When you choose a attorney, you should follow the steps outlined above. Before you go through that process, however, you will find it useful to read about some of the areas of law in which attorneys engage. Such general knowledge will give you added self-confidence as you conduct your interviews, even if it does not relate directly to your case.
The following six subsections contain information about attorneys who operate in the general practice, criminal defense, divorce, personal injury, real estate, and traffic court arenas. The descriptions are far from exhaustive in their treatment of these areas of law; entire volumes have been published on each topic. Other important topics are omitted entirely. These six areas are included here because they are the ones about which most readers will want to know. Even if your legal problem does not fit neatly into one of them, the explanations will be useful to orient you to what attorneys do. The information will give you additional insight into the practice of law and assist you in finding a good attorney.
General practice attorneys
The old-fashioned general practitioner, the maverick jack-of-all-trades attorney who did a middling bit of legal work for everyone in the community, is a dying breed. The role of these attorneys was not unlike that of the erstwhile family physician who made house calls and served as a general problem solver for the community. The traditional generalist handled divorces, criminal defenses, real estate closings, property disputes, contract negotiations, personal injury lawsuits, worker's compensation claims, adoptions, bankruptcies, estate planning matters, probate cases, and more. These days, a attorney who attempts to practice in such a broad range of areas runs a high risk of committing legal malpractice. The practice of law has become so complicated that most attorneys can claim competence in only one or two areas. Learn more about General Practice attorneys
Criminal Defense attorneys
For criminal matters, you need a attorney whose practice focuses on criminal law and who knows the judges, prosecutors, probation officers, bailiffs, clerks, and courthouse secretaries. Much of criminal law practice involves bargaining with the prosecution. Experienced criminal-defense attorneys know what options are available, which prosecutors tend to cut the best deals, and how each judge will respond to the agreed-upon terms.
Some prosecutors won't plea bargain, but most will. Be aware, however, that they enter into plea agreements not because they are nice guys or sympathetic people, but rather because in most jurisdictions there are so many criminal cases that they cannot possibly take them all to trial. Prosecutors usually dismiss the cases that are hard to prove and plea bargain on most of the others. This practice allows them to concentrate their efforts on the preparation of high-profile cases. Learn more about Criminal Defense attorneys | Miami Criminal Attorneys
Divorce attorneys
Some divorce clients attempt to use their attorneys as psychologists or counselors. You should not choose a divorce attorney by selecting the most empathetic or sympathetic individual from your list of candidates. If you are distressed by your separation from your spouse and want emotional support, you should seek the help of a professional counselor, psychologist, or psychiatrist. If you want your side of your divorce case presented clearly and effectively, and your interests protected under the law, find a good divorce attorney. Some of the toughest and most knowledgeable attorneys in the legal profession are divorce attorneys. They are a breed all their own, but perhaps just what you need to get the job done. Learn more about Divorce attorneys
Personal injury attorneys
A personal injury case is one in which a person claims to have been harmed as a result of someone's intentional, reckless, or negligent act. Often these cases have the potential for recoveries of large sums of money. If you have suffered a severe injury, you may find that every attorney with whom you talk wants to represent you. You should not, however, become sidetracked just because a attorney wants your case.
If your case is one in which damages' are potentially large, you need a attorney who does personal injury work on a regular basis, has a track record of success, and has a reputation for skill in the courtroom. Your attorney's reputation for prowess in court is extremely important. In one case, an insurance company extended a $300,000 settlement' offer to an injured man whose case was being handled by a attorney who did mostly business-related legal work and had not spent much time in the courtroom. The attorney, seeing a nice chunk of change on the table for little effort, recommended settlement. The client became suspicious, fired the attorney, and employed one whose practice emphasized personal injury litigation and who had a reputation for doing well at trial. With the new attorney working on the matter, the offer climbed steadily during the subsequent months, and the case finally settled for $850,000 a few days before trial. Learn more about Personal Injury attorneys
Real estate attorneys
In most jurisdictions, you will find a few attorneys who concentrate their efforts on real estate matters. Title insurance companies sometimes hire attorneys to prepare closing documents for their customers for a modest fixed fee. Some states require that a attorney draft the documents that a title company uses at a real estate closing even if neither the buyer nor the seller desires legal representation. Many large law firms have real estate law departments. For run-of-the-mill residential closings, however, their fees may be prohibitive, and unless some special twist is involved, employing a high-priced attorney to review routine residential closings is overkill. The title-insurance policy covers most contingencies, but you may want to have a attorney review the exceptions that are cited in the title commitment. For commercial real estate matters, the real estate department of a larger firm may have the collective experience and expertise necessary to coordinate the various aspects of complicated deals. Mid-size law firms may also have rather impressive real estate departments, so some attorney shopping is in order. You should not assume, however, that because a law firm is large or because its real estate department has a good reputation, the individual attorney assigned to you is necessarily a good one. You should go through the same process for choosing a attorney that was introduced at the beginning of this website, interviewing several of them before you make your final selection. Learn more about Real Estate attorneys
Traffic court attorneys
Every jurisdiction has several attorneys who spend nearly all their time in traffic court. Most of us would go crazy doing such repetitive work, but these attorneys have refined the practice into a science and usually obtain better results at lower prices than attorneys who appear in traffic court only occasionally.
Sometimes they process cases without ever speaking directly to the client. A secretary may take the information regarding the offense, ask for payment of a fixed fee (usually surprisingly low if the violation does not involve repeated offenses, alcohol, drugs, or other complications), and tell you to wait until someone from the law office calls you. The rules vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but often the next thing you will receive is a phone call from the secretary or a letter from the attorney informing you that your case has been postponed. One of several strategies that these attorneys use is to repeatedly obtain postponements until the witness (usually a police officer) fails to show up to testify, and then the attorney asks fora dismissal. In many jurisdictions, the defendant has a right to one postponement without a reason. Some traffic court attorneys develop such good rapport with court personnel and the judge, however, that they can obtain a string of postponements, and the prosecution's witness is then burdened with appearing at a number of hearings. Learn more about Traffic Court Attorneys |
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