The first few minutes on the phone with your new attorney offer you the opportunity to discover a lot of important information about not only your legal issue but also the legal field and the attorney you are speaking with. Below are five great ways to make the best use a brief phone consultation with a lawyer.

1. Finding out if an attorney is a good fit for you and your case.
When you decide to work with an attorney you are deciding to trust someone not only to handle your legal matter but also trusting them to advise you on how to move forward. In the best cases a client and an attorney should both feel comfortable with discussing these matters with each other and be comfortable with the same level of communication and professional. For example if you are not an email person and prefer to meet face to face you do not want to work with an attorney who only has a virtual office.

Additionally even though you might think that the attorney you have reached out to is a good fit for you they might not be for your case. Not all family law attorneys will go to court for your divorce, in a civil settlement you might not even need an attorney if your potential claim is of a low enough dollar value. Your initial fifteen-minute call is a good to find out if this is a case the attorney can work with you on.

2. Getting a referral to the right lawyer.
As mentioned above, sometimes the attorney you call first is not the right fit for you. Maybe they think you should see a specialized niche attorney or they just aren’t taking on your type of case right now. Speaking to an attorney during a brief phone consult means that they are likely to be able to deduce what kind of legal help you need and if they cannot provide it are more likely to know an attorney who can and be able to direct you to another attorney better than google. Do not be afraid to ask the attorney you speak with for a referral if they say they cannot help you or even if you simply feel uncomfortable with how they communicated with you on the phone.

3. To find out the next steps.
Your initial phone consultation is an excellent time to get some advice about what the next steps to address your legal issue should be. The attorney you speak to might be able to tell you that you should meet in person and actually retain an attorney, that what you think is a legal matter would really be addressed more quickly by an accountant or that you need more information before an attorney could give you advise about your case.

4. To ask what kind of documentation you need to meet with a lawyer on your project.
Many attorneys will charge you for a full hour when you schedule your initial in office consult. Without properly being prepared you could face the fee of an hour’s time when in reality the attorney had to spend fifteen minutes telling you what documentation they would need because you do not have proof for your case, or information they would need to move forward. Our office regularly sends potential clients a checklist of documentation that they should prepare for an in-office consult but we only know what checklist to send them after a phone consult. A phone consultation is the perfect time to ask how best to prepare to make the most of an in office consultation.

5. To find out your options.
As we have discussed above legal cases and attorneys are not a one size fits all situation. A phone consult allows you to set your legal issue before an educated professional, who whether you decide to work with or not, has the education and experience to help you navigate the legal field and find out what options you have to address whatever particular issue you are facing. Whether that is to start collecting documentation to meet with an attorney, to move forward on a particular legal avenue, to meet with another professional such as an accountant or an attorney who deals with a specialized field, your initial fifteen minute phone call gives you a limited opportunity to have a professional help you go through your options.

If you have questions or want a to schedule a phone consultation, call Limitless Law PLLC at (360) 685-0145 or use the “Ask an Attorney” link on our website to contact us today!

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