Hiring a Lawyer

Choosing a lawyer is an important decision. Whether you are hiring a  probate attorney or a criminal defense attorney, many of the best practices concerning hiring stay the same. There are many things that you should consider before making the decision. Over the next couple weeks we will be breaking down the various factors you should keep in mind before hiring a lawyer. Today, we will be covering researching an attorney.

Read the Lawyer’s Online Reviews

Before you meet with the lawyer, you should do some research. A simple Google search can help you weed out bad candidates. When you are researching the person, there are a couple of things that serve as good indicators. One thing you should look at is online reviews. Make sure you check with Yelp, Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn pages to see what people are saying. Also, take a glance at the lawyer’s Better Business Bureau (BBB) page to see if it says anything interesting. If the person has no reviews that doesn’t necessarily mean you should exclude them. However, a few good or bad reviews can make the decision a little easier.

Investigate Disciplinary Actions

Another step that should be taken when evaluating if a lawyer is right for you is investigating whether the potential hire has ever been disciplined. Every state has an organization that monitors attorney misconduct. These organizations investigate complaints made against lawyers and determine if a lawyer violated any ethical results. Attorneys can be disciplined for many reasons. You should be looking for blatant ethical violations that demonstrate that a particular lawyer isn’t a logical hire. For a complete list of state links click here.