Choosing an attorney can be very stressful. How do you know which one is best? How can you be sure that your lawyer will do a good job? And usually, when you are seeking an attorney, it is because you are already in a stressful situation. It's enough to raise your blood pressure.

First and foremost, you need to make sure the attorney you hire has the right kind of experience. Many attorneys specialize in handling certain types of problems. For example, some lawyers handle only divorce cases, while others specialize in bankruptcies or personal injury cases. Your attorney needs to know the ins and outs of the law that governs your specific problem. A bankruptcy attorney, for instance, will not be knowledgeable about landlord and tenant laws. General practitioners, however, can often handle any number of issues for you. This saves you from having to choose several different attorneys if you have more than one matter to resolve.

It's also important that you choose your attorney based on experience and not personality. While many lawyers may be kind and understanding, you need them to know exactly how to handle your situation, not to simply be able to ease your mind on the telephone.

Unless your legal problem is highly unusual, an experienced attorney should understand your situation immediately and know exactly what to do. If the lawyer needs to look up the law or study prior cases, it's a good bet this lawyer does not have the adequate expertise to handle your case.

Choosing the right attorney can take several days and can be a very time-consuming process. If you have no recommendations from friends, you will have to make blind phone calls and ask many questions. Some of the most important questions, of course, involve how much the services will cost you. Is there a retainer fee? Is it a flat fee, or will you be charged an hourly rate? Are your telephone calls included in hourly charges? What kind of expenses are you expected to pay for the attorney, such as phone charges, postage, and parking?

Referral services are the easiest way to narrow your search, as you'll no longer be calling lawyers that you've chosen at random. These firms have already been pre-screened, which allows you to avoid spending a great deal of time calling and questioning potential firms.

During your first meeting with your attorney, try to have all of the information and documents with you. You want to provide any names and addresses, as well as a list of the incidents that have led to the problem. In fact, the best idea is to type everything, answering the "who, what, when, where, and why" questions. Bring everything that pertains to your situation from invoices to letters to photographs.

The more organized you are, the better able your attorney will be able to serve you. Keep all records, and put everything in writing. It even helps to keep records of phone calls made to any of the parties involved in your legal matter, including the name of the person you talked with and the date and time of the call.

While your attorney should certainly be attentive to your needs, you must also realize that these matters sometimes take time. Don't call your attorney every day or expect a return call immediately, as lawyers are often out of the office in court proceedings. However, you should receive a return call within two or three days. When you hire your attorney, discuss the best way to communicate with one another.

These steps will help you to obtain the best legal service that the attorney can offer. After all, the two of you will be working together to resolve your legal matter.

If you ever needed a lawyer and searched the Yellow Pages for one, you were probably stunned and confused by the large number of names to choose from. We tend to look at the big ads but then realize that they also charge the big bucks. But that doesn’t mean that the little ads are any less qualifying. So, who do you choose? Here are a few helpful hints.

Select the category of law that you need a lawyer for, i.e., family law, civil law, tax law or Search the yellow page listings for lawyers and select some names giving attention to the quality of their ads, their legal associations, their credentials. Check full page listings and small listings.

Go to the courthouse and inquire what proceedings they may be involved in and on what days they are scheduled, and then sit in as a spectator and observe them at work.

Go to the Law Association and get a report, if one is available, on the name(s) you selected so you can get a better understanding of their reputation and character.

Sit down with several of your named lawyers and speak with them generally about your issue, and then decide on which one you prefer to represent you.

Lawyers are necessary for lots of situations, and not all of them are negative. If you need to choose a lawyer, this list will help you decide on the right lawyer.

Before you choose a lawyer, you'll need to know what kind of lawyer you'll need. This is because lawyers have specialized areas. For example, a lawyer who defends someone in a child custody case would not be the same person who reviews a contract for home buying.

Ask your friends and family for lawyer recommendations. This way, you'll know what this lawyer is like. If your friends or family can't recommend anyone, search the phone book or internet for a lawyer who is highly recommended.

