Lawsense

Just a quick update to my previous post. I spent the last two and half days at a training put on by my state’s legal malpractice insurer. And yes, this training was voluntary.

Apparently, the biggest source of client unhappiness with their lawyer is lack of communication — my lawyer doesn’t listen to what I say and I don’t understand what my lawyer says.

Obviously, lawyers need to work much harder at being good listeners and learning to speak plain English. But it’s also up to the prospective client to make sure they feel they can talk to and understand a lawyer before hiring the lawyer.

It can be hard to judge whether the lawyer you’re hiring or have hired is any good. One of the problems is that there are many, many variables in any legal situation. Lawyers aren’t supposed to guarantee a particular result or outcome and you should be very, very suspicious of one who does.

One of the most important tools a lawyer has is her ability to communicate – basically, we try to convince people that we’re right. And there is no right way to be a good communicator — some people do great with table-thumping and using big word, others are low-key but effective.

So one way to judge the quality of your lawyer is how she talks with you. If your lawyer listens to you, understands your story, and explains to you how the law affects your story in a way you understand — then chances are, you’ve probably found a good lawyer.

So, make sure you can talk to your lawyer and your lawyer can talk with you.

Here is my friend S’s good lawyer/bad lawyer experience — there are some good lessons to learn from it.

S met with Bad Lawyer about her possible sexual harassment case. It turns out that Bad Lawyer told his friend, a bar owner, about S’s case. When S went to that particular bar, she was humiliated to find out that the owner knew all the intimate details of her case. But it gets worse — S hadn’t hired Bad Lawyer, she had just gone to him for a consultation. When she called Bad Lawyer to complain about Bad Lawyer’s big mouth, she ended up getting yelled at for not paying the bill for the consultation.

The good lawyer in this story is S’s bankruptcy attorney.  When Good Lawyer heard about what had happened to S, he immediately called Bad Lawyer and yelled at him for giving out S’s confidential information. Good Lawyer also gave S some practical advice, which is something attorneys can really stink at — giving good, practical advice. He told S that she could complain about Bad Lawyer because lawyers are so not supposed to talk about a client’s business to other people, but making a complaint like that is hard to prove and would probably turn into a huge hassle. Good Lawyer said that the easiest thing that S could do to deal with the situation was to put Bad Lawyer’s bill in her bankruptcy petition, which means she won’t have to pay it.

There are some morals to this story. Both these lawyers were recommended to S by her friends. Finding a lawyer by asking your friends if they know anyone is one method I highly recommend. But you need more than just a name, you need to know why your friends are recommending a particular lawyer.

One of S’s friends recommended Good Lawyer because the friend had hired Good Lawyer for his own case. Good Lawyer remembered (or at least pretended to remember) S’s friend. So double points for Good Lawyer — he was recommended by a satisfied client and he was invested enough in his former clients to remember them.

Another friend of S’s recommended Bad Lawyer, because Bad Lawyer was “a buddy” of his. Also, S’s friend promised S that she wouldn’t have to worry about paying the consultation fee, because Bad Lawyer was “a buddy of mine.” So two lessons here.  One lesson is, if you’re asking for a recommendation, make sure that your recommender has a legit reason for their recommendation. The second lesson is, if you’re having a consultation with a lawyer, make sure that you ask the lawyer whether the consultation is free before the consultation starts.

If you find yourself in a jam and need a lawyer, how do you find one? One of the best way to find one is the same one that you’d use to find a family doctor, mechanic, or insurance agent — ask people you know if they can recommend one.

The problem with this approach is that, while most people have a mechanic and a doctor, not all of them have a lawyer.

It’s always worthwhile contact your local or state bar association. Most bar associations have a referral program that will give you the names of two or three lawyers who have experience with your legal problem.

Do some web searches — one of the most basic is your city or zip code and the type of lawyer you need. If you’re not sure what type of lawyer you need, here’s where the bar referral program can come in handy — most of them will help you identify what your legal problem is and the type of lawyer you probably want.

Remember, an attorney’s webpage is advertising, it’s supposed to make the lawyer look good.  A good site should still give you a sense of the lawyer’s personality.

No matter how you get the referrals, make sure that the attorney doesn’t have any disciplinary action against them. You should be able to look up the lawyer on the state bar association’s website or the state Supreme Court’s website. If the attorney is in “good standing,” then he or she is up-to-date on their law license fees, has complied with the required Continuing Legal Education requirements, and is not currently disbarred or suspended from practicing law.

The American Bar Association has a great webpage, findlegalhelp.org that gives you one-stop access to all the information I discussed above — local bar association referral services, free and low-cost legal aid, and information on how to check on attorney licensing. Simply chose your state from the main page.