There are enough articles (http://voleh.org/category/lawyer-client/) about client-lawyer relationships but in none of them I could find the signs one should be looking out for when choosing a legal representative in Israel.
A lawyer is someone that will be your voice and mouth. And most importantly due to the lack of knowledge regarding the law, the lawyer is the one who eventually makes crucial decisions for you. These decisions in some cases can be even life altering.
The halo effect
The halo effect is a cognitive bias in which an observer’s overall impression of a person, company, brand, or product influences the observer’s feelings and thoughts about that entity’s character or properties. One must be careful of the halo effect when choosing a good lawyer.
The market in Israel:
We are a small country with more than enough lawyers or better to say, people holding a license to practice (a membership in Israeli Bar), but not necessarily practicing the profession.
In 1970, Israel had less than 5000 lawyers or one lawyer for 622 inhabitants. In 2009 the number went up to more than 40.000 or one for 183 inhabitants. Today there are more than 63.000 lawyers but only a “mere” 51,000 are allowed to practice law (members of the Israeli bar). The vast majority are located mostly in the Tel Aviv area and are between 30-40 years of age.
Different Types of Lawyers You should be aware of:
- The promising lawyer:
A red light should go off whenever you hear from a lawyer a sentence like: “I can easily win this case”; “Don’t worry I had hundreds of those before”; “This is what the other lawyer told you? I know better than him, he knows nothing”; “This is the amount he thinks you can get for this case? I promise to get you twice as much”…
- The big shot lawyer or the “appearances is all” lawyer:
Be aware of these big shot lawyers telling you: “Sorry I am too busy to meet a new client this week, let’s do it in 2 weeks when I can squeeze you into my tight schedule” or “ sure I’ve dealt with these issues before, we are active in almost every type of law in Israel” . Or those who have some inner need to “appear” as someone they are not: “I have branches in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Jerusalem, Beer Sheba and even New York …”.
Even the largest law firms with hundreds of employers don’t have offices all over the country.
- The hate his family type:
This is a very special kind of lawyer. These guys have no pity on their family. They are always “on call, on duty”, they always have time for you and they are always “free to take your call”. Doesn’t matter where they are what they are doing. I call them ER lawyers because they think every case, every phone call is a “life or death” situation.
It may sound strange telling you to watch out but let me tell you from personal experience as a lawyer and as a former CEO of a law firm: No lawyer can survive this behavior, not in a long term so sooner or later he/she will have a heart attack or you will find after a short term he/she is not answering phone calls anymore – not from you!
These guys are so busy trying to sell themselves, that they don’t have time to take care of the real issues at hand: Your case!
Competition:
When it comes to competition, it really depends on the field we are talking about. The competition could be fierce in certain fields, but of course there are areas where the competition is relatively small. However, in all areas you will always find good and bad lawyers. But there are some you should always avoid in any case just to be on the safe side.
By the way, fees doesn’t indicate how good a lawyer is or not.
Some Important Tips:
Take your time to find a good lawyer. Use your common sense, and make sure to feel comfortable with the person in front of you. He/she is only a human being not a Go-d. It is very important that there should exist a relationship of trust between the two of you. This trust should exist and persist during the entire time you will be working together.
Remember, that might take a long time until your case is finally decided upon.
Trust doesn’t mean your lawyer has to became a “yes man” and act as you want him to act, or be adorable all the time. Trust yourself to find a good lawyer not an actor or a PR person.
