◙  How do I Find a Good Lawyer ?
◙  What about the Yellow Pages?
◙  Can the Bar Association Help Me ?
◙  How Do I Make an Appointment ?
◙  What is the Worst Way to Find a Lawyer?
◙  Can't I Find a Lawyer on the Internet ?
◙  What Should I Bring to the First Meeting?
◙  What Questions Should I Ask?
◙  What Should I Expect From My Attorney Once They Have Been Retained?
◙  What about Using a Paralegal or document preparer?
◙  Law Suits against those practicing law without a license, including consumer credit counseling schemes.

How do I Find a Good Lawyer?

As with any profession, there are many lawyers to choose from.  Take the time to do your homework before hiring an attorney.

How does someone go about finding a good lawyer if they don't already know a good lawyer, and perhaps have never needed a lawyer before? This FAQ will talk about different ways to find an attorney, without getting bogged down in too much detail about specific types of cases. Whatever method you use, remember - the lawyer is your employee.  That lawyer has special legal knowledge, otherwise you would not need to hire them, but they are not in total control of the case - it is your case, not theirs.  On the other hand, the lawyer is responsible to you and the court system to make sure that the actions that he or she pursues are valid claims.  No lawyer should represent a client who just wants to sue for the sake of hurting someone.  A lawyer's job is to analyze the situation and determine whether or not there are grounds for this action and fully inform you of the chances of a successful conclusion.

The best way is the old-fashioned way: personal referral and word of mouth. If you know any lawyers, even if they don't handle your type of case, ask them for recommendations. Ask friends, family, clergy, people at work, union officials, club members, at the corner tavern or beauty salon. You could also ask for the name and telephone number of the company lawyer for your employer. Business lawyers very often know who the best matrimonial, personal injury or bankruptcy lawyers are in their area. Make sure that you interview two or three lawyers before making a decision which one to retain.

If you're looking for a trial lawyer, ask for recommendations from friends and relatives who've recently served on juries. If you're looking for a real estate lawyer, call a title company and ask them who they use. For a domestic relations lawyer, ask the deputy court clerk in charge of domestic cases. Lawyers are the best source of information about other lawyers. Establish a relationship with a lawyer before some big emergency comes up and have him or her do some little things for you, like prepare a will, handle a speeding ticket or a residential real estate deal, review a contract, form a closely held corporation, etc. Is he or she responsive? Understanding? Prompt? Does he or she explain things clearly? Does he or she keep you informed without being asked? If the lawyer doesn't know the answer, does he or she admit it and then go find out for you? Then, when you have a big legal problem, you won't have to rush out and interview a bunch of strangers. You've already got somebody you can trust. If he or she can't handle the big matter, he or she can find you the right lawyer who can.

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What about the Yellow Pages?

What About the Yellow Pages? The Yellow Pages should be your last resort. This is unfortunate, because the Yellow Pages are a convenient reference. It would be unfair to assume, just because a law firm has a big, glossy ad in the Yellow Pages, that it couldn't handle your problem well. However, the only qualification needed to place a big ad is to be able to pay for it. Some good lawyers advertise heavily, but many other good lawyers advertise sparingly, or not at all. Lawyers who are happy with the size of their firm and get all the work they can handle from referrals by other lawyers and satisfied clients don't need to advertise.

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Can the State Bar Association Help Me?

The Maricopa County Bar Association has a Lawyer Referral Service.  Their phone number is 602-257-4200. There is a nominal fee will be charged for an initial meeting.  This is not a bad way to get names of several lawyers who are interested in handling your type of case. All the same, any lawyer who joins the bar association and signs up for the referral service can be on the referral list. The Bar Association does not perform screening or rating of the attorneys. As with the Yellow Pages, the listings include attorneys of all skill and experience levels. If you are looking to retain one of the leading lawyers for the particular type of case, you can ask who are the officers or long-standing members of their criminal law committee, their family law committee, their civil practice committee, their real estate committee, etc. You can also ask who are the local lawyers who've spoken on various topics at their CLE (Continuing Legal Education) seminars.

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How Do I Make an Appointment ?

