How do you pick a lawyer? Word of mouth? A billboard? The Web? My friend especially likes the lawyer advertisements that she sees on the side of trash cans; she says it really puts the whole attorney thing in perspective. Obviously, she isn't a fan of lawyers. But in today's world, where lawyers can advertise, you are inundated with advertisements in lots of different forms: the park bench you sit on, the radio you hear and yes, the trash can you throw refuse in!
The very first thing to do is familiarize yourself with the laws in your state. Websites are great for this. A good website can give you a great overview about the laws in your region. With all the data available on the internet, there's absolutely no excuse for being uninformed.
Here are some of the best resources to find good lawyers within your area:
If you are aware other business people within the community, you could wish to ask them for referrals and recommendations regarding good business law firms and business lawyers in the community. Even though you will want to compile these recommendations, additionally you will want to take them with a grain of salt because you cannot be sure whether or not the recommendation is an informed one. If you meet lawyers with specialties you do not need, you might wish to ask them for recommendations.
Nearly all law office has a website. Law practice websites vary considerably within their quality and also the amount of information they provide. Some law office sites provide an extremely limited quantity of biographical information. Other web pages provide complete biographical information, and publications, and sometimes even blogs and podcasts.
LinkedIn is a social networking site for professionals. LinkedIn allows a user to post a detailed profile. Many lawyers are on LinkedIn. Some have posted detailed profiles, others have not. LinkedIn is growing, and even more lawyers appear to be taking it seriously. As of this time, LinkedIn is hit or miss on information regarding lawyers, but it really is worth checking.
Once you have the name of a particular lawyer you want to research, Google (as well as Bing and Yahoo) can be valuable. In "Googling" a lawyer's name, it's possible to often find other details about a lawyer, sometimes including links to articles the lawyer has written or links to cases the lawyer has handled. The "advanced search" feature on Google may be useful in narrowing results.
There are several subscription services that provide access to all case law and lots of legal publications, and also to news and information. It is possible to use these databases to look for cases that an attorney has handled. Most business people, alternatively, do not have accessibility to these expensive resources. Thus, I mention them as possibilities for deep research, but they are actually not necessary to locate an excellent lawyer.
The very first thing to do is familiarize yourself with the laws in your state. Websites are great for this. A good website can give you a great overview about the laws in your region. With all the data available on the internet, there's absolutely no excuse for being uninformed.
Here are some of the best resources to find good lawyers within your area:
If you are aware other business people within the community, you could wish to ask them for referrals and recommendations regarding good business law firms and business lawyers in the community. Even though you will want to compile these recommendations, additionally you will want to take them with a grain of salt because you cannot be sure whether or not the recommendation is an informed one. If you meet lawyers with specialties you do not need, you might wish to ask them for recommendations.
Nearly all law office has a website. Law practice websites vary considerably within their quality and also the amount of information they provide. Some law office sites provide an extremely limited quantity of biographical information. Other web pages provide complete biographical information, and publications, and sometimes even blogs and podcasts.
LinkedIn is a social networking site for professionals. LinkedIn allows a user to post a detailed profile. Many lawyers are on LinkedIn. Some have posted detailed profiles, others have not. LinkedIn is growing, and even more lawyers appear to be taking it seriously. As of this time, LinkedIn is hit or miss on information regarding lawyers, but it really is worth checking.
Once you have the name of a particular lawyer you want to research, Google (as well as Bing and Yahoo) can be valuable. In "Googling" a lawyer's name, it's possible to often find other details about a lawyer, sometimes including links to articles the lawyer has written or links to cases the lawyer has handled. The "advanced search" feature on Google may be useful in narrowing results.
There are several subscription services that provide access to all case law and lots of legal publications, and also to news and information. It is possible to use these databases to look for cases that an attorney has handled. Most business people, alternatively, do not have accessibility to these expensive resources. Thus, I mention them as possibilities for deep research, but they are actually not necessary to locate an excellent lawyer.