What Should Your Goal Be at an Initial Consultation?

You're evaluating the lawyer as much as the lawyer is evaluating you. The point of an initial consultation is both to gather information and to figure out, as best you can, whether this particular arrangement (lawyer-client) would work to your benefit. For the client: do I like this lawyer? Does it seem like he knows what he's doing? Is the price competitive, and/or something I am willing and able to pay? For the lawyer: is this client responsible? Can I effectively represent this client? Can I help this client efficiently?

What is the Scope of an Initial Consultation?

You can't reasonably expect to get an entire case finished and disposed of at an initial consultation, but you may find that you get a good deal fo information there that will help you moving forward.

If you're looking to have a specific legal question answered, a lawyer will often have you give as many facts as you can, asking questions to narrow the issue. The lawyer can then probably give you some sort of answer, which will be based on her knowledge and experience (although probably not authoritative; it's just off the top of her head).

More often, though, you have a problem and you don't know how to formulate it into an exact question. It's more of a situation where you have to ask "How do I get myself out of this situation?" or "How do I protect myself/my family here?" The lawyer knows that additional work will be necessary in this situation because it will involve litigation or additional paperwork, such as trusts or corporate documents. As a result, the lawyer might just use the opportunity to ask you more questions, and reserve most of the detailed legal opinions for another day.

Fees at Initial Consultations

What should you expect to pay for an initial consultation?

Often, lawyers will offer a free initial consultation. Obviously that's easy on the budget, but it may not be a full consultation. On the other hand, some lawyers will charge for an initial consultation. Typically, the fee will be either at the lawyer's normal hourly rate, or some flat fee for the length of the consultation. You can expect those consultations to be uniformly longer and more detailed.

There are occasionally arrangements in the middle of these two norms. Often legal aid services will contract with private attorneys to provide free or low-cost initial consultations, which are shorter in duration. If the client wishes to go beyond the short time, they would then work something out with the attorney.

You're Going on an Initial Consultation. What Should You Expect?

Note: this post will be the first in a small series about initial consultations.

I am using the term "initial consultation" to refer to that first meeting between you and a lawyer. What should you expect during that meeting? Well, beyond a few basics, you'll get at least one different answer from each lawyer you talk to. (Reminds me of the quip about economists and other professions: "[Insert profession] has many hands. Ask them a question, and they will say, "On one hand..., on the other hand..., but on the other hand...")

Generally, you will meet with a lawyer for anywhere from a half hour to 90 minutes, and explain the details of your case as you understand them. The lawyer may be listening, may ask a few questions, or may even guide the discourse entirely. You may or may not have to fill out a form. You may or may not have to pay for the consultation. Most of these factors are pretty much out of your control (except for the cost of course) and you should probably not worry about them too much. I would even go so far as not to worry about the cost of the consultations because they won't be too expensive, unless you're strapped for cash or you plan on seeing multiple attorneys. (Which, incidentally, isn't a bad idea- you'd get a second opinion on an important medical question, right?)

Just a Reminder for Self-Employed Lawyers:

Business isn't just going to crawl to you. Find a way to go out and get it, somehow. Ask leads themselves, or better yet ask people who know lots of potential clients.

Doing Well By Doing Good, or Profit by Service

Just a thought for those of you who are unemployed, underemployed, or otherwise looking to gain experience or visibility: non-profits and pro bono work often lead to new, paying clients. It's not hard to make somebody ecstatically happy when you're working for free. And people who are that happy often tell their friends, neighbors, and the person in the supermarket checkout line behind them about their experience. While you may not get too many people who, unprovoked, gush about "Let me tell you about my great lawyer!", if a situation comes up they will definitely have you in mind.

Funny Business Cards

A few lawyer business that are quite memorable. Although I don't know if that's what I'm shooting for with a business card.

Divorce lawyers are known for their great personality.

And mediators are even better.

I Love Law & Order, but I Hate Jack McCoy

And the thing is that I really do like him, as a character. Sam Waterston is absolutely brilliant.

The only point I'm trying to make is that Jack McCoy, the lawyer, is everything you DON'T want to do in trial. People watching him (unfortunately, now in reruns) elegantly and succinctly tear down defense attorneys and defendants, summing up each case in two minutes flat and often using some sort of physical gimmick, get the idea that this is how you conduct yourself in court. If a lawyer actually acted like this in court, they'd get fined, laughed at, and thrown out. Not necessarily in that order.

