How to Find a Good Attorney

The US District Court's filings for civil cases are up 16%, and it's still climbing.

Civil cases include personal injury, fraud, medical malpractice, defamation, and the list goes on. If you're dealing with a complex civil case, you're probably searching for a lawyer. However, with so many lawyers competing for your business, it can be hard to tell the good apart from the bad.

How can you hire a good attorney without spending too much money? Read on to find out.

Find an Attorney With the Right Experience

Finding a good attorney means hiring those with experience. However, having years of experience is just the start. Taking things one step further, you'll also need the experience to be relevant.

For instance, let's say that you're reaching out to a personal injury attorney because you were involved in a car accident. There are a ton of personal injury attorneys available out there.

A lot of them will have years upon years of experience. But that doesn't necessarily mean they have experience dealing with the exact type of crash you went through.

For instance, perhaps you were involved in a multi-vehicle crash, and you're dealing with pushback from the insurance company. This would be a complex type of personal injury case that would require a lot of research and the sharpest of analytical skills. You need a lawyer who's well versed in dealing with insurance companies, and comfortable with the complex multi-car crash paperwork.

When interviewing potential lawyers, ask them what type of experience they have that directly relates to your case. Find out what their success rate looked like for those cases. If they couldn't win, what was the hurdle or challenge that got in the way?

Just because a lawyer didn't win a case doesn't mean that they're not great at their job. Sometimes the circumstances are out of their control. Instead of looking at a winning case history, pay more attention to the type of experience your lawyer has.

Reasonable Payment Plans

Some of the best lawyers are going to offer a variety of payment plans. Instead of going to the most expensive lawyer that requires a large retainer upfront, shop around. We suggest looking for lawyers who are willing to work on a contingency fee basis.

What is a contingency fee? Basically, you'll have to pay zero or minimal upfront for your lawyer's service. If they win your case, your lawyer will collect a percentage of your settlement award.

The percentage the lawyer collects is the contingency fee. Different lawyers are going to have different contingency plans available, so you'll want to get the details before signing up for anyone's payment structure.

In some cases, you'll have to pay a little upfront to help cover legal costs such as filing. In other cases, you'll have to pay a little bit even if you lose the case, again to help cover legal costs. Make sure you fully understand what you'll owe and when before signing a contract.

A Personable and Reputable Lawyer

There's a common misunderstanding that all lawyers are argumentative and abrupt. But this simply isn't true. There are plenty of lawyers who are patient, personable, and downright charming. They might turn up the heat a little bit in the courtroom, but not with their clients.

Since you're going to be dealing with your lawyer for a while as you work to resolve your legal issues, they need to be someone you're comfortable with. Look for a lawyer that has a great demeanor and is in good standing with their clients.

One of the ways you can tell the temperament of a lawyer is by reading their online reviews. However, instead of reading reviews from 5 or 10 years ago, make sure you're reading reviews from the last year. Dive deep and read at least 10 reviews or more.

Find out what clients are saying about the attorney you're considering, and look for repeat complaints or praises. When you see the same complaint popping up repeatedly, it's more likely that it's true.

The same line of thinking holds true for praise. If clients are raving about how the attorney was so kind and helpful, they're probably the right attorney for you.

Find a Lawyer With a Strong Online Presence

You should find a lawyer who has a strong online presence like felaattorney.com. Online presence includes an attorney's website, as well as their socials.

Some of the best attorneys are going to go above and beyond to reach their customers, no matter what it takes. They'll have active social media accounts that frequently post helpful advice.

The best lawyers will also have relevant blog articles that you can read. The blog articles will contain helpful legal advice, which establishes the attorney as an expert in their industry.

Good lawyers will offer a user-friendly that's full of helpful information. For instance, you should find it easy to set up a free consultation through the website. It should also be easy to find a way to get a hold of the law firm over the phone and through email.

Some of the best lawyer websites will even have live chat options so that they can help you instantly! If the attorney that you're considering doesn't have a good website, that's definitely a red flag.

An outdated website is a sign that the attorney probably isn't doing a lot of business. You'll want to keep searching until you find a user-friendly website with great client testimonies.

Find a Good Attorney You Trust

At the end of the day, it's all about finding a good attorney you can trust. They should be personable and easy to talk to while also offering you the most convenient client experience. That means having a variety of payment plans available while also providing a website with useful information.

We wish you luck on your journey to find the perfect attorney. Good legal help is out there; you just have to search for it! For more ways to find out what's out there, read another one of our blog posts.