First of all, know that you are not alone! I come from a family that had ZERO love for the legal profession. My grandfather, on numerous occasions, said that lawyers should burn in hell. My dad, a sheriff’s officer, didn’t have many great things to say about lawyers either. I actually never even wanted to be an attorney, but after floundering for a while after college, I somehow ended up applying to law school. When I told my parents I was going to become an attorney, they were not encouraging. “Why do we need a lawyer in the family?!” they said. While other parents were rejoicing and proud that their child had been accepted to law school, mine were skeptical and dismissive.
All that to say – I understand why you hate attorneys! Especially if you have a background or experience where the legal profession has been looked down on or harmful to you or your family, it would be natural for you to not trust them. And it’s not like attorneys have a great reputation as it is. Lawyers are known to be expensive, selfish, money-grabbing, and power-hungry. Obviously they’re not all like that, but, again, I understand why you may not want to go to one unless you absolutely have to.
The best advice I could give you is to try to identify what you are most worried about when it comes to hiring an attorney. Do you think they will cheat you out of your money? Do you think they will lie to you? Do you think they will not look out for your best interests? Do you think they will screw you over? Do you feel like you are giving up power if you hire an attorney? Are you afraid they will take advantage of you because they know more than you do?
Once you figure out exactly what it is that makes you concerned about hiring an attorney, you can look for the kinds of attorneys that will alleviate those concerns. For example, attorneys in larger firms tend to cost more. They can also be harder to get hold of and you may feel like you’ve given over control when they don’t respond as quickly as you want them to. Small offices may be the better way to go. Solo attorneys and 2-3-lawyer firms rely heavily on word-of-mouth referrals and their clients having a good experience. If a solo attorney gets a bad review on Facebook, it can be a disaster. So, these smaller firms may be highly motivated to help you and also more responsive and accessible. Feel free to ask the lawyer what their standard turn-around time is for communications. Do they try to get back to you same day? Will they promise to get back to you within a week? If you really need to get hold of them, what should you do?
If you are struggling to deal with the financial aspect of it, make that clear to the lawyer. Ask what your options are. Some attorneys will have “flat-rate” fees which means that they don’t charge by the hour, but by the project. So, a will might be a straight cost of $500, no matter if it takes the attorney 3 hours or 5 hours to complete it. Other attorneys will allow payment plans. You can also ask that the lawyer provide you with a very detailed bill so you can see exactly what you’re paying for. To keep the attorney honest, you can ask them what their minimum billing time is. For example, I know an attorney who said he never billed less than 15-minute increments even if the task only took him 5 minutes. So, if that attorney charges $200/hour, you are paying him $50 for something that might have only taken him 5 minutes to do. There is a good reason for billing this way, in that usually the attorney spends a lot of time thinking about your case and, so, builds that time into that cost. My guess is that most attorneys bill somewhere between 6-15-minute increments. Another idea for the payment situation is to ask if you can get a discount if you pay your bill within 10 days of receiving the invoice.
I truly believe that most attorneys want to do a good job for their clients. Of course, attorneys are busy and have a lot on their plates and cannot always be as easily accessible as you really want them to be. I know that is SO frustrating! You can feel ignored, helpless, powerless, and angry. But, when you need legal representation, having an attorney by your side is your best chance for success in your case.
I have written and presented the OLT courses so that there is no legalese, everything is clearly explained, and you can go into your situation having a strong foundational knowledge. You don’t need to feel intimidated when you are speaking and understanding the language used by an attorney. You can be confident discussing your circumstances because you’ll know what documents and research you need to do ahead of time. You’ll have all the information you need so that you can make the most of your time and money if you need to hire an attorney.
I’ve made it easy to learn about how to create your estate plan and make a will.
And, I’ve made it easy to learn all the fundamentals about getting divorced in a community property state.
