The more options you, the better it is – they say. Truth is, making the right choice is more difficult when you have an abundance of options. The challenge remains the same when it comes to finding trusted and reliable lawyers like Prime Lawyers, who will demonstrate commitment and take responsibility, ethically, while presenting your case before the Court. With every passing year more and more people are pouring in the field of legal practicing and not all of them are equally skilled or follow the ethical ways while dealing with clients.
This is why it is a matter of paramount of importance that you take caution while choosing professionals suitable for the job. Here are a few crucial points that will help you differentiate between a good and a bad lawyer
1. Sincerity: A lawyer may sound sincere, convincing and knowledgeable during the first few face-to-face interactions. However, you may notice that after a few days of quality communication, he/she has become a bit aloof. The most evident signs of such careless attitude are unresponsiveness to phone calls, reluctance in answering your emails, repeatedly missing deadlines in submitting court filings, and displaying poor attitude during one-on-one conversations. These are all red flags that tell you to change your legal representative for good.
2. Confidence in sharing references: As a first-time client, you are right to ask and verify from a lawyer his/her competence in a particular area of legal dispute. If the person fails or hesitates to provide a reliable overview of his/her experience in dealing with areas of challenges, where you require help, it is better to move on and find more suitable options.
3. Success rate: No matter how profoundly a lawyer’s references speak of him/her, it is always important that you personally verify about the person’s success rate. In this context, it would be apt to cross check the information not only through third-party resources but also through your personal references. Avoid getting into business with the person if your personal findings contrast drastically with the self-proclaimed figures.
4. Billing system: Practices followed by a lawyer in the billing system is a great way to develop a transparent understanding about his/her ethics towards the profession as well as clients. A bad lawyer focuses solely on monetary gains and will constantly look for opportunities to overbill you.
One of the most common practices in this context is dragging the duration of performing a task. Putting surcharge on actual legal expenses without adequate explanation on the basis of generic tasks speak clearly of the malpractices that a lawyer has adopted for monetary gain.
Your involvement in a legal dispute is already stressful from both financial and personal perspectives. Engaging a bad lawyer to seek relief from the situation only makes things worse. Find a better alternative as soon as you start seeing one or more of the above-mentioned red flags.