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How to Hire the Best Attorney | Colorado

Phil Harding | 816 Views | 01/27/2015

It’s the holiday season, so today we’re going to help you go shopping. But don’t start imagining gifts and jewelry. We’re talking attorneys. Yeah, and we’ve already found one. It’s Colorado’s Best attorney, Phil Harding, he’s here. You were going to tell us really how to shop for the best attorney today.  Of course. You don’t think you should, but you should.  I know. I’m thinking it feels odd, it feels a little bit strange to go shopping for an attorney.  It does. And let me tell you why. It seems strange to kind of go out and shop for attorneys, but, like you would a good pair of jeans, or something else, you absolutely need to shop for an attorney. You can hire the best attorney in the world, but if you can’t communicate well with them, then that attorney’s not right for you. The reason why we’re talking about this is, viewers have called me, and they said, “I’ve hired an attorney. But here’s the problem. I never talk to the attorney, I talk to a paralegal, or a case administrator.  Right. So, how do you do it? I mean, how do you go about shopping for an attorney?  Well, first, usually when people shop for an attorney, they’ve been injured, and most attorneys work on a contingency fee basis, and they charge you anywhere from a third to 40%. So here’s my question: if you get most attorneys for the same price, shouldn’t you hire the one that works best for you?  Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, it seems like the analogy of going to, maybe, a car lot. You know, you have all these cars to choose from, they’re all going to be the exact same price, so you got to find the one that’s going to fit your needs, right?  Right. And I’m not saying that the Ferrari that’s on the lot is the best one for you. Maybe you go up in the mountains a lot. Maybe you want the SUV. But, I want to tell my viewers – our viewers, not just mine, I don’t want to be possessive over it – how to hire an attorney, and what to look for. And let’s look over this graphic, because I think it’s really going to help out. First of all, you want to ask and see if the attorney practices in this area of law, so if you have a divorce attorney, you don’t want to go to them for an injury, or a contract lawyer. You want to see who practices in this area. The next thing is, how many cases like this does that attorney handle? That’s a good and a bad thing. If they have tons of cases, you can pretty much be sure that they’re going to farm you off on someone else. If they haven’t done very many cases, you might not want to go with them.   Yeah, I mean, you’re talking about who you’re going to deal with in the office. With you, they’re going to deal with you.  Absolutely. And we can talk about that in just a moment. That is number three, who to deal with in the office. And now, another thing that you need to ask that attorney, when you’re interviewing, how long until you get a response from them? Another complaint that I hear from our viewers is, “I wait for weeks until I hear back from them.”  Weeks?  Weeks. And that’s just– that’s horrible.  What’s reasonable? A reasonable amount?  You know, on my voice mail, it says I’m going to return your call within three business hours.   Nice. Hours.  If I am not in– if I’m in trial, them someone else is going to give you a call back. But then, the last thing is, if they don’t adhere to their promises, can you fire that attorney? And the answer is absolutely yes. Look, I think it’s important that you interview at least three attorneys, and let me tell you why. You can hire the greatest attorney on the planet, but if you can’t communicate well with them, or deal only with the paralegals, things get lost in translation. It’s like that game we used to play. Remember in kindergarten, where you telephone, you whisper something in someone’s ear–  Oh, I love that game, yeah, so it went all the way around the class, and it started out one thing–  And it ends up with–  Wildly different.  