Many people don't worry
about seeking legal advice until it becomes necessary or even crucial to
find a lawyer suiting your needs
Why may not that be the skull of a lawyer?
--William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Unless you already use
or have a lawyer on retainer, it may be hard to understand when and why you
will benefit by getting
legal advice. But knowing when to seek
counsel is the key to saving money: you will often spend less paying a
lawyer to avoid problems than you will by paying to solve them.
This doesn't mean
every situation requires the advice of an attorney - they don't! But many
people, businesses, entertainers, professionals, and others, do not make
important decisions or moves without the review of an attorney.
For example, if you want to buy a house (and you have never bought one), you
might have a
lawyer advise you
during the negotiations. Do not wait (as most do) until after you sign the
documents to find out about the ramifications of what you've done. You can
often avoid much headache by
consulting a lawyer proactively, before a problem
develops, while you are considering what insurance to buy; or ahead of your
marriage; before you enter into a contract with a business, or before you
decide to "avoid probate" by deeding your home directly to your kids
(indeed, this would normally be a very expensive mistake!)
The absolutely, positively, 100%
Best Way to find a lawyer
The Best Way to find a
lawyer is to ask someone whose opinion you trust, another lawyer, your
accountant, banker, family friends, business people you deal with -- most
lawyers are used to referring to other lawyers with experience in other
areas, and you may already know some lawyer to ask for a referral. You can't
do better than to get a personal recommendation.
Advice is seldom welcome; and those who want it the most always like it
the least.
--Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield (1694 - 1773)
What if you don't know who to ask, and can't find a referral?
California, and many
other states, certify lawyer referral services through the State and/or
local Bar Associations. You can look for "State Bar-certified lawyer
referral services" in your local phone book, or you can try a web search
(but the results may not be local enough.)
Public interest
groups
There may be a nonprofit
public interest organization or group which can help you get
legal assistance. Many such organizations
can assist with civil liberties, discrimination, housing, and consumer or
public safety problems. You might locate this kind of help by checking with
government agencies or bar associations.
Free and low cost
legal agencies
Depending on your
problem, and probably on your income too, there are several sources for free
and low cost
legal aid. In non-criminal cases, "legal
aid" is the phrase on which to focus in your search. You might check with
local law schools or libraries to find some of these. And in a criminal
matter, you should try to reach a Public Defender's Office in your area (if
there is no Public Defender, a judge will usually appoint a
private attorney to represent you without
charge.) Many people will find special interest group legal aid institutions
to assist them, such as those providing assistance to Latinos or the
elderly.
You should at least
consider the economics of these plans, which are increasing in availability.
You may have already enrolled in one of these plans, or perhaps were joined
through your employer, credit or labor union, or an association, or credit
card company. Typically, these plans provide you with limited amounts of a
lawyer's time or services at a reduced rate, in exchange for premiums paid,
like premiums paid for a regular insurance policy. However, "plan lawyers"
may not be able to provide you with advice as complete as would be given you
by your own
private attorney; and your own attorney can
be more flexible and creative in finding ways to make the legal work pay for
itself.
Perhaps not the best way to find a
lawyer:
Lawyers advertise themselves. Most states
regulate
lawyer advertising, but cannot insure
against improper or unethical advertising. It is not recommended to respond
to any ad offering
legal assistance that fails to state up
front the real name of a responsible lawyer (this would strictly include all
ads by paralegals purporting to offer
attorney services to the general public.)
Can
the Internet be of help?
Here's how the web might
be of some help in your search for a lawyer: although most lawyers do not
(yet) advertise on the web, those that do have much more ad space to work
with than in conventional print ads. This means that the smart advertisers
can provide you with information of real value at their web sites. To the
extent that a lawyer's or law firm's web pages provide useful material, or
insight into the lawyers' abilities or experiences, your ability to be an
educated consumer of
legal services is enhanced. It may not help
to let your fingers do the walking, but by all means, do let your mouse do
some web-crawling.
Disclaimer: The information
provided in this article is general information on the legal issues
presented and should not be regarded as a substitute for
direct legal advice from
an attorney. The above article is
presented as a community service by
http://www.fresno-ca-lawyers-attorneys-directory.com
with the permission of the author.
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