What Should You Look for When Choosing a Lawyer?

Hiring a lawyer is never fun. Despite that, millions of people do it around the nation every year. Look no further than the almost 10% growth online legal services has seen since 2014 to understand that, no matter the medium, lawyers are in high demand.

While not something you wish for, it may be inevitable that at some point in your life, you’ll have to contribute to that demand in order to navigate tricky life circumstances. When that happens, you’ll need to be able to answer the question, “What should you look for when choosing a lawyer?”

Below, our team shares core elements to keep in mind during your legal services search. They will help you find the perfect candidate.

Reputation

To avoid paying high rates for poor legal services, it’s imperative that you give a lawyer’s reputation a long look before bringing them on.

Fortunately, platforms like Yelp and Google make looking up a law firm’s track record simple. Aim to hire lawyers that are averaging above four stars and have at least 10 reviews, some of which should be from the last 6 months.

Affordability

Great lawyers tend to charge not so great prices. While money shouldn’t be the core of your focus when answering what should you look for when choosing a lawyer question, it’s something that you’ll certainly need to consider.

For legal services in the personal injury spectrum, lawyers will typically charge a commission based on what they earn for you meaning that you won’t need to pay anything out of pocket. Legal services for criminal cases, on the other hand, will charge hourly and retainers typically need to be paid upfront.

Experience

Whether you hire this firm or another qualified team of legal professionals, the group you hire needs to be experienced. While every legal professional/team has to get their start somewhere, we recommend that start not be with your case.

The more a firm has practiced and won cases in the realm of what your needs are, the more likely it’ll be to deliver the result you’re looking for.

On another experience related note, do seek an attorney that specializes in the field of law you need help with. You don’t want to hire a personal injury attorney to do the paperwork for your home’s sale.

Empathy

Nobody should have to work with an attorney that doesn’t care about their problems. Believe us when we say that working with someone that’s empathetic will make the process of traversing your legal needs much easier.

A lawyer with empathy is usually one with rave online reviews and a warm presence so keep an eye out for those things before and during your interview process.

Vibe

When you talk to your attorney, do you feel like you have a good rapport with them? You should because you’ll be spending a lot of time in their company, especially if your case goes to trial.

Trust your gut when hiring an attorney and if they feel right, take the leap in hiring them.

What Should You Look for When Choosing a Lawyer

From vibe-checking to analyzing an attorney’s experience, there are a handful of important what should you look for when choosing a lawyer factors you’ll want to consider. We hope our tips have helped you narrow down what’s most important!

If you’d like additional legal and related lifestyle advice, browse more of the newest content on our blog.