. Additionally, you should choose an attorney that currently practices in the area you need help with. Remember that many attorneys are also on social media such as Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook. Check these profiles as well. How an attorney conveys him- or herself to the public may help you get a sense of how you would be able to work with him or her.
Keep in mind that the size of the firm may matter. Law firms can vary in size ranging from one attorney to many attorneys, so you need to choose a law firm that you think will be best suited to your situation. Big corporations may want to hire a big-time firm to handle extremely complicated, often international, legal matters. However, if you are simply looking for someone to help you with your divorce or to help you write a will, you should feel comfortable hiring an attorney from a smaller firm.
Selecting Lawyers
Make an appointment with any attorneys remaining on your list. Contact each attorney and set up a consultation. Most attorneys do consultation appointments for free. However, some may charge a small fee for a consultation. Make certain that you know whether you will be charged, and don't make an appointment with an attorney who isn't forthcoming about these details. Most attorneys offer consultations for free. Start your search with these before you consult with an attorney who charges for initial consultations. If you do not live in the same state as the attorney, you can schedule a phone consultation instead of an in-person meeting. However, because you will usually want your attorney to appear with you in court, you should try to find a local attorney to represent you.
Write out questions about the lawyer's practice. You can generally find out the basic information about the attorney online, such as how long s/he has been practicing, where s/he went to law school, etc. For your in-person questions, ask about matters that are relevant to your specific case. The attorney should not have any problem answering any questions you may have, and should not sound hesitant or unsure. Areas to ask about include questions about the following: Pricing. You should ask whether the attorney offers hourly pricing or flat fees? Flat fee pricing is very popular for many areas of practice, particularly things like family law. Delivery time for legal work. You should ask how quickly you can expect for the attorney to complete your legal project. Your attorney will likely not be able to give you an exact number, but s/he should be able to tell you how long previous, similar cases have taken and when you can likely expect a resolution. Success rate. You will probably want to ask what the attorney’s track record is with cases like yours. Attorneys cannot guarantee an outcome (they are ethically forbidden to do so) but you should have an idea of what results you can reasonably expect. You can also ask for references from prior clients. Be aware that the attorney must obtain permission from prior clients before s/he can give you their information, so you may not get references immediately. Availability. You should ask how quickly the attorney can start. You should also ask who your primary contact throughout the case will be. Will you hear mostly from an assistant or junior colleague? You should know who to contact with questions about your case. Misconduct. If the attorney has misconduct or reprimands on his or her record – which you can find out at your state’s bar association website – ask about them. In some cases, the infraction may be minor, such as failure to pay bar fees on time. You must decide whether the infraction is significant enough to disturb you.
Bring documents or information to the meeting. The lawyer may ask you to bring certain documents, but you should also bring any that you think are important to the case. Gather these documents ahead of time to be sure that you can locate them on the day of the appointment.
Attend your consultations. Meet with, or talk to, each of the lawyers you selected. Feel free to take notes while talking to each one, so that you can remember later what each attorney said and what your initial impressions were. Remember that you are interviewing the attorney for a job. Treat your meeting as such, a job interview. If you feel as though the attorney isn't listening to you or isn't answering your questions, pick a different attorney. EXPERT TIP Jennifer Mueller, JD Jennifer Mueller, JD Doctor of Law, Indiana University Jennifer Mueller is an in-house legal expert at wikiHow. Jennifer reviews, fact-checks, and evaluates wikiHow's legal content to ensure thoroughness and accuracy. She received her JD from Indiana University Maurer School of Law in 2006. Jennifer Mueller, JD Jennifer Mueller, JD Doctor of Law, Indiana University "When you're hiring an attorney, use the free initial consultation to get to know them as a person as well. Ultimately, it's just as important that you hire an attorney you get along with and feel comfortable talking to."
Choose an attorney that you feel comfortable with. Aside from experience and strong knowledge of the law, choose an attorney who you think that you would get along with and like working with. If the attorney makes you uncomfortable in any way, you should choose someone different to represent you. Also consider how well the attorney answered your questions. If s/he hesitated, used too much "legalese," or didn't attend to your needs, pick someone else. If more than one attorney has the qualifications you are looking for, you should choose the one that you feel the most comfortable with.
Legal Costs
Understand how attorneys charge for their services. Typically, there are three major ways that attorneys bill for their services: a flat fee, a contingency fee or hourly fees. An attorney charging a flat fee will charge one fee (sometimes upfront) for handling an entire matter, regardless of how many hours the matter takes. Some examples of cases that are commonly handled using a flat fee are criminal cases, bankruptcy cases, domestic relations cases (such as divorce or custody matters), and document drafting, such as drafting a will or a trust document. An attorney charging a contingency fee does not collect legal fees from the client unless the attorney recovers money for the client, either through a settlement or a trial. The attorney will receive a percentage of the settlement amount, usually between 30 to 40 percent. Some examples of cases that are commonly handled on a contingency fee basis are personal injury cases, employment discrimination cases, and other types of cases where a large recovery from a corporation or business is expected. Lawyers charging an hourly rate “bill” hours and then charge the client for the amount of hours worked on the client’s matter. Usually, hourly rates are used by businesses and corporations who may be involved in litigation. Additionally, individuals may be charged hourly rates for long or complicated litigation.
Negotiate a fee. Budget what you are able to spend, and ask if the attorney will be able to handle your case for the amount you budgeted. Additionally, you should make sure to tell your attorney that he or she should inform you before doing anything on your case that takes it out of budget. Keep in mind that even with a strict budget, if your case becomes significantly more complicated or takes significantly longer than the attorney originally anticipated, you may need to pay more in legal fees. If you cannot afford the attorney’s fees upfront, ask about potential arrangements such as payment plans. Many attorneys are willing to work with you base on your financial needs. There are several ways that attorneys can help those on moderate or low incomes find legal counsel. Many firms offer "sliding fees" based on your income, so that you pay however much your income level allows. You can sometimes even pay in barter, by trading goods or services (e.g., web design, gardening) for legal counsel. This is up to the individual attorney.
Execute an engagement letter or retainer. Your attorney will provide you with an engagement letter or retainer. This is a contract between you and your attorney that defines the nature of the legal engagement you are involved in, and the conditions and terms of your agreement with your attorney. These conditions should include the expenses you are responsible for, the rate the attorney will be charging and the minimum billable increment. Note: the minimum billable increment should be six minutes, not 15 minutes.
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