Most lawyers are interested in new clients—I certainly am. When you call for a consultation, you don't need to give a detailed explanation to whomever answers the phone. Just say that you wanted to speak with the attorney about a new case, and briefly describe what it's about: an accident, a real estate dispute, writing a will, starting a corporation . . . whatever the case may be.

We charge a small fee for an initial consultation.  At this initial meeting it is our intention to give you sufficient information to be able to make an informed decision what your next steps will be.  Any fee that you paid for this initial consultation is usually deducted from your overall fee for our services.  Make sure that you are fully informed as to the cost of any legal services that you request, whether with this firm or any other.

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What is the Worst Way to Find a Lawyer ?

Yes, there is something worse than the Yellow Pages. Be aware that it is highly unethical for a lawyer to pay a referral fee, bonus, or kickback for "leads" on new cases. (Depending on state law, a referral fee sometimes may be paid to another lawyer, but there should be disclosure and client consent for any fee-sharing). Some of the profession's "bad apples" may still engage in the practice of paying "runners" for tips on new clients. So if a stranger (say, an emergency room worker) seems unduly insistent and volunteers that you should see a lawyer, or just happens to have a supply of the lawyer's cards to give you one, look out! This is not the kind of person who deserves your trust.

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Can't I Find a Lawyer Through the Internet ?

Often you can - after all you found this site. Many lawyers are active on the Internet- some good and some bad.  See Findlaw.com as an informal referral service. If you post a message, it's quite likely that someone who reads it will be able to help, or to give you the name of someone who can. For your message to be most effective, please do the following:

1. In the subject line for the message header, try to give the state and the nature of your need. Examples: "Need MD Personal Injury Lawyer," "PA Probate Contest," "MO Med Mal Specialist." That way, lawyers in that state will be especially likely to read your message.

2. In the body of your message, give a brief summary of the situation. But be CAREFUL! This public message will not be privileged, so it's better not to name names, or make any detailed statements about what happened, particularly if you or your loved one is facing criminal charges. We've seen instances where persons posted a detailed message trying to explain why they felt they were being unjustly prosecuted—while admitting every element of the crime!

3. Also, in the message, spell out the city or town involved. And if any time deadlines are approaching, mention them.

4. Beware - just because a lawyer answers you doe not mean that they are competent or professional.  Check their State Bar to make certain there are no Bar Complaints.  As for references and determine how long they have been practicing in the area of law you need help with.

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What Should I Bring to the First Meeting? 

First, know that even if you don't end up hiring this lawyer, your communications are privileged. To preserve this privilege, you shouldn't bring other people to the meeting; if you need someone for moral support or transportation, don't be upset if the attorney asks them to wait in the reception area.

DO bring all the paperwork you have, including suit papers (if you've been sued), insurance policies (if you'll be making a claim), and any correspondence to or from the other party. Unless you decide to hire this lawyer, take all your papers with you, and let him or her make copies if he or she wants to review something further.

DON'T try to hide unfavorable or embarrassing information. The lawyer needs to know all the facts to protect your interests. What your lawyer does not know CAN hurt you, because such things have a way of coming out at the worst possible time, and your lawyer can't respond very well if it's a surprise.

DON'T feel pressured into signing up with the first lawyer you meet. Remember you are hiring someone to do work on your behalf.  They are to act as though they are pleased that you want to hire them and you are to feel very comfortable with their honesty, sincerity and their skills as a lawyer. 

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What Questions Should I Ask? 

Not all of these questions are appropriate for every type of case, but here are some things which could be discussed. Please be sensitive to the fact that the lawyer can't predict the future, control the court's scheduling, or know what your opponent may do to make things harder:

• What experience do you have with this type of case (how many years; how many cases now, how many in the past)?

• What are the possible outcomes (best/worst case scenarios; how long might it take to resolve?

• How will you let me know what's going on in the case?

• What can I do to help as the case goes forward? What other information will you need?

• Will anyone else be working on the case?

• Are there alternatives to litigation? Are you comfortable with trying to solve this with arbitration or mediation?

• How will you get paid?

