{"id":7293,"date":"2012-03-12T16:15:21","date_gmt":"2012-03-12T20:15:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sidebarforplaintiffs.naomifein.net\/?p=7293"},"modified":"2012-03-17T12:11:00","modified_gmt":"2012-03-17T16:11:00","slug":"how-to-find-a-lawyer-the-first-thing-not-to-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sidebarforplaintiffs.naomifein.net\/?p=7293","title":{"rendered":"Finding a lawyer: The first thing NOT to do"},"content":{"rendered":"

My own lawyer asked that I give you this piece of advice here on Sidebar<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

When you call a lawyer for the first time, do not ask her for legal advice on the telephone.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Presumably you’re calling because you’re worried, you think you have a legal problem, maybe a lawsuit. The lawyer you’re calling probably doesn’t know anything about you and can’t evaluate your situation during a telephone call.<\/p>\n

And won’t give you legal advice during that first-time call. What she might do is listen to you. And she might ask some questions, if she’s hearing something about your situation that might fit into her specialty.<\/p>\n

She might. Or she might not.<\/p>\n

But she will never give you advice. How could she? She doesn’t know enough about your situation\u00a0\u2014 and is unlikely to be getting a full picture on a short telephone call.<\/p>\n

The first legal advice she is likely to give you is: make an appointment. For which she will probably charge you a fee, yes.<\/p>\n

(I was once asked by a woman acquaintance if I could recommend a lawyer who could help her. Her landlord was trying to evict her from a rent-controlled apartment [for good reason, as it happened]. The woman was a sort of elderly flower-child kind of person. Or, rather, she liked to present herself as a dithery flower child. And she was certainly elderly.<\/p>\n

I told her I did know a really good lawyer. “Would I have to pay him?” she asked in her wispy, helpless, pitiful little voice.<\/p>\n

“Of course,” I snapped. “What do you think, lawyers are supposed to practice law for nothing?”)<\/p>\n

The primary reason a lawyer will require a face-to-face meeting is to evaluate you and your situation, do some legal research and decide whether you have a case and whether she wants to take it.<\/p>\n

She will not tell you over the phone that yes, you have a case. She will not tell you over the phone what you should do about your case.<\/p>\n

So don’t ask. She won’t tell.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My own lawyer asked that I give you this piece of advice here on Sidebar: When you call a lawyer for the first time, do not ask her for legal advice on the telephone. Presumably you’re calling because you’re worried, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1175],"tags":[428,476],"class_list":["post-7293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-facts-of-life","tag-finding-a-lawyer-2","tag-how-clients-drive"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t