If you think that you have any idea how to conduct yourself in court or in legal proceedings as a result of watching legal shows on TV, you are dangerously deluded. I'm as big a L&O junkie as anybody else, but it's just entertainment. Please, nothing more.

Ask For Help, Get More Than Help

You'd be surprised what you get when you just ask. Often it's more than what you asked for.

As a client this is great. If you are dealing with the right professionals in the right environment, usually when you ask for guidance in a situation you will get an unexpected outcome. Your question often covers just a symptom of a problem or issue, and a professional will guide you toward solving the problem, not just papering over the solution.

As a professional, this is even better. If you don't know something, and often you don't, just ask somebody with more experience. At the very least, you'll get the help you needed. More likely though, you'll make a friend, develop professional contacts, and even get referrals. People love to help and to answer questions because it makes them feel important- give them that gift, and it'll flow back to you.

There's Advice, and then There's Common Sense- In Life, and In Law

I'm getting married in two days. I will not be posting anything new until August 19, when I get back from my honeymoon. However, I just thought I'd leave this thought until then:

I'm a young lawyer, and I don't have a lot of money. In fact, I've got a pretty substantially negative net worth. My soon-to-be wife is in a similar situation, but she is better off. Even so, I would be a rich man if I had a dollar for every time I heard the word "pre-nup" from people I have talked to about the wedding in the last two years or so.

The legal advice underlying such a word makes sense- I am likely to outearn my spouse in my career, and there is definitely some merit in protecting my financial well-being in the event of a divorce. However, legal advice is more than just looking at things from a self-centered standpoint: there are practical measures to consider. Namely, the fact that I don't really want to plan for the failure of my marriage before I start, and also the fact that, realistically, I am not likely to massively outearn my spouse for probably ten years. By that time, the rule in New Jersey will start to trend toward equitable distribution being right down the middle.

Also, trying to bring up a pre-nup in the context of a relationship is a powder keg. It's dangerous, it can hurt both sides, and it has been known to damage/end relationships. A lawyer asked about the possibility of putting together a pre-nup had better know those things, and (whether they like it or not) needs to play social worker for a little while and see whether it would actually be in the best interest of the person, spouse, and/or relationship to talk about it.

It's a little like calling a computer support phone line for help, especially if you're not wonderful with technology. The question you are asking is not indicative of the solution. At best, it might correspond to some of the symptoms. I feel like this with cars- "It's making this weird sound" is not the solution- it's just one way for a mechanic or any kind of troubleshooter to get to the symptoms and find the right problem.

I apologize if I am in fact constantly saying this, but I believe it strongly: the right way to help a client is holistically, and not by just doing exactly what a client says they need. The client often has no idea what they need.

All You Need to Know About Credibility

How do you suppose people, having chosen a lawyer, stick with someone for years? Trust, believability.

Call it what you want. In short, credibility.

Credibility is so incredibly important and fickle, mostly because it's so easy to lose and so impossible to regain.

When you're dealing with clients, if you ever ask yourself if it's worth it to do anything but give your all to them, it ain't. Even if you don't lose these clients, you'll lose an endless stream of referrals that would have issued forth from them.

10 Rules to Being a Good Municipal Government Attorney- coming soon!

I am proud to announce that I will soon be able to post to the blog a piece called "10 Rules to Being a Good Municipal Government Attorney," by a well-known local government attorney in southern New Jersey. I am especially interested to talk about what other attorneys (and even non-lawyers!) can learn from this.

Universal Truth #4: Law, like [Insert Profession], is an Industry

I know that lawyers love to talk about the state of the "legal profession" or, heaven forbid, "the practice of law." Let's all roll our eyes in unison.

It is in the best interest of lawyers to talk up the legal industry. If people think they are getting access to the elite practitioners of some ancient and well-guarded secret art, they're apt to pay more for it. However, there are just too many lawyers out there nowadays to keep up that façade. The law is an industry, and the sooner lawyers treat it as such, the better off they're going to be.

You cannot reasonably expect to make a living anymore by holing yourself up in some ivory tower and waiting for people to come to you on bended knee. That goes for any profession. You have to impress people, make them remember you, and keep raising your profile.