What You Should Expect from Your Lawyer

Most good lawyers I know went to law school for one reason – to help people.  To me, the key to finding someone to represent you when you’ve been harmed through no fault of your own is finding the answer to this question:  Is your lawyer not only compassionate about your situation, but also passionate about helping you solve your problem?  After all, that’s really what practicing law is all about – helping people solve problems.  In fact, when my kids ask me what I do every day, I tell them exactly that – “I am going to work to help people solve problems.  It’s what I do.”  So simple even my six-year-old understands it.

A lawyer who accepts a personal injury case, a workers’ compensation case, or a case involving denial of an insurance claim, or for that matter even a business dispute, takes on a huge responsibility.  If you have been harmed or injured badly enough to seek legal advice, chances are you have lost something important to you – a loved one, a job, a home, a business deal – the list goes on and on.  A lawyer helps you, to the greatest extent possible, get justice and replace what you lost.  Of course, no amount of money can replace a lost loved one, but a legal case can and often does right a wrong and prevent similar incidents from happening again.

The Alabama Rules of Professional Conduct, like other states’ rules, tell us exactly what we need to know:

In representing a client, a lawyer shall exercise independent professional judgment and render candid advice. In rendering advice, a lawyer may refer not only to law but to other considerations such as moral, economic, social and political factors, that may be relevant to the client’s situation.

That is, a lawyer’s job is not limited to simply providing you wiith legal advice about your case.  Instead, that lawyer must take into account all “other considerations” relevant to your situation.

My point is basically this: When you are looking for a lawyer, make sure that the one you are thinking about hiring is focused on your problem and is focused on all aspects of your problem, whatever they may be.  If you are injured, and are having trouble paying the bills, or the injury is having an effect on your family life, tell your lawyer.  Everything you say is confidential, and he or she should help.  If they don’t, think about hiring another lawyer.