Choose Your Solicitor With This Simple Checklist

Whatever your legal problem is, you will get much further with your case if you hire a good solicitor. Where do you go to find the best solicitor? How do you know that they will do the job properly and what sorts of things should you be looking for in a solicitor?

This small checklist will help you find yourself a good one. Every legal issue is different so these are just brief outlines you should follow:

1. Find a lawyer with the right experience you’re looking for. If you’ve got a personal injury case then you want to be working with solicitors who have also worked with other personal injury cases. If they have then ask about their successes and how many years’ experience they have.

2. Ask them when was the last time they handled a case like the one you’ve got. You want to make sure that they’re up-to-date with all the recent developments in the law.

3. Once you’ve met them do you feel comfortable enough for them to handle your case? You want to make sure that they listen properly and that clearly explain everything to you so you
   fully understand what you’re doing and paying for.

4. If the solicitor has been recommended to you then you will want to find out what their case was about. If it was completely different to yours then maybe it isn’t the best choice.

5. Find out how much the solicitor will charge. You want to make sure that you can afford them. If the lawyer is professional and experienced then they will tend to charge more or you can pay less for a less experienced lawyer. You might want to think about this as Solicitor Negligence can occur with less experienced solicitors.

6. Make sure you ask if they have a ‘no win, no fee’ policy, if they charge by the hour or set a fixed fee? Different solicitors will charge you in different ways for the same work.

7. Will the solicitor want to meet you face-to-face or will you be handed onto someone else in their team? You want to know who the person is handling your case so you can built that trust.

8. Lastly find out if the solicitor has had any complaints held against them. This information can be easily found out by phoning the Legal Complaints Service on 0845 608 6565 and asking them to check (it will usually be the Records office who do this).