Referrals

Ask an attorney to recommend another. This is a time tested method. However, this can also lead to being the congenial golfing buddy’s meal ticket in a parade of referrals generated by his excellent social network. Before you get a referral ask how the referring lawyer knows the other lawyer’s reputation is good. A fearsome record on the trial level, appellate cases, journal articles, or hearing how tough the lawyer is are all good signs. Bad signs include that the lawyer was head of a bar association chapter (Remember the social network?), the lawyer has more than 10 years experience and charges less then your market rate, or that the lawyer cannot verbalize why he’s referring you out.

A lot of bar associations offer referral services. These match you with an attorney on a rotating basis who pays to be on the list for

There’s an old saying that you can have something built good, fast, or cheap but only one of those three. Lawyers are the same way you can have good, cheap, or old but only two of those qualities.