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How to Choose the Right Attorney | Seattle Personal Injury

Jason Epstein | 944 Views | 07/21/2015

Finding Lawyers in Seattle

One of the questions I get a lot is, what should I look for when hiring a lawyer? Or, how should I choose the right lawyer for my case? Well, to start with, I’ve written a book about this called, The Truth About Lawyer Advertising in Washington. I would recommend downloading a free copy of that book and you can do that on our website. Some of the things that you should look for are, whether or not that lawyer has experience handling cases like yours.

TV Advertising

One thing I often hear is, a lawyer is advertising on TV. Does that mean that they’re going to be good? No. All that means is that lawyer has enough money to pay for TV advertising. It doesn’t mean anything about their qualifications, or their ability, or the way that they will handle a case and how they can get results.

Lawyer Directory

Another thing I’ll hear is that this lawyer is on some sort of lawyer directory that you found online. Most lawyers that are in a lawyer directory have paid to be part of that directory, so it doesn’t necessarily mean anything just because that lawyer is on some other website.

Now there are some directories that you cannot pay to be on or you cannot pay for rankings on. One of those is Avvo.com. You should check out the lawyer’s ranking on avvo.com. You should also look at how their former clients have rated that lawyer on avvo.com. It’s A-V-V-O dot com.

Martindale-Hubbell

Martindale-Hubbell is another source to look at when determining how the lawyer’s reputation is in the community. Martindale-Hubbell polls other lawyers in the community, as well as judges, and ranks lawyers based on their prowess and technical merit. I would recommend looking at Martindale-Hubbell to determine if the lawyer that you’re hiring, or thinking of hiring, is rated highly. Martindale-Hubbell’s highest rating is an AV rating. You can also look and see what awards that attorney has won or what recognitions they have been given by the community. If the lawyer is winning awards from relevant groups or being recognized by their peers, that’s another indication that that lawyer is doing something right.

Recommendations & Referrals

Probably the best source of information you can get about a lawyer is what his former clients have said about him. One of the greatest ways to find that information is to go to Google and look at the reviews that other people have left about that attorney. It would be unethical for an attorney to pay for reviews, so that means unless the attorney is engaged in unethical behavior, all of those reviews will be legitimate from former clients. I would take a look at those reviews and see what other people have said about the attorney’s work, who have actually retained that attorney and had good outcomes.

By: Jason Epstein

How to Choose the Right Attorney | Seattle Personal Injury

Finding Lawyers in Seattle

One of the questions I get a lot is, what should I look for when hiring a lawyer? Or, how should I choose the right lawyer for my case? Well, to start with, I’ve written a book about this called, The Truth About Lawyer Advertising in Washington. I would recommend downloading a free copy of that book and you can do that on our website. Some of the things that you should look for are, whether or not that lawyer has experience handling cases like yours.

TV Advertising

One thing I often hear is, a lawyer is advertising on TV. Does that mean that they’re going to be good? No. All that means is that lawyer has enough money to pay for TV advertising. It doesn’t mean anything about their qualifications, or their ability, or the way that they will handle a case and how they can get results.

Lawyer Directory

Another thing I’ll hear is that this lawyer is on some sort of lawyer directory that you found online. Most lawyers that are in a lawyer directory have paid to be part of that directory, so it doesn’t necessarily mean anything just because that lawyer is on some other website.

Now there are some directories that you cannot pay to be on or you cannot pay for rankings on. One of those is Avvo.com. You should check out the lawyer’s ranking on avvo.com. You should also look at how their former clients have rated that lawyer on avvo.com. It’s A-V-V-O dot com.

Martindale-Hubbell

Martindale-Hubbell is another source to look at when determining how the lawyer’s reputation is in the community. Martindale-Hubbell polls other lawyers in the community, as well as judges, and ranks lawyers based on their prowess and technical merit. I would recommend looking at Martindale-Hubbell to determine if the lawyer that you’re hiring, or thinking of hiring, is rated highly. Martindale-Hubbell’s highest rating is an AV rating. You can also look and see what awards that attorney has won or what recognitions they have been given by the community. If the lawyer is winning awards from relevant groups or being recognized by their peers, that’s another indication that that lawyer is doing something right.

Recommendations & Referrals

Probably the best source of information you can get about a lawyer is what his former clients have said about him. One of the greatest ways to find that information is to go to Google and look at the reviews that other people have left about that attorney. It would be unethical for an attorney to pay for reviews, so that means unless the attorney is engaged in unethical behavior, all of those reviews will be legitimate from former clients. I would take a look at those reviews and see what other people have said about the attorney’s work, who have actually retained that attorney and had good outcomes.

By: Jason Epstein