When You Decide You Need A Lawyer Here Are a Few Tips To Follow

You may already know an attorney from work, church, school, sports, etc.  Whether they are the right attorney for your specific needs will depend on multiple factors, but they would be an excellent source for referrals.

You can often get referral from your city bar association, though they might not be able to recommend a specific attorney, they may be able to provide you with multiple choices.
After you a decent list of names, use the following list to narrow the field until you find the ideal attorney or law firm for your situation.

1. Almost all law firms these days will have fairly in-depth information on their website.  Take the time to examine the site in detail and find out their areas of specialty and whether or not they provide detailed preliminary information.

2. Determine (if you can) what type of clients this attorney represents.  Does he/she specialize in a particular area of law?  Are they a criminal defense attorney, do they work in personal injury, or do they specialize in tax law?  Each lawyer will have a specialty and it is that specialty you'll want to examine.

3. In today's world the click of a mouse and the power of the search engines are at your beck and call.  Use that power to research a particular attorney or firm and find out what is being said concerning them.  Narrow your search by entering targeted key words concerning what your case is about... i.e., "bankruptcy attorney".

4. Ask around.  If an attorney has a reputation either good or bad, others will know it.  Ask friends, family and acquaintances if they've heard of the lawyer you're considering.

5. Make certain you're getting an attorney with experience and not someone fresh from the bar exam.

6. Talk with the state bar association to get more detailed information concerning a particular attorney or firm.

Once you've made your decision, you'll have one more opportunity to get things right, this will be during the consultation.  This is when you lay out the facts and the attorney should..

Listen

Understand your situation or ask question

Explain the legalities

Promote confidence

Be clear on the costs involved

The All Important Retainer

Make certain that you read and understand the retainer agreement.  In most cases the attorney will either charge per hour or on a contingency basis. 

By the time your initial consultation is complete, you should either feel confident in your choice, or be having second thoughts.  The expression "trust but verify" comes to mind.  Up to this point you should have done your homework, now it comes to a matter of trust.  Do you feel that this attorney will represent you to the best of their ability?  If you do, then hard as might be, break out the checkbook and write that retainer check.