Something totally opposite, and that’s the same thing when dealing with a law firm. If you deal with a law firm that, you’re talking to the case administrator, who’s talking to the paralegal that’s talking to an attorney, that’s not good communication. You need to find an attorney that you can communicate well with, and that can really sell how it has affected you.  Yeah. I mean, we’ve heard this, I mean communication, I mean this key in any relationship, a personal relationship, in a business relationship. So what is it that sets you all, your firm, apart in communication?  Well, one of the things, we feel that when you hire us, you hire the attorney, not a paralegal, not a case administrator, and that’s why we personally take all of our phone calls. We’re available on nights and weekends, and I’ve got to tell you, if anyone gets into our voice mail and they need us, they push zero and they’re transferred to wherever we are.  I can get you at night, and I can get you on weekends.   Exactly.  That’s incredible.  If you handle a case properly, which we do, you don’t get those nights and weekend calls. But we’re there, just in case. Now let’s talk about hiring the right attorney that can find insurance that’s not even there. Because a lot of people come in and they’re like, “The person that ran into me doesn’t have any insurance. Who’s going to pay me on this?”  So what– let’s set up the case, like let’s say you’re in an accident, and it’s someone else’s fault, they don’t have insurance. What are you going to do? Where is there other insurance?  Let’s go over this graphic, and let’s go down it. First of all, when you’re in an accident, a car accident, you look at the owner of the car. Because when you loan your car, you loan your insurance. Now the driver and the owner might be different. If they are, there’s two different policies there. Next, you look to see if you have UM/UIM. Stands for Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage, and unless you signed a waiver, you automatically have that. Now, if you have multiple car policies, you may have multiple UM/UIMs that you can stack on top of each other. Now, if you live in a household with someone else, they may have UM/UIM that you can use as well. This is highly important. You know, most people think that they don’t have UM/UIM, but under Colorado law, even if you go in and you say, “I want the cheapest insurance possible,” unless you signed a waiver, you have this Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage.   Yeah, and you have shared an example before that when your clients came to you, they thought they did not have the UM/UIM, but you dug deeper, you called their insurance company, and made them show the waiver, which they didn’t have.  Right. And the insurance companies a lot of time are going to tell you, and they’re going to say, “Oh, you know what–”  They don’t have it.  “They wanted the cheapest insurance, so we didn’t put it on.” I call the insurance company and I say, “I want that waiver. I want to see my client’s signature.” And if it’s not signed, I instantly got them 25,000.  $25,000.  And if they have multiple cars, maybe multiples of 25,000.  You want an attorney who’s going to dig for you, and who you can communicate with, so if you have any questions for Phil, go to his website. You can go to our website first, Coloradosbest.tv. Send in your questions, he will answer them each, personally. Also, you can call him at his office, Harding & Associates. Just call 303-762-9500. You can get a free consultation any time, and you can find him online at hlaw.org