• For hourly fee cases: What is your hourly rate? Can some of the work be delegated to paralegals or junior attorneys? If so, what will their rate be? How often do you send out bills? Do you need an advance retainer (not really necessary to ask this one; the attorney will certainly say so)? If we settle tomorrow, is the balance of the retainer refunded?

• For fixed or flat fee cases: What will be covered by this fee? What about appeals? What if something happens to make the case more complicated?

• For contingency fee cases: What will the percentage be? Will the percentage change depending on how far the case goes? Will you advance expenses? Is your fee figured before or after expenses are deducted? How far are you committed to go (if we lose at trial, will you take an appeal)?

• What about expenses? What kind of expenses do you charge for and how are they calculated? How much do you charge for copies, faxes, etc.?

• Can you give a ballpark estimate on the total fees? Can you put that in writing?

• What will happen if we have a disagreement about the fees?

• Can you give me names and numbers of some of your past clients as references? (For some types of legal matters, such as bankruptcy, divorces or criminal charges, clients' need for confidentiality might make this impractical).

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What Should I Expect From My Attorney Once they Have Been Retained?

Your new attorney has certain obligations to you.  The most important is to keep you fully informed as to the status of your case.  This means that you should be receiving copies of all documents received in your case.  You should also be kept up-to-date on the various process of your particular matter.  If you are new to this type of case then ask your attorney to provide you with a written outline of the process, including the terms and the time periods involved.  Make sure that there is little or no charge for this information.  If the attorney is not able or willing to provide you with this type of outline then you need to find another attorney that is more interested in serving client's needs.  Any attorney who has practiced in a particular area of law for several years already has an outline which details the process.  

Ask the attorney what their policies are as to returning phone calls.  You are looking for an attorney that will commit to returning all calls the same day they are made, or at least that the attorney's staff returns the calls.  Make sure that your calls are necessary.  Ask the staff if someone else can provide you with the information that you are seeking.  It is no unusual that the attorney's staff knows more about the day-to-day status of your case then does the attorney.  

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Copyright (c) 1996 William D. Marvin (portions of this article)

Copyright (c) 2004 Diane L. Drain (portions of this article)

What about using a document preparer or a paralegal?

Arizona has been cursed by a huge influx of disbarred and suspended lawyers moving to the sun belt and setting up their "practice".  Before you ever hire any professional, doctor, engineer, lawyer or contractor, always check with their licensing agency to determine whether or not they are in good standing and even licensed to conduct business in your area.

To add insult to injury in 1983 the Arizona State Legislature decided that 19-year kids had as much right to practice law as any well educated lawyer.  Therefore, they allowed the expiration of the penalty for practicing law without a license.  Of course the person that grooms your dog or cuts your hair must be licensed, but not the person who helps you set up your child's trust account or decides which of the four types of bankruptcy is best for you.

Since 1983 numerous individuals, armed with a copy machine and a pen, have been drafting documents and dispensing legal advice in Arizona.  There was little that could be done in that the Arizona Legislature had allowed the unauthorized practice of law statute to sunset.  Billboards, bus stops and local newspapers are rife with ads from these "document preparers".  Many "document preparer" companies are run by disbarred lawyers who cannot practice under their own name - for very good reason.  Many have been in prison for stealing from their clients, others have been found to be completely incompetent.  For example: a disbarred attorney Richard S. Berry, associated with Why Pay a Lawyer, a Tempe company.  Berry was imprisoned for his criminal actions against his clients and fined hundreds of thousands of dollars for his willful refusal to honor Court orders.  Ironically, Berry told a client that he was "helping" to file bankruptcy that he "was a retired lawyer", pointing to his law degree on his office wall.  This was shared with me when the same clients came to me to fix their bankruptcy and try to save their home and car.  Mr. Berry never refunded the money these clients paid for his "help".  Matt and Ron Harris are two more individuals who are enjoined from preparing bankruptcy documents, but continue to ignore orders of the court.  They take money from their "clients" but do not file the paperwork at all, or timely. 

Until recently there has been no licensing requirements for these "document preparers".  They rarely share with their clients that they have no education, licensing or malpractice insurance.  These document preparers charge amounts that end up being equal to or greater than what most licensed attorneys charge.  Most of these document preparers advertise by "loss leader".  For example - $199 to file a divorce.  What they do not tell you is that there are many other documents that must be filed and they charge for each and every document.  If you fail to pay them then your case is dismissed and all the money you paid lost.