Choose a lawyer near where you are located. If you need to visit your lawyer multiple times, you'll be glad that they are nearby. However, if you find a great lawyer who is a bit further away, it can be worth it.

Make sure the lawyer that you choose is in your price range. For something simple like a home closing, you don't need the most expensive lawyer, as long as the person is good at home closings. For more in-depth legal concerns, you may need to pay more - but you don't want to lose all of your money simply paying your lawyer!

Do some extra research on the lawyer that you choose if you are still unsure about their qualifications. Choosing a lawyer can be very important, so take your time and find the right person if you can.

Before committing to working with a lawyer, make sure to talk to or meet the lawyer. If you don't feel comfortable with that lawyer, nothing else matters and you should not work with them. You need to trust your lawyer.

Before committing to working with a lawyer, make sure to talk to or meet the lawyer. If you don't feel comfortable with that lawyer, nothing else matters and you should not work with them. You need to trust your lawyer.

If you like and trust your lawyer, take their advice. Of course, don't go with what they say if you truly disagree, but if the lawyer advises you of something, remember that they do have legal experience and expertise.

If you ever are uncomfortable with your lawyer, you can definitely say something to them. Make your concerns known because your lawyer works for you - not the other way around.

Shop around- meet multiple lawyers to learn a little bit about them; the way they practice law, their court fees and personality. Always meet with a lawyer in person, before you commit to their services, to ensure an appropriate match.

Determine what you need a lawyer for (divorce, custody, criminal charges, etc.) in order to increase your chances of finding one that is well rehearsed in your specific case. Consider finding a lawyer who specializes in the area that you need representation.

Choose a lawyer that you can trust. When choosing a lawyer, make sure you are taking into acount whether or not the lawyer as a person invokes a general feeling of trust. You cannot be successful with a lawyer with whom you are not comfortable telling the entire truth of the situation.

Choose a lawyer that is upfront about what fees he has and what he charges for his legal services. The last thing you want from a lawyer is an astoundingly large, unexpected, undiscussed bill.

Check your lawyer credentials. Make sure that he has a good reputation-for this reason, a smart way to choose a lawyer is to use referrals from friends and family.

Probably the best way to find an Attorney is by asking your friends. Often times we know that our friends have gone through certain things and needed an Attorney to help them through it so when the same thing happens to you get on the phone with your friend and ask them about their Attorney.

Ask them questions like: Did they like their Attorney? Was their Attorney helpful? Was their Attorney available to them? Did their Attorney keep in contact with them? Was their Attorney’s fee reasonable? Did they like the outcome? Ask them those questions and any others that come to mind. Its probably best though not to start asking personal questions about your friends case if we want our friends to be open with us. Some things just are not our business.

Another way to find an Attorney is through another Attorney. Possibly you might have had an Attorney draw up a Will or a Trust for you many years ago. Well, now your being sued and you need a good defense Attorney. Well, this Attorney who wrote your Trust for you might not be a good candidate to defend you since that is not his area of expertise but he definitely might know a good Attorney in your area who handles such matters. Make certain this Attorney knows that you ONLY want a referral if he knows that the attorney he is referring you to is good with what he does and handles such matters regularly.

Another good way to find an Attorney is through your State Bar. Every State has a State Bar that licenses Attorneys and most have a referral program where they can put you in touch with an Attorney in your area who handles such matters. Make certain you let them know exactly what is happening to you so that they know exactly the kind of Attorney you need. Normally they will charge a slight fee to do this.

Sometimes the fee will be charged to you and other times to the Attorney. If you get an Attorney through your State Bar you at least have the assurance that they are licensed, carry mal practice insurance (since that’s a requirement for most State Bar referral programs), and that they have some sort of confidence in what they do.

Another good way to find an Attorney is through an online referral service. I will not endorse any particular one for this article but when using one it is often best to use one that has been around a while, who is reputable, and who has a good selection of Attorneys.

Often times such referral services will have some information on the Attorney that might help you decide if that is the right attorney for you. They will often tell where the Attorney went to law school, how long he has practiced law, where the Attorney’s Offices are located, what areas of law he practices in and other general information that might help you in your decision.

