During the ten years I worked as a family law paralegal, I interacted with thousands of clients. Each and every client had a different story and reason for needing legal assistance. But, it seemed that many of the clients would schedule a consultation and hire an attorney without really interviewing the attorney.
On the whole, many people faced with litigation experience anxiety and fear, which, perhaps, is why many people do not thoroughly interview an attorney. As consumers, we research medical doctors and submit our medical care to someone we trust. Yet, many clients do not interview the attorney they are about to trust with the most important and intimate details of their lives.
The selection of an attorney to represent you is, in my opinion, one of the most important and fundamental choices a client can make. For example, a father fighting for custody of his children should investigate a family law practioner committed to helping him without regard for his gender. And the client should ask detailed questions pertaining to child support and the impact of primary or shared parenting may have on the issue of child support. If the family law practitioner does not personally "believe in" shared parenting or a parenting time deviation for child support, the selection of that attorney by the client may have far reaching and substantial consequences for that father.
Ask questions. Interview the attorney. If you are involved in a divorce, ask the attorney what he or she thinks about shared parenting. Ask the attorney how many times he or she has negotiated for a parenting time deviation or requested a determination by a court. You may be surprised by the answer.
Look into the attorney's background. Many state bar associations publish if the potential attorney has been disciplined or suspended. If your doctor had been suspended from the practice of medicine, would you allow him to perform open heart surgery on your child? If the answer is no, then why would you allow an attorney, for example, suspended from the practice of law for mismanagement of client funds to close a loan for you or hold your monies in his escrow account?
While it is important for a client to understand the amount of an initial retainer and the billable hour, it is even more important that a client be able to trust the attorney. After all, a client is paying good money for legal advice, the client should make sure he can trust the attorney because, once in litigation, it may be far more costly to change lawyers assuming a court allows it.