To give an example about how bad this situation had become: one day I was in court where 13 divorce cases waiting to be heard.  Eleven of those 13 cases were drafted by document preparers.  All eleven cases had to be continued for various reasons, most of which were failure to have the proper documents.  Each person had missed work for this hearing, now they had to go back to their document preparer, pay more money, file more paperwork and miss more work for the next hearing which may be several months away.  Not only was the burdensome on the people involved, but also on the courts and the taxpayers.

All Arizona lawyers have specific rules and regulations governing their behavior.  There are established rules of Professional Conduct which they are required to follow.  If your licensed attorney has failed to perform as agreed, you can file a complaint with the State Bar of Arizona.  Be very careful to check out any lawyer with the State Bar before hiring them.  There are many disbarred lawyers who are "forgetting" to tell their clients that they cannot and should not be practicing law. 

In an attempt to protect members of the public the Arizona Supreme Court has implemented new rules, effective July 1, 2003.  Under the Arizona Supreme Court Rule 31 all document preparers must be certified unless they are working under the supervision of an attorney who is licensed and in good standing in Arizona.  These certified document preparers can only provide only general information and forms.  They may not "provide any kind of specific advice, opinion, or recommendation to a consumer about possible legal rights, remedies, defenses, options or strategies"  In other words, they may not give any legal advice or explain the law or any person's rights or obligations under the law.

In the area of Bankruptcy law, Congress has attempted to protect the debtor from this type of abuse.  They have passed a law (11 U.S.C. Section 110) which limits the amount an unlicensed person can charge for preparing bankruptcy documents (in Arizona is it usually limited to $200.00).  The law also requires that the person preparing the documents disclose their name and other information. They cannot collect the filing fees from the Debtor.  There are fines and penalties of $500 for each failure up to $2,000, plus more.  In addition, as of July 1, 2004 the Bankruptcy Court General Order 89 requires all document preparers comply with the Arizona Supreme Court Rule and be licensed as a document preparers.

11 U.S.C. Section 110 prohibits these document preparers from "giving legal advice".  Deciding this type of bankruptcy to file is legal advice.  Explaining the terms: secured creditors, unsecured creditors, executory contracts, lease assumptions, etc are all deemed to be legal advice.  Using these services would be akin to asking your next door neighbor to diagnosis your cancer and recommend the proper medical treatment.  There is a reason that your doctor and lawyer spent years in school and continue to take education classes in their areas of practice.

There are serious problems that arise from filing the wrong type of bankruptcy, filing at the wrong time, failing to properly plan for your bankruptcy, or failing to disclose assets and liabilities.  These problems include losing your home or car, losing the ability to file any bankruptcy, being sued despite your bankruptcy and/or spending time in jail for bankruptcy fraud.  Is this all worth the small, if any, additional financial outlay you would have made if you used a qualified, licensed attorney?  Your choice - your life.

UTAH CREDIT COUNSELING SERVICE SHUT DOWN
Consumers who relied on Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Utah to handle their debt payments are being urged to contact creditors directly after the Utah Division of Consumer Protection temporarily shut down the agency Tuesday.

Participants in CCCS debt-management programs each month paid the nonprofit organization what they owed for all their bills. CCCS then forwarded payments to creditors from a trust account. The state is investigating why the trust account did not have enough money to pay all its clients' bills.  SOURCE: Knight-Ridder / Tribune Business News

More problems with consumer credit counseling companies - including AmeriDebt - filing for bankruptcy and changed with fraudulent activies.

NCO Financial Systems, Inc. and NCO Portfolio Management, Inc. fined $1.5 million FOR VIOLATIONS OF FAIR CREDIT REPORTING ACT.
In order to resolve claims of illegal conduct, per a consent judgment filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania May 12, 2004, a major debt collector will refrain from future violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and will pay a $1.5 million civil penalty (U.S. v. NCO Group, Inc., E.D. Pa., No. 992-3012, 5/12/04).

