Compassion is an emotional response through which one perceives another person's problem and, in an authentic and genuine way, wants to help solve it. While it's not essential to find an expert in your particular field, it makes sense to look for someone who specializes in small business problems and not, for example, maritime law. Look for someone who understands the different business structures and their tax implications, Hodge says. Make sure the lawyer is willing to know your company's objectives.
Sure, you're a startup today, but does the lawyer understand where you want to be tomorrow and does he share your vision for the future? Ability to communicate. If the lawyer speaks in legal jargon and doesn't bother to explain the terms he uses, you should look for someone else. Will the lawyer be available for the conferences when it suits him, and not hers? How quickly can you expect emergency phone calls to be returned? Relationship. Is this someone you can get along with? Good chemistry will ensure a better relationship and more positive outcomes for your business.
Don't be afraid to ask for references. Ask what types of businesses or cases the lawyer has worked on in the past. Get a list of clients or other attorneys you can contact to discuss their competence, service, and fees. However, be careful to compare one lawyer to another based solely on fees.
Lower hourly rates may not indicate the best value for money for legal work, since an inexperienced attorney can take twice as long to complete a project as an experienced one. Have you ever heard of “telephone rage”? Apparently it's a real thing. Younger consumers often say that it bothers them to have to use their phones to, understand this, make phone calls. In fact, they prefer to communicate with attorneys via text message or email.
According to data from Clio, more than 50 percent of consumers between the ages of 21 and 50 say they prefer web and mobile communication to phone calls. Lawyers only bill 2.3 hours a day. What about the rest? Lawyers are licensed professionals who study and practice law. An attorney generally has an area of concentration and a group of people or interests that they advocate for.
If you have a passion for serving people and are interested in law, you should consider applying for admission to law school. Regardless of a person's academic performance, at the end of the day lawyers work with people, on behalf of people, and the decisions that are made affect people's lives. When choosing a career path, many decide to study and practice in this field because of the impact they can have on other people. Whether it's helping them overcome a difficult family law matter, protecting them from false charges, or obtaining fair financial compensation after an accident, attorneys advocate for people during some of the most difficult times in their lives.
However, contrary to the popular conceptions of most people, successful lawyers are usually very creative people. For example, as reported by the Columbia Daily Spectator, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg told law students that they should try to use their degree to “make things a little better for other people.”.