By: Phil Harding

How to Hire the Best Attorney | Colorado

It’s the holiday season, so today we’re going to help you go shopping. But don’t start imagining gifts and jewelry. We’re talking attorneys. Yeah, and we’ve already found one. It’s Colorado’s Best attorney, Phil Harding, he’s here. You were going to tell us really how to shop for the best attorney today.  Of course. You don’t think you should, but you should.  I know. I’m thinking it feels odd, it feels a little bit strange to go shopping for an attorney.  It does. And let me tell you why. It seems strange to kind of go out and shop for attorneys, but, like you would a good pair of jeans, or something else, you absolutely need to shop for an attorney. You can hire the best attorney in the world, but if you can’t communicate well with them, then that attorney’s not right for you. The reason why we’re talking about this is, viewers have called me, and they said, “I’ve hired an attorney. But here’s the problem. I never talk to the attorney, I talk to a paralegal, or a case administrator.  Right. So, how do you do it? I mean, how do you go about shopping for an attorney?  Well, first, usually when people shop for an attorney, they’ve been injured, and most attorneys work on a contingency fee basis, and they charge you anywhere from a third to 40%. So here’s my question: if you get most attorneys for the same price, shouldn’t you hire the one that works best for you?  Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, it seems like the analogy of going to, maybe, a car lot. You know, you have all these cars to choose from, they’re all going to be the exact same price, so you got to find the one that’s going to fit your needs, right?  Right. And I’m not saying that the Ferrari that’s on the lot is the best one for you. Maybe you go up in the mountains a lot. Maybe you want the SUV. But, I want to tell my viewers – our viewers, not just mine, I don’t want to be possessive over it – how to hire an attorney, and what to look for. And let’s look over this graphic, because I think it’s really going to help out. First of all, you want to ask and see if the attorney practices in this area of law, so if you have a divorce attorney, you don’t want to go to them for an injury, or a contract lawyer. You want to see who practices in this area. The next thing is, how many cases like this does that attorney handle? That’s a good and a bad thing. If they have tons of cases, you can pretty much be sure that they’re going to farm you off on someone else. If they haven’t done very many cases, you might not want to go with them.   Yeah, I mean, you’re talking about who you’re going to deal with in the office. With you, they’re going to deal with you.  Absolutely. And we can talk about that in just a moment. That is number three, who to deal with in the office. And now, another thing that you need to ask that attorney, when you’re interviewing, how long until you get a response from them? Another complaint that I hear from our viewers is, “I wait for weeks until I hear back from them.”  Weeks?  Weeks. And that’s just– that’s horrible.  What’s reasonable? A reasonable amount?  You know, on my voice mail, it says I’m going to return your call within three business hours.   Nice. Hours.  If I am not in– if I’m in trial, them someone else is going to give you a call back. But then, the last thing is, if they don’t adhere to their promises, can you fire that attorney? And the answer is absolutely yes. Look, I think it’s important that you interview at least three attorneys, and let me tell you why. You can hire the greatest attorney on the planet, but if you can’t communicate well with them, or deal only with the paralegals, things get lost in translation. It’s like that game we used to play. Remember in kindergarten, where you telephone, you whisper something in someone’s ear–  Oh, I love that game, yeah, so it went all the way around the class, and it started out one thing–  And it ends up with–  Wildly different.  Something totally opposite, and that’s the same thing when dealing with a law firm. If you deal with a law firm that, you’re talking to the case administrator, who’s talking to the paralegal that’s talking to an attorney, that’s not good communication. You need to find an attorney that you can communicate well with, and that can really sell how it has affected you.  Yeah. I mean, we’ve heard this, I mean communication, I mean this key in any relationship, a personal relationship, in a business relationship. So what is it that sets you all, your firm, apart in communication?  Well, one of the things, we feel that when you hire us, you hire the attorney, not a paralegal, not a case administrator, and that’s why we personally take all of our phone calls. We’re available on nights and weekends, and I’ve got to tell you, if anyone gets into our voice mail and they need us, they push zero and they’re transferred to wherever we are.  I can get you at night, and I can get you on weekends.   Exactly.  That’s incredible.  If you handle a case properly, which we do, you don’t get those nights and weekend calls. But we’re there, just in case. Now let’s talk about hiring the right attorney that can find insurance that’s not even there. Because a lot of people come in and they’re like, “The person that ran into me doesn’t have any insurance. Who’s going to pay me on this?”  So what– let’s set up the case, like let’s say you’re in an accident, and it’s someone else’s fault, they don’t have insurance. What are you going to do? Where is there other insurance?  Let’s go over this graphic, and let’s go down it. First of all, when you’re in an accident, a car accident, you look at the owner of the car. Because when you loan your car, you loan your insurance. Now the driver and the owner might be different. If they are, there’s two different policies there. Next, you look to see if you have UM/UIM. Stands for Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage, and unless you signed a waiver, you automatically have that. Now, if you have multiple car policies, you may have multiple UM/UIMs that you can stack on top of each other. Now, if you live in a household with someone else, they may have UM/UIM that you can use as well. This is highly important. You know, most people think that they don’t have UM/UIM, but under Colorado law, even if you go in and you say, “I want the cheapest insurance possible,” unless you signed a waiver, you have this Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage.   Yeah, and you have shared an example before that when your clients came to you, they thought they did not have the UM/UIM, but you dug deeper, you called their insurance company, and made them show the waiver, which they didn’t have.  Right. And the insurance companies a lot of time are going to tell you, and they’re going to say, “Oh, you know what–”  They don’t have it.  “They wanted the cheapest insurance, so we didn’t put it on.” I call the insurance company and I say, “I want that waiver. I want to see my client’s signature.” And if it’s not signed, I instantly got them 25,000.  $25,000.  And if they have multiple cars, maybe multiples of 25,000.  You want an attorney who’s going to dig for you, and who you can communicate with, so if you have any questions for Phil, go to his website. You can go to our website first, Coloradosbest.tv. Send in your questions, he will answer them each, personally. Also, you can call him at his office, Harding & Associates. Just call 303-762-9500. You can get a free consultation any time, and you can find him online at hlaw.org

By: Phil Harding