馃攳
Choosing a Lawyer: How to Find a Lawyer & How to Choose a GOOD Lawyer - YouTube
Channel: All Up In Yo' Business with Attorney Aiden Durham
[0]
hi everyone i'm attorney aidan durham
[2]
with 180 law co in denver colorado
[4]
and welcome back to all up in your
[7]
[Music]
[14]
business
[17]
on this episode of all being a business
[19]
i'm going to talk to you guys about
[20]
finding a lawyer and how to find the
[23]
right lawyer to fit
[24]
your needs but first don't forget to
[27]
like subscribe and share and check the
[29]
description
[30]
for links to additional information and
[31]
resources okay
[33]
so just like finding a doctor or a
[35]
veterinarian if you have pets or a
[37]
contractor if you're doing a home
[38]
remodel
[39]
you want to take care in finding a
[41]
lawyer i'll be the first to admit
[44]
that us lawyers were not cheap and
[46]
dealing with any kind of legal issue can
[48]
be a very
[49]
stressful experience i know this so it's
[51]
important that you take
[53]
your time in finding not just a good
[55]
lawyer
[56]
but the right good lawyer for you to
[58]
start it's
[59]
helpful if you have a general
[60]
understanding of how us lawyers operate
[63]
most of us specialize in certain areas
[65]
of law it used to be pretty common for
[67]
lawyers to be
[68]
like generalists we do a little bit of
[70]
this a little bit of that sure
[72]
i can help you with this thing those
[74]
lawyers certainly still exist but it's
[76]
much more common these days for lawyers
[78]
to
[78]
only deal with certain types of legal
[80]
matters most of us
[81]
do not know all of the laws we either
[84]
know a little bit about a lot or a lot
[87]
about a little
[88]
so the first step in finding the right
[90]
lawyer is knowing what kind of lawyer
[92]
you need if you're looking to file
[94]
bankruptcy for example then you need to
[95]
find a bankruptcy lawyer
[97]
if you're being charged with a crime
[99]
then you'd want a lawyer who does
[100]
criminal law or criminal defense
[102]
if you're getting divorced dealing with
[104]
child custody or adopting a child
[107]
then you'd want someone who practices
[109]
family law if you have
[110]
issues with an employee or employer then
[113]
employment law attorney if you're in a
[115]
car accident get bitten by a dog or you
[118]
know slip and fall in the grocery store
[120]
then you'll want someone who knows
[121]
personal injury law
[123]
if you need help with starting a
[124]
business then of course you would look
[126]
for
[126]
a business attorney like me but it's
[128]
also helpful if you understand the
[130]
licensing
[131]
restrictions of us lawyers in order to
[134]
practice law in a particular state
[136]
we have to be licensed in that state and
[138]
sometimes we need
[139]
special licenses to deal with particular
[141]
areas of law
[142]
for example we need a special type of
[144]
license before we can deal with patents
[147]
so with most things you're going to want
[149]
to look for an attorney who's licensed
[151]
in
[151]
your state or in the state where your
[153]
legal issue
[154]
happened so for example if you live in
[157]
california but you got arrested while
[159]
you were
[159]
partying on vacation in las vegas you'll
[162]
want to find a lawyer who's licensed in
[163]
nevada because that's where your case is
[165]
happening there are however situations
[167]
where we're allowed to work with people
[169]
in different states and this typically
[171]
comes up if we're dealing with a matter
[173]
that has to do with federal law as
[175]
opposed to
[176]
state law this comes up quite often in
[178]
my practice
[180]
so i'm only licensed in colorado a lot
[182]
of things that i deal with
[184]
are specific to colorado forming an llc
[187]
for example
[188]
is governed by state law each state has
[191]
its own set of laws concerning
[193]
limited liability companies but
[195]
trademark registration for the most part
[197]
is governed by
[198]
federal law states have their own laws
[201]
concerning state level trademark
[203]
registration but if we're talking about
[205]
national registration with the united
[207]
states patent trademark office
[209]
then we're dealing with federal law so i
[212]
can
[213]
work with pretty much anybody when it
[214]
comes to trademark registration
[216]
but when it comes to forming a new
[218]
business i can really only deal with
[220]
colorado businesses so now we kind of
[223]
know what type of lawyer we should be
[224]
looking for
[225]
from here if you're comfortable doing so
[228]
start asking around
[229]
talk to your friends family co-workers
[232]
colleagues neighbors etc and see if
[234]
anybody has
[235]
any recommendations if that doesn't help
