Law Tips & Articles > How to Choose a Lawyer

CHOOSING THE RIGHT LAWYER FOR YOUR CASE

Is there a way to find out if a lawyer is in good standing with the California Bar Association?

Yes.
You can contact the California State Bar at http://www.calsb.org to verify that the lawyer is licensed to practice in California and that he or she is in good standing, in other words, that he or she does not have a record of public discipline, which is reserved for the most serious ethical violations. A word of caution, however: discipline for lesser violations may be by what is called a "private letter of reproval," which the California Bar Association does not disclose.

How can I find out about a lawyer's professional reputation?
One of the best ways is to ask other lawyers and judges. Of course most people do not know many lawyers or judges. However, a national publication, Martindale-Hubbell, maintains a national directory of lawyers, by state, in which many lawyers are rated based on feedback from other lawyers. Martindale-Hubbell has a web site to obtain this information online: www.martindale.com. However, Martindale- Hubbell emphasizes law firms, especially the larger ones, and often does not rate sole practitioners or lawyers in small firms.

If a lawyer you are considering hiring is not rated by Martindale-Hubbell (or even if he or she is rated), a good idea is to ask for the names of other lawyers who would recommend the lawyer and even the names of lawyers he or she has opposed.

How do I find the best lawyer?
There really is no best lawyer for every matter. The law is highly specialized. Even within specialties, different lawyers emphasize different levels of service best adapted to different kinds of legal problems. Finding the right lawyer for you thus means finding a lawyer whose experience, type of practice, and level of service are best suited to the needs of your particular case.

Isn't it best to just find a lawyer who handles every kind of matter?
Probably not. The old saying, "a jack of all trades and a master of none," is especially true for lawyers. The law has become so specialized that a "general" practitioner cannot provide as high quality representation as a lawyer who specializes. This goes for lawyers who hold themselves out as providing representation in more than a few unrelated areas of law, for instance, bankruptcy, contract law, criminal cases, divorce, personal injury, probate, and real estate. You would not go to a family practice doctor for major surgery. Neither should you go to a lawyer who is a general practitioner for a serious and complex legal problem. Of course, a large "full service" law firm, or even a smaller law firm, can provide competent representation in a wide variety of law practice areas when the lawyers limit the areas of their individual practices. Among the first questions in choosing a lawyer, therefore, is whether the lawyer specializes in the area of practice suited to your case.

What do I ask a lawyer to find out if the lawyer has the right experience for my case?

When interviewing a lawyer, ask at least the following questions:

•  How many years has the lawyer been in practice?
•  How many years has the lawyer been handling cases like yours?
•  How many cases like yours has the lawyer handled?
•  How many cases has the lawyer tried and how many has he tried to a jury rather than only before a judge?

Are some lawyers better for less serious cases and others better for more serious cases?
Without question. For example, many personal injury lawyers have volume practices in which they handle dozens, or even hundreds, of cases at a time. Most of the cases involve relatively minor injuries, such as neck and back sprains suffered in car accidents. Through office efficiency and staffing with paralegals and legal assistants, personal injury lawyers with volume practices can handle these cases quickly, efficiently, and at a relative minimum of expense. Lawyers accustomed to handling more serious and complex cases might not handle "small" cases as economically as lawyers with volume practices.

More serious and complex cases, on the other hand, are better suited to lawyers experienced in handling such cases. Comparing again to going to the doctor, you would not go to a general surgeon, who does appendectomies and other routine surgeries, for brain or heart surgery- you would go to a neurosurgeon or cardiac surgeon. Lawyers who handle more serious and complex cases typically have far fewer cases, devote more time to each case, and should be willing, even eager, to go to trial.

I see ads with the dollar amounts of settlements and judgments lawyers have gotten for their clients. Isn't it best to just go to a lawyer who has gotten the biggest settlements or judgments?
Not necessarily. At a continuing legal education seminar I attended many years ago, one of the speakers, an outstanding trial lawyer with many million dollar cases under his belt, said he is often asked how to get a million dollars for a case. His answer, he said, was to "get a $2 million case and only half-way screw it up." This particular lawyer was being modest. However, there is much truth to his comment. When a lawyer advertises his results, you don't know, just from the dollar amount, whether the result was good or bad. For example, $250,000 for a personal injury case might sound like a lot--unless you learned that the injured victim was permanently paralyzed, had $100,000 in medical bills and, after satisfaction of medical liens and payment of attorney's fees and costs, received only $60,000; not very much!

I hear about busy lawyers who do not return phone calls very quickly, who do not keep their clients informed of the progress of their case, and who have paralegals and legal assistants do most of the work. How can I tell if a lawyer will spend the necessary time and effort on my case?
Certainly, you can just ask the question outright. But a better way to gauge the time and effort a lawyer will devote to your case is to ask the lawyer how many cases the lawyer currently has. Consider there are 2,000 work hours in a year, assuming a forty-hour work week and holidays (without allowing time for vacation), and that a serious personal injury case may require a hundred hours or even hundreds of hours to prepare and take to trial. Divide the number of cases the lawyer has into 2,000 and that will give you an idea of the relative amount of time he will have to devote to your case.

I see lawyer advertisements with lists of all kinds of memberships and affiliations. Do any of these help in choosing a lawyer?
The California Bar Association sets forth requirements for the completion of mandatory continuing legal education for all active members. However, all lawyers practicing in California must be active members of the California Bar Association (which is why lawyers do not list this membership in advertisements). Membership to county and local bar associations and other associations generally requires only the payment of annual dues, and does not provide a measure of competence or experience.

Any lawyer with the requisite minimum of experience may serve as an arbitrator or mediator. Such service may enhance a lawyer's experience and give him another perspective, that of a neutral judge of the facts, as opposed to an advocate.

I see a lot of advertisements for personal injury lawyers that say, "no recovery, no fee" and "free consultation." Is this typical?
It is true of the vast majority of personal injury lawyers and lawyers who handle other kinds of claims and lawsuits. Few people--including lawyers- -can afford to pay hourly for legal representation in such cases. The great equalizer for the "little guy", which at least somewhat levels the playing field against big corporations, is the so~called "contingent fee," under which the lawyer agrees to be compensated only in the event the lawyer obtains a recovery for the client. Depending on the case and the lawyer, the lawyer may also agree to advance "costs," which typically include, court filing fees, deposition fees, and expert fees, among others.

An initial review and evaluation is necessary for the lawyer to decide whether to accept a case. Therefore, because most people cannot afford to pay hourly and most personal injury and other such cases are taken on a contingent fee basis, most lawyers will provide a "free consultation."