If you are faced with needing the services of an attorney either for a personal matter or a business matter, the cost of quality legal services may seem expensive The more educated you are about purchasing legal services, the more value you will receive. The following are 10 important considerations when hiring an attorney.
Know when to use a lawyer
The old cliché of “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is especially relevant with legal services. It is relatively inexpensive to have an attorney review or help negotiate a contract. Compare that to the cost of litigating an ambiguity or a “what if” that was not anticipated. Verbal agreements and “simple” contracts created without the benefit of a lawyer are often a precursor to expensive litigation to resolve an ambiguity or misunderstanding.
Select the right attorney for your legal need
Find an attorney who has expertise in your particular matter. I am frequently surprised that more clients do not specifically ask their attorney how often they have dealt with matters similar to their issue. Most attorneys charge by the hour. Knowing what to do, how to do it, and when to do it, can make the cost for an experienced attorney significantly less than an inexperienced attorney who is learning at your expense.
You also need to match the complexity of the matter with the specific experience of the attorney. While it is obvious to most people that if you have a large complex matter you need an attorney with experience in handling large complex matters, what many clients do not appreciate is that such an attorney would not be the best choice for a basic contract dispute. The same applies to transactional attorneys. The expertise and experience to handle large complex transactions does not translate into the best attorney to draft a relatively simple contract.
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