[237]
or if you don't want to be
[239]
you know openly blabbing to everybody
[241]
about your legal issues then you can
[243]
contact your local bar association
[246]
state bar associations keep records
[248]
about complaints and discipline
[250]
disciplinary actions taken against
[253]
licensed attorneys in that state
[255]
even if a lawyer was referred to you by
[257]
somebody else it's still a good idea to
[259]
check the lawyers disciplinary history
[261]
to see if you know they've ever
[262]
gotten in trouble or had complaints
[264]
filed against them
[266]
but many local bar associations will
[268]
have a free referral service and will be
[270]
able to help you find the right attorney
[272]
for your needs you can google you know
[274]
state
[275]
bar association or your city bar
[278]
association
[279]
uh to find info on how to contact your
[282]
local bar association
[283]
or of course you can use the good old
[286]
reliable
[287]
internet you can search for the type of
[289]
lawyer you need
[290]
and the state that you're in or search
[292]
for something like
[293]
divorce lawyers near me check out
[296]
reviews and testimonials
[298]
look at their website stock their social
[300]
media accounts whatever you need to do
[302]
if you're going this fruit to find a
[304]
lawyer
[305]
then you're often going to have to rely
[307]
on your gut instincts of who seems like
[309]
they'll be the right
[310]
fit for you since you don't have any
[311]
personal you know friends or other
[313]
people who have
[314]
experiences that they can tell you about
[316]
there are also a lot of
[317]
legal directories and online legal
[320]
listings that will give information
[322]
about
[323]
lawyers and their practice areas and can
[326]
sometimes be helpful
[327]
in finding a lawyer i am personally not
[330]
a
[330]
huge fan of these resources when it
[333]
comes to
[334]
really finding a suitable lawyer for you
[336]
in
[337]
my experience at least you know many of
[339]
them are perfectly legit
[341]
and and can be relied upon but
[345]
there are also a lot of them that give
[347]
preferential treatment to lawyers who
[350]
you know pay more to advertise on that
[353]
legal directory or
[355]
or you know pay something to that site
[358]
and in exchange for that their listing
[360]
gets a little extra bump or maybe their
[362]
rating goes a little bit higher than it
[364]
was before
[365]
or something like that so again these
[369]
legal directories and legal
[372]
listing websites might be a good
[374]
resource for
[375]
finding a few lawyers to you know
[378]
initially look into but i just wouldn't
[381]
rely too much
[382]
on maybe the reviews or the actual
[384]
information about that lawyer that's on
[386]
those sites because
[387]
uh you know often it might be misleading
[390]
or biased or it might not
[392]
just be updated i personally don't
[395]
really look at the information
[396]
about my firm on these listings because
[399]
i don't get many clients from them
[401]
most of my clients find me other ways
[403]
and so i don't
[404]
update that information or it might not
[406]
adequately reflect the types of services
[408]
that i offer or my pricing structure or
[410]
whatever it is so
[411]
again you know take those things with a
[414]
grain of salt if you're
[415]
looking through these legal directories
[417]
or online
[418]
lawyer listings to find a lawyer i
[421]
recommend making
[422]
a short list of maybe three to five
[424]
different lawyers
[425]
then go about scheduling consultations
[427]
or discovery calls with each before you
[430]
really make any decisions
[431]
so what are the things that you're going
[432]
to want to look for when you're in
[434]
consultations what type of questions
[436]
should you be asking in my opinion the
[439]
four things you want to be sure of
[441]
before you hire a lawyer
[443]
are their personality their experience
[447]
your experience and their fees
[450]
in that order i think the most important
[453]
factor in finding a lawyer
[454]
is making sure you actually like the
[456]
person
[458]
you're likely going to become very
[460]
deeply and personally involved with this
[462]
person
[463]
you guys may have to spend a lot of time
[465]
together or at the very least you'll
[467]
probably have to
[468]
talk to her a lot so if you find
[470]
yourself getting annoyed or frustrated
[472]
during that initial initial consultation
[474]
that might not be the right person for
[476]
you experience
[478]
is of course important you want to make
[481]
sure this person is
[482]
knowledgeable about the particular
[484]
particular area of law
[486]
it's perfectly fine to ask a lawyer have
