I’ve been asked “How do I know my lawyer is a good lawyer? How can I be sure he is doing a good job representing me”? My answer is simple: “You can’t be sure, you can’t be certain” but you can use your own good instincts, good sense and also rely on recommendations.
What a good lawyer is supposed to be:
Most importantly, find a lawyer who cares about you and your case. Find a lawyer that you have chemistry with.
It will be hard for you to determine if he is an expert or not in his field, therefore you will have a to trust that he is a professional and that he knows what he’s doing.
Your lawyer should have a clear understanding of the problem including what is driving you as a client, a person, a plaintiff or a defendant (and most importantly if you have been indicted). You may find out that you haven’t identified yet the real issue or problem in your own case.
A good lawyer should be someone that is able to listen (listen and understand between the lines) to you but also someone who can and will listen to others connected to the case. A good lawyer therefore must be a good detective-lawyer, a good researcher or a good and intuitive person.
Your lawyer should be brave enough to talk to you about the weaknesses in your case and not only tell you what you want to hear. He should be honest and tell you when a case is a good one or advise you to drop it because you don’t have a case.
A ruthless lawyer who is always on attack without respect for his opponents will in most cases jeopardize any chance of any fair and fruitful negotiations. Such a lawyer will create a negative work environment with all the opponents.
On the other hand, a lawyer who is too nice, extremely flexible or comes across “weak” is dangerous. Such a lawyer will most certainly cause collateral damage by sending the message of being weak to the opponents and therefore giving the impression that you and your lawyer can be manipulated.
Just because you want to hire a lawyer that writes a very long aggressive letter, it doesn’t mean that such a letter will achieve any positive effect. On the contrary, you might be setting yourself up for more trouble in the future with such a letter.
Find someone who is able to refrain themselves and can curb their emotions, especially when clerks, social workers or lawyers from the government are involved. A good lawyer must have some psychological understanding of human nature. I call it a good “navigation system”.
There are no cases where a plaintiff and a defendant are involved (each with his own lawyer) where some psychology is not needed in order to facilitate in handling the case. In many cases applying psychology is necessary in order to win the case.
Don’t do it:
You cannot try to “monitor” or “supervise” your lawyer – Let him work!
Don’t be pushy, let your lawyer have the time he needs to identify the problem, to learn the legal aspects of the case. In this manner he can find a solution and work on the case properly. Be patient, it may take some time for your lawyer to figure out the right course of action, but in the end it will be to your own benefit.
Don’t fight your lawyer, join him. If you disagree with him, then try to convince him how you see things. However keep in mind he will be representing you!
The worse lawyer I had:
A long time ago I had to represent myself in an extremely complicated case. In the end somehow I managed to win, but the damage caused wasn’t worth the victory.
I found out that I had a bad lawyer and a bad client.
Don’t ever represent yourself – never!