The complaint, filed by the Justice Department, at the request of the Federal Trade Commission, alleged that NCO Group, Inc. and affiliates (NCO Financial Systems, Inc.; and NCO Portfolio Management, Inc.) reported incorrect information about consumer accounts to credit bureaus in violation of Section 623(a)(5) of the FCRA and Section 5 of FTC Act.

FLORIDA SUPREME COURT SANCTIONS "WE THE PEOPLE" FOR UNAUTHORIZED PRACTICE OF LAW
On April 29, 2004 the Florida Supreme Court issued its opinion in The Florida State Bar v. We The People. The court found that in five cases employees of We The People had engaged in unauthorized practice law, by advising bankruptcy clients (as well as divorce and will clients) on legal remedies, which forms to prepare and how to prepare them, correcting clients' errors, and communicating with third persons such as adversary parties on behalf of the clients, notwithstanding that WTP hired a licensed Florida attorney to provide legal advice to their customers. The Court enjoined WTP from any such activities, and assessed $9,000 in sanctions.
The Florida Bar v. We The People Forms and Service Center of Sarasota, Inc. et al. No. SC02-1675

More problems with "We the People" - sued for fraud and more.

SENATE REPORT RAISES CONCERNS ABOUT CREDIT COUNSELING COMPANIES (3/2004)
According to a report issued late March by the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations staff, the business model for the traditional nonprofit credit counseling company has changed significantly with many newer entities generating profits from for-profit subsidiaries. The report resulted from an investigation to determine the state of the credit counseling industry and to explore viable solutions to remedy problems.

In the report, entitled Profiteering in a Non-Profit Industry: Abusive Practices in Credit Counseling, many of those new organizations are "using a for-profit model designed so that 'their nonprofit credit counseling agencies generate massive revenues for a for-profit affiliate for advertising, marketing, executive salaries, and any number of other activities other than actual credit counseling. The new model looks to the consumer to provide those revenues."  Staff concluded this model resulted in "increased consumer complaints; such as excessive fees, nonexistent education, poor service and generally being left in worse debt than when they initiated their debt management program."

According to the report, there is little uniformity in industry regulation with their currently being various professional, state, and federal standards; some being mandatory, others are voluntary.

The subcommittee staff offered the following findings and recommendations:
* some credit counseling agencies are engaged in abusive practices hurting debtors, including charging excessive fees, putting marketing before counseling, and providing debtors with inadequate educational, counseling, and debt management services;
* some nonprofit credit counseling agencies are funneling millions of dollars each year from debtors to insiders and affiliated for-profit businesses, possibly violating tax laws prohibiting tax-exempt charities from benefiting private interests;
* as part of ongoing efforts to halt abusive practices in the credit counseling industry, major creditors should review and strengthen their standards for credit counseling agencies with whom they do business;
* the FTC and IRS should accelerate their enforcement efforts to review suspect credit counseling agencies and take appropriate action against agencies and other who are violating restrictions on tax exempt entities or engaging in deceptive or unfair trade practices-and should consider coordinating with state enforcement agencies to make efficient use of government resources;
* the Senate should consider modifying credit counseling provisions in the pending bankruptcy legislation to strengthen protections against abusive practices, including determining whether a single authority, the U.S. bankruptcy trustee, should issue a central list of qualifying credit counseling agencies to provide counseling to bankruptcy petitioners and whether credit counseling fee limits would be appropriate; and
* the Senate should consider a bill, either modeled on the Debt Repair Organizations Act of 1996 or expanding that law's application to reach nonprofit entities, to strengthen protections against abusive practices in the credit counseling industry.,

The staff report noted:  When profit motive is injected into a non-profit industry, it should come as no surprise that harm to consumers will follow.  Indeed, the primary effect of the 'for-profit model has been to corrupt the original purpose of the credit counseling industry-to provide advice, counseling, and education to indebted consumers free of charge or at minimal charge, and place consumers on debt management programs only if they are otherwise unable to pay their debts. Some of the new entrants now practice the reverse-provide no bona fide education or counseling and place every consumer onto a debt management program at unreasonable or exorbitant charge. The subcommittee staff's full report