Michael Fourte gives advice on how to ensure you're hiring the right lawyer for your trial.

1. HOW TO PICK THE RIGHT
LAWYER
B Y M I C H A E L F O U R T E

2. THE JOURNEY TO JUSTICE
As someone who’s been a lawyer for several years,
I know just how important it is to fight for your
rights. The first step you should take on the long
journey to justice is finding the right litigator for
you. However, regardless of what movies and
television might lead you to believe, all lawyers are
not made equal. There are good lawyers, bad
lawyers, unprepared lawyers, rude lawyers and
everything else in between. In order to give
yourself the best shot for success, you need to find
the perfect person to handle your case. Here are a
few tips and tricks on how to go about doing that.

3. A large part of a lawyer’s job is to communicate
your case to the judge and the jury. If you have a
lawyer who isn’t good at communication, you’re
already off to a bad start. You can easily test this
by simply listening to them speak. What kind of
language are they using? Is it professional or are
they keeping it informal? How quickly do they
respond to your phone calls or emails? Do they
respond within the hour? Within 24 hours? Or do
you need to nudge them? It’s incredibly important
to get a sense of how your lawyer speaks. I’ve
won cases before simply because the other
lawyer mumbled, was ill-prepared or
underestimated the case.
V E T T H E I R C O M M U N I C A T I O N S K I L L S

4. INQUIRE ABOUT
FEES
This may seem trivial to add to this list, but a lot
of times, many people hire a lawyer to handle
their case under the assumption that lawyers
charge a flat rate. This is not always the case.
Depending on the firm and the lawyer, some
may charge you per hearing or per hour or some
other method. This should be one of the very
first questions to ask during the initial meeting.
You simply do not want to be blindsided by
outrageous fees.

5. ASK ABOUT
EXPERIENCE
At the end of the day, the whole reason you are
hiring a lawyer is so that you will win your case
and obtain justice. One of the best ways to
guarantee your victory is by hiring a lawyer who
has won. You want a lawyer who is seasoned
enough to win your trial, but also not so
experienced that he or she will charge an arm and
a leg. You also want to make sure that you are
choosing a lawyer with experience for your
specific needs. Not all lawyers are well-versed in
the same areas. A divorce lawyer would be much
better suited to handle a divorce trial as opposed
to a criminal trial.

6. USE YOUR
INSTINCTS
When you are searching for a lawyer, the
bottom line is that you should feel out and
interview your prospective lawyer and use
your instincts to make a call. Try your hardest
to learn as much about them as possible
during an introductory interview and make a
decision from there. Choosing the right
lawyer can make or break your case, so make
sure to give it some heavy thought.