Choosing an attorney is a major decision. You will be trusting your attorney with some of the most important aspects of your life, including potentially your children, your property, and your financial well-being. You will also be paying your attorney substantial amounts of money for their expertise. For these reasons, you should take the process of hiring a lawyer seriously and commit the necessary time and energy to the decision-making process, even though the process may be painful or unappealing.
Initial Information
If possible, you should speak with several attorneys before making a hiring decision. You will need to understand the attorney’s billing structure, their hourly rate, and the required retainer. A retainer is not a fee to hire an attorney, instead the retainer is deposited into a trust account for your benefit. You should clarify whether the attorney’s bills will be paid out of the retainer or if you will be expected to pay each bill as it comes due to maintain the retainer balance.
You can and should ask questions about an attorney’s experience handling cases like yours, including their experience with contested custody, disputed real estate, family businesses, concealed assets, or other areas of concern. It also important to learn about an attorney’s courtroom experience. It is almost always preferable to seek a settlement agreement in your case, but sometimes you simply cannot achieve a fair outcome without a contested trial in front of a judge. Having an attorney who is a skilled and experienced litigator can help you understand your chances at trial and help you make the best decisions in your case.
Beyond the Basics
No attorney will tell you that they will over-bill you or that they are bad at their job, but there is plenty of variance in both skill and billing practices among lawyers. Furthermore, an attorney’s performance does not increase just because they charge you more. It is important not to use an attorney’s hourly rate as shorthand for their skill level. There is no governing body that sets the rates for attorneys, so you could easily be paying high rates for an inexperienced or unskilled attorney if you are not asking the right questions or taking adequate time to compare your options. Even when you ask all of the right questions, you can still end up with the wrong attorney for your case. So then how can you confidently choose the best lawyer to help you?
Communication is Key
Your attorney will (in most common fee arrangements) bill you for the time they spend working on your case, including time spent communicating with you about your case. Your ability to communicate effectively with your attorney (and your attorney’s ability to communicate effectively with you) are primary drivers of the overall cost you will pay. Additionally, attorneys and clients all communicate differently, so not every attorney is right for every prospective client.
Not only does poor communication waste time and therefore money, the content of the communication can also have a serious impact on cost. It is imperative to hire an lawyer who is willing to have the difficult conversations with you about the strengths and weaknesses of your case, your expectations, and your likely outcomes at trial. An attorney who only tells you what you want to hear is dangerous and can contribute to dramatically increased legal expenses.
Trust Your Instincts
It can be very difficult to discern whether an attorney is a good fit for you or not during an initial consultation. You can ask every question you can think of, but you will ultimately have to take a leap of faith that the attorney you choose is going to do good work on your case and bill you fairly for it. In my experience, there are a few things you can do to put the odds in your favor:
- Ask for referrals. Ask people that you trust if they have had particularly good or bad experiences with any lawyers, especially if they have gone through legal processes that are similar to yours. A strong referral from a trusted friend or family member can help you feel confident in your choice of attorney.
- Consult with more than one attorney. Give your instincts a chance to work for you by talking with several attorneys. One of the attorneys you speak with may really stand out or resonate with you, while also having the experience and expertise you are looking for.
- Listen critically. Try to assess whether the attorney you’re consulting with can explain things to you in a way that makes sense. You should share your key concerns with the attorney, but you will gain more useful information about your case and your prospective attorney by then focusing on how they respond and how they describe how the legal system will address your concerns.
Call me, Alex Musz, at (303) 351-2533 for a free consultation about your case.