[489]
you dealt with cases like this before or
[491]
do you have experience dealing with this
[492]
type of matter
[494]
but keep in mind that experience isn't
[496]
everything
[497]
again we don't know all the laws
[500]
sometimes things come up that we haven't
[502]
dealt with before
[503]
and a good lawyer will number one be
[505]
honest with you about this
[506]
and tell you if they don't have a
[508]
particular experience and number two
[510]
will be able to research and familiarize
[512]
themselves with
[514]
your matter so they can help you but
[516]
aside from
[517]
their experience you also want to ask
[519]
questions about
[520]
your experience more specifically what
[522]
will your experience be like if you
[524]
choose to work with this lawyer
[526]
is he a solo practitioner or does he
[528]
work for a large firm
[530]
often but you know not always but often
[533]
you'll have a more
[534]
personal and kind of hands-on
[535]
relationship with a solo practitioner
[538]
but there can also be a lot of benefits
[540]
in working with a larger law firm
[542]
what about their technology stack can
[544]
you communicate them
[545]
communicate with them via text message
[547]
can you expect regular updates on your
[549]
case or will you only hear from them
[551]
when something goes wrong
[552]
these are the questions you want to ask
[554]
to learn what your experience will be
[556]
like if you decide to work with this
[558]
lawyer
[558]
lastly you'll want to know about their
[560]
fees and billing practices
[563]
i put this last because in my opinion
[565]
it's
[566]
the least important sure you can find a
[568]
lawyer who charges
[569]
you know one-tenth of what everybody
[571]
else does but what if that's reflected
[573]
in the quality of their work lawyers
[576]
typically charge
[577]
you know in a number of ways our fees
[579]
are structured slightly different from
[581]
lawyer to lawyer situation or situation
[584]
most commonly you're usually going to
[585]
run across
[586]
lawyers who charge hourly they have an
[588]
hourly rate
[589]
and they bill you for your time however
[592]
much time is spent
[593]
lawyers sometimes have flat fees i do a
[596]
lot of work on flat
[597]
fees and then there are some lawyers who
[599]
will charge contingency fees this is
[602]
usually more common in personal injury
[604]
situations where
[606]
you know they'll take your case for a
[608]
car accident and then they take
[610]
30 of whatever is awarded to you
[613]
in that lawsuit there are other kinds of
[616]
alternative
[616]
billing structures among lawyers and
[619]
different law firms but those three
[621]
hourly flat fee and contingency fees are
[624]
the most common that you're probably
[626]
going to run across
[628]
if you're dealing with an attorney who
[630]
offers flat fees
[631]
like me aside from just asking their
[634]
flat fee
[635]
you want to know exactly what you're
[637]
getting with that flat fee
[639]
and this is going to come in especially
[640]
handy when you're comparing
[642]
lawyer a to lawyer b let's say you're
[645]
strictly comparing their fees
[647]
lawyer a's fee may be a lot less than
[650]
lawyer b's fee
[652]
but what if lawyer a's fee includes a
[655]
lot more
[655]
or i guess i got that mixed up what if
[657]
lawyer b is
[659]
flat fee includes a lot more than lawyer
[661]
a's
[662]
you may end up paying less with lawyer a
[664]
but you're getting a lot less also
[667]
so if we're talking flat fees you want
[669]
to know exactly what you're getting for
[672]
that
[672]
fee exactly what's included so you can
[675]
properly evaluate
[676]
if you're you know price comparing or
[678]
price shopping to find
[679]
a good reasonable price when it comes to
[682]
finding a lawyer it really
[683]
ultimately comes down to finding someone
[685]
that you trust and
[687]
like as a human we ask a lot of our
[690]
clients sometimes we need you to be
[692]
completely 100 honest with us we need
[695]
you to be forthright
[697]
with us about certain types of
[698]
information and we also
[700]
often need to know very sensitive and
[702]
personal details about you
[704]
and your life so you need to be
[706]
comfortable with the person who is going
[708]
to be so
[708]
deeply involved with your life that's
[711]
all for this episode folks
[713]
drop a comment below let me know what
[714]
you think and don't forget to check the
[716]
description for links to some additional
[718]
information and resources
[719]
thank you all so much for watching i'm
[722]
aiden durham and i'll see you next time
[731]
[Music]
[733]
[Applause]
[736]
[Music]
[740]
you
Most Recent Videos:
You can go back to the homepage right here: Homepage