How to Choose an Attorney

There are right ways and wrong ways to do just about anything.  If you’ve been seriously injured and lost time from work, making the right choice can be the difference between just getting by and living well, for the rest of your life.  The wrong way is to accept a card from a “therapy place” from a seedy looking person haunting the scene of your accident.  It’s pretty unlikely that any high quality medical practice would employ somebody like this, isn’t it?  What’s even worse is to sign a retainer with their lawyer, who you’ve never even met.  Clearly the wrong, so let’s talk about the right way to find a Bronx Car Accident attorney, a Staten Island Wills and Trusts Attorney or any other type of lawyer you might need.

Referrals From Friends and Family

Prior to the advent of the internet, seeking referrals from your family and friends was always the place to start. If somebody you trust speaks very highly of a Manhattan divorce lawyer or a Brooklyn car accident attorney, it’s worth it to follow up with this strong referral, but often people just recommend somebody because they know them. The doctor your friend plays golf with or your cousin plays tennis with might not be the best one in town, so it’s a good idea to look at their website to see what their specialty is.  If you are looking for a criminal attorney for a DUI, and your cousin’s tennis friend handling mostly real estate, keep looking.  You’re always best off with an attorney that specializes.  It’s also a good idea to read as many reviews as possible to back up the referrals.

Attorney Referral Services

Some attorney referral services are better than others.  Avvo is an excellent service where you can ask attorney’s questions and get an idea of their philosophy and style from their responses.  You can also search for a Bronx Car Accident Attorney, Queens Real Estate Attorney or any other type of specialty.  Most of the other attorney search sites are advertising based, meaning that they refer you to attorneys based on how much they pay the service for placement without any vetting at all.

Googling an Attorney

Google’s algorithm has gotten so smart that you have a better chance of finding the right attorney using their engine than with paid referral services.  For example, you can be more specific about what you are looking in your search.  You can search for a “women divorce attorney Kew Garden Hills” or “largest commercial law firm on Long Island.”  You can read the reviews from multiple sources such as Google itself, Yelp and many others.  You can save money this way by limiting your search only to attorneys that offer free consultations by searching for “Brooklyn car accident attorney free consultation.”  If your case might produce a money damages award and you don’t have much cash on hand, you can search for “Staten Island attorney contingency fee.”