Vet Your Lawyer

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/16/health/policy/16mass.html?_r=1&hp

When you read this article, just subsititute business for any reference to government, and lawyer for any reference to doctors.

Traditionally, clients are looking for, and attorneys market themselves as having, certain competencies. Beyond that, clients are often concerned about cost. But there can be more to choosing a lawyer than just cost or competence, at least for some people. If Joe costs $400/hr, Sam costs $450, and they seem to be equally competent, why would anyone consider Sam? Maybe because Sam has other values which are more in tune with those of the client, values only you can articulate and define. By way of example, some of these values might be:

Green

This does not mean that the firm practices environmental law, or that the client has a case with environmental issues. It only means that the client may hold reducing our carbon footprint to be such a high value that she wants a law firm that has green internal policies like recycling, e-filing to reduce the use of paper, carpooling for employees, and so forth.

Diverse

The client may value a law firm that has a diverse workforce. Sometimes this is an absolute value, with others it may be a strategic decision, e.g., the jury pool is likely to be dominated by a certain ethnic group.

Religion

You may just want a lawyer you can pray with.

The list is potentially endless, but if these things are important to you, then we should talk about it.

The Internet has transformed the way lawyers get clients as well as the way clients find lawyers. In addition to their own splashy websites, many law firms list themselves on websites designed to help them reach new clients such as Findlaw.com and Lawyers.com. This has generally been a good thing, however, as often happens, there are unforeseen complications. Recently, I ran a search on Findlaw.com for immigration lawyers in Miami. I got 51 hits. Then I went over to Martindale.com and did a search for bankruptcy lawyers in Tulsa, where I got 87 hits. Finally, I did a search on Lawyers.com for a patent attorney in Seattle, where I pulled up 37 law firms. How is anyone going to sort through such a long list to find the right attorney? It’s just a list of strangers trying to get your business, and not much better than the Yellow Pages.

These services are free because the lawyers are paying to be listed there; they are marketing sites for lawyers. And because these sites are produced by rival companies, which are in turn competing to sell attorneys law books and other services, the lawyers on those sites are by definition the company’s own customers, so there isn’t a lot of overlap. None of these sites  is a comprehensive list of all available law firms and solo attorneys. If a law firm is looking to expand their business, they can list themselves in different categories (say, patents and divorce) and it can be very hard for a prospective client (you) to know how much experience in the right area of law they actually have. If you go to a law firm website, you may be choosing your attorney based on the skills of their web designer rather than the firms actual legal abilities.

Lawyer referral services are usually sponsored by the local bar association. Many are free, but what you get there is whatever lawyer whose turn it is to be on the top of the list.

Then there are referrals from family and friends which, while sincere, may not be up to date or well informed, especially if they don’t know your problem in depth (maybe because you don’t want them to know your problem in depth) or they have not had recent contact with the law firm.

You can ask an attorney you already know to give you a referral, but you should be aware that many attorneys pay each other for their referrals. They aren’t likely to do an in depth search, they will simply send you to someone they know. What you have to ask is if that knowledge is based on a personal relationship, a reputation, or an objective evaluation of the lawyer’s career and capabilities in light of your present needs? And since you aren’t paying him, how much time is he going to spend checking those things out?