Are you weighing the decision whether to engage a lawyer to help solve a legal problem? If so, then read on, because hiring a lawyer who is ethical, competent, and skilled with the right area of law may be the single most important factor in reaching a positive outcome with your legal matter.

What many lawyers will neglect to tell you is that we attorneys are in a uniquely superior position to most lay people when it comes to knowledge of the Court system, legal rights, and how legal disputes get resolved. In fact, our position of knowledge on these matters is similar to that of a heart surgeon when it comes to your cardiovascular system. Unfortunately, there are lawyers out there who will exploit this information gap to the detriment of their own clients.

Attorneys might do this in several different ways: First, an attorney that’s desperate for work may not clue you in that he/she lacks the requisite experience and expertise to provide you with competent representation for your legal matter. This is not to say that inexperience automatically disqualifies an attorney; however, an honest attorney will disclose his/her inexperience to you, and explain what that means for the representation.

Question your lawyer relentlessly about whether he/she has experience with legal matters like yours. If the lawyer’s answers are not straightforward and they don’t satisfy you, consider speaking with another attorney before continuing forward with this one.

Next, an unscrupulous attorney could be willing to manipulate your legal matter in a manner that leads to litigation, even though Court should be avoided. Dishonest attorneys will do this by giving you advice that creates–rather than avoids–the risk of litigation. This is not to say that litigation should always be avoided at all costs. Sometimes, litigation is absolutely your best vehicle for recovery; however, if the expense of your attorney appears as if it will quickly eclipse the benefit of that expense (and your lawyer is not being up front about this fact), then that should be a big red flag.

Recently, an individual reached out to our law firm because she grew concerned that her lawyer was not providing effective representation in her lawsuit. When we examined the representation the other lawyer provided, we concluded that he did the client a grave disservice by failing to provide many of the most basic of litigation services. Further still, we concluded that if the client had come to us first, then we never would have advised her to litigate in the first place!

The civil attorneys and business attorneys at Asheville Legal strive to help clients make informed decisions regarding legal representation. We pride ourselves on client communication, ethical representation, and on the delivery of masterful legal services. Call us today to find out if an in-depth lawyer consultation will be of some benefit to you.