5 Examples Of Poor Law Firm Practice And How To Avoid Them

Finding quality legal representation can be difficult. If any law firm commits one of the following five sins, it might be time to sever your business relationship.

Sloppiness

Hiring a good law firm, whether it is for a single case trial or a long-term relationship with a business, means that you’re making a sizeable investment. With any professional service that costs you a small fortune, you want to be sure that you are getting what you pay for, which is why general sloppy behavior from a firm is completely unacceptable. Constantly misplacing documents, missing calls, or even avoiding them are instant red flags. If you are unfortunate enough to have an extremely disorganized group of attorneys on your side, you might even get faxed information that should be delivered to other clients. There have even been cases of people receiving personal emails from lawyers who forget to update their address books when forwarding information. A one-time mistake that is apologized for can be forgiven, but continual issues are grounds for seeking new representation.

Overextended

The size of a legal firm doesn’t necessarily indicate availability. Many large companies are guilty of going for quantity over quality, continually accepting clients even though their attorney’s schedule may be already chocked full. While you can’t expect to be a sole client of any lawyer, you do deserve to have your case or business given the time and research it deserves for success. If your current law firm seems to be overextended you may want to bring up the issue with the office. If you haven’t chosen legal representation yet, be sure to inquire about each attorney’s workload.

Major Turnover

Hiring and firing employees is necessary for any business and helps contribute to continual growth and improvement, but excessive turnover rates can be indicative of deeper issues. An office might be losing several excellent attorneys due to internal problems, and that can eventually reflect on and affect your business needs or individual case. Reliability and dependability are important qualities in a good lawyer or office, which is often reflected in their ability to recruit and retain skilled attorneys and other staff members.

Legal Mistakes

The purpose of having legal representation is because you are not capable of representing yourself, which is why you trust an attorney to fully understand or be able to research the law and required procedures. Unfortunately, even the best law firm or attorney can make mistakes now and then. Consistent, obvious, or negligent mistakes, however, are unacceptable. If you are unsure about any advice or suggestions you are given, don’t be afraid to ask questions or to be explained processes and the law in detail. If you have a continuous bad feeling or find yourself distrusting any lawyer, find other representation.

Overcharging

You rarely hear people complain about undercharging, but you most certainly will find people that have paid exorbitant prices to an attorney. Lawyers are expensive, but switching charges, being evasive about the breakdown of bills, or being inflexible on payment options can be a deal breaker. Ask about all costs and how you will be charged before hiring a law firm. Be clear about bill payment and how the prices are broken down. If it is still confusing someone should be available to walk you through it. Some companies charge by the hour, rounding up to the nearest fifteen minutes, while others may offer a flat rate.