I would look out for the Attorney who does anything and everything. The practice of law is a huge area and most Attorneys only do certain things such as criminal law, family law, estate planning, condemnation law, business law, employment law, tort, juvenile law or many other areas of law so when an Attorney is willing to do anything or everything be very cautious when using that Attorney.

Probably the worse way to find an Attorney is to let your fingers do the walking through the yellow pages. There is just not enough information about the Attorney to help you decide if you should hire him or her.

Where does someone turn to when they have a non-routine legal matter that requires attention. For many, this may involve contacting the "family solicitor" who has traditionally dealt with the family's basic legal needs, such as for wills and conveyancing. Those solicitors will not readily refuse to act, even if the legal problem that needs resolving is beyond their area of expertise.

This may sometimes have disastrous results for the client as a result of the client having given insufficient thought to retaining a lawyer who has greater expertise in the area of law you have your problem. It would usually be advisable to make some preliminary inquiries of the solicitor you are dealing with as to their experience with your type of matter. Once you have a list of solicitors to choose from, what next? There may be a number of considerations, such as availability, convenience and fees.

Surely the consideration of highest importance is the qualifications and experience of the solicitor for the problem at hand. In most fields of endeavour, there has been a growth in specialisation for whatever reason and there is a greater awareness by the public at large that the general practitioner can no longer satisfy their needs by meeting the requisite standards of professional engagement.

Retaining a more experienced lawyer inevitably comes at a price. If you need an operation you will no doubt want the best surgeon for the job. Most people would not disagree with this, even though this will cost more as the patient needs to achieve the best possible outcome. In relation to legal problems, most people are aware that a senior barrister (formerly known as a Q.C. but more commonly now as S.C.) will charge significantly more than a junior barrister, but when your case is that important there is no doubt you will want the best possible representation. This applies equally to solicitors and generally speaking the older they are the greater their experience and competence.

In these cases professional fees should be viewed as an investment rather than a cost as there is a greater certainty of outcome. Again, the "no-frills" brand in a supermarket never seems to be as good as the dearer branded product. What clients need is competence, quality, skill and experience delivered to them by practicing professionals who are driven by high service standards.While there will always be those disputes that are intractable and a decision by a judge is the only option, a lawyer with a greater level of expertise will usually be in a better position to appreciate the strengths and weaknesses of a case and enter meaningful settlement negotiations or perhaps avoid litigation altogether.

As a consequence, although you will pay more for this service, the result has only been achieved due to the greater skill, knowledge and expertise of your solicitor. Thus, using a better qualified lawyer is an exercise in sound judgment from an economic as well as a legal perspective, and to act otherwise amounts to cutting corners and false economy. After all you only get what you pay for.

All of this might sound like a lot of work. Another option you might want to consider is pre-paying for your legal services.

There is a Company that gives their members access to professional legal counsel not only for traditional legal problems, but for everyday events such as buying a house or a car, creating a will, handling a problem with an insurance company, dealing with identity theft, and much more where legal review should be routine, but rarely is. These events can be among the most important events in a person's life, yet there is a tendency for them to take place without proper legal review. For members, access to legal counsel is only a toll-free phone call away.

The members are served by a provider law firm which has been carefully screened and selected by the Company. Using the plan, members simply call their provider firm directly at the toll-free number on their membership card when they have a legal question or problem. It’s really that simple. The Company does all the work; no searching for a qualified lawyer, no claim forms, no worries about being able to afford a lawyer – just peace of mind.

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So, if you have ever worked with a lawyer or felt like you needed legal counsel regarding writing or revising your will, purchasing a home or car, your income taxes, civil rights, debt collection issues, or collecting an insurance claim then you would probably agree that there are many situations in daily life when it would be valuable to have the ability to pick up the phone and call a lawyer for advice about absolutely any legal matter. And, without having to consider the cost first.

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Thank you for your time and if you're interested or just have questions, I'll be happy to help. Please feel free to contact me at your convenience.

Leila Hayes