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How to Choose a Lawyer

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Hiring a lawyer is an important decision that shouldn’t be undertaken lightly. Unlike hiring a car mechanic or even a real estate agent, your lawyer is usually hired during a time when you’re vulnerable – whether you’re looking to create a will, you’re trying to assert your legal rights or you’re attempting to defend yourself against a legal attack.

One thing to remember when you’re hiring a lawyer is that you’re not looking for a friend. A lawyer is a business professional whose job is to assist you in your legal matters and that may mean giving you opinions that you may not like. While many lawyers may not actually get in front of a judge or jury, you also want someone who is persuasive and has the confidence and knowledge to make his case.

As any respectable lawyer would tell you, you shouldn’t hire any sort of legal consultant based on a television advertisement. Research is vital to finding a lawyer that’s going to work for you and is knowledgable about the area of law that you need help with. Lawyers that are ubiquitous advertisers are typically using a song and dance to attract clients who don’t know any better but are at a certain desperation point.

The best lawyer to hire is one that you know of through word-of-mouth recommendation. Ask family, friends and co-workers about the kind of legal help that they’ve used and what firms or attorneys that they would do business with again. Knowing the firms and attorneys that they wouldn’t do business with again is also helpful when narrowing down your options.

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Faster Work Ethics Lead to Faster Burnout for Attorneys

The New York State Bar Association recently compiled a report stating that the new work ethic of modern law could be harmful to legal professionals. This work ethic is described as “better, faster, and cheaper,” reflecting the increasing competition of the modern law profession. This competition is due to several factors. Some of these factors include the global recession, which is causing law firms to stop hiring new professionals or let go some of their current employees. The economic downturn caused several high-profile corporations to go under, leaving less of a market for attorneys. Worse, more and more people are graduating from law school each year while law positions are increasingly lowering. Many young lawyers are forced to take temporary positions, where they work hourly positions for cheap pay and no benefits, reflecting this cheaper-faster-better work model that’s taken over in modern society.

With the onslaught of modern technology, clients increasingly expect lawyers to be at their beck and call, no matter the time or place. Whether it’s 11 PM on a Sunday or 4 AM on a Wednesday, clients want answers and they want results. Typically, if they don’t receive answers or results whenever they want them, they leave the attorney or firm and look for someone else. With the globalized market, clients have many more options to choose from. A New York City business is no longer limited to Manhattan. They can hire somebody in India, Indonesia, or the Philippines.

Law associations are increasingly pushing for modern law firms to look at current work-life balances and to treat the important career-home balance as a gender neutral issue. Both women and men deserve an equal balance between their home life and their work life. Unfortunately, modern law firms do not have such models. It becomes easier to expect professionals to work around the clock, especially because jobs are so scarce and so many businesses can go overseas for their legal service needs. Since lawyers are one of the most depressed professions in the world, finding a work-life balance is increasingly important to preserve the mental health of the profession.

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Global Economy and New Technology Bring Changes to Legal Profession

What business or industry hasn’t changed with the onset of a globalized economy? We can now communicate easily via video chat or email with anyone in the world. There’s no need to merely operate within the walls of your own country. Professionals must stay connected and informed in order to keep up in the high-speed, fast-pace technological world we live in.

In this increasingly connected world, location matters less and less. Law firms should be able to represent local clients, clients with legal interests in faraway places, and clients who live across the country. Since most law firms aren’t equipped to do this, and also because cheaper legal services abound in other countries, individuals in the legal profession are facing heavy competition for outsiders. The global market is basically deregulated, so clients can experience a greater freedom or a lower price range outside of the United States.

Many legal professionals remember the way things used to be for lawyers: the client came to the lawyer for counsel, the lawyer provided information and advice, and the client took him at his word. Modern clients are increasingly more likely to seek other advice or counsel by “shopping around.” Just as malpractice has been on the rise in modern medicine, modern clients are more likely to sue their lawyers if they are unhappy with services provided. Clients today are also much quicker to walk away from a firm if they are unhappy.

Lately, a different work ethic has been sweeping the legal profession. This work ethic drives professionals to be better, cheaper, and faster than their competitors. While this sounds exactly like what is needed from modern lawyers to keep up with global competitors, it leads to attorney “burn-out.” More and more professionals are likely to leave the profession if their mental, emotional, and physical needs are not met, and heavy stress levels take away from an individual’s health. In today’s tech savvy market, clients expect everyone they hire to be available at a moment’s notice, thanks to email and the constant access to email via portable devices like laptops and smart phones.

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