If you need an attorney for a civil litigation case, you probably have expectations that seem reasonable to you. You’re hiring an attorney because legal expertise is needed so that attorney works for you. While that’s true, legal representation isn’t the same as hiring the neighborhood teen to mow your lawn where you can look out your window every sixty seconds if you desire to see how things are progressing.
If the teen doesn’t mow your lawn exactly how you like it, you can ask them to take another crack at it. You also control exactly how short you want your lawn and how much time it will take to get it mowed. You can also have a conversation with the teen at any time during the mowing process as everything is according to your schedule. But that’s not the process when you’re working with an attorney.
If the teen doesn’t mow your lawn exactly how you like it, you can ask them to take another crack at it. You also control exactly how short you want your lawn and how much time it will take to get it mowed. You can also have a conversation with the teen at any time during the mowing process as everything is according to your schedule. But that’s not the process when you’re working with an attorney.
The attorney will need proof to back up your claims. Whereas you don’t need to prove that your lawn needs to be mowed, an attorney can’t just take your word for it that you have been wronged. Evidence must be submitted to the court that proves your case. So you will need to gather paperwork and submit it to your attorney. This will likely be an ongoing process.
Though you are the client, you can’t necessarily call all the shots. While you can ask for certain things, there will be many times when the attorney will have to say no. For instance, while you might wish for your attorney to talk to every member of your family that knows about your situation, oftentimes, that’s not a reasonable use of their time nor will it benefit your case. This is where you need to trust that your attorney knows more about how to prepare your case than you do.
Understand your attorney’s schedule. While your case is important, it’s virtually impossible for an attorney to be available to speak with you or meet with you if you call or show up unexpectedly. An attorney keeps a fairly tight schedule so it’s always best to call for an appointment rather than running the risk of showing up and being turned away.
Though you are the client, you can’t necessarily call all the shots. While you can ask for certain things, there will be many times when the attorney will have to say no. For instance, while you might wish for your attorney to talk to every member of your family that knows about your situation, oftentimes, that’s not a reasonable use of their time nor will it benefit your case. This is where you need to trust that your attorney knows more about how to prepare your case than you do.
Understand your attorney’s schedule. While your case is important, it’s virtually impossible for an attorney to be available to speak with you or meet with you if you call or show up unexpectedly. An attorney keeps a fairly tight schedule so it’s always best to call for an appointment rather than running the risk of showing up and being turned away.
Your attorney cannot make any guarantees about how your case will be resolved. You feel you have been wronged so it’s understandable that you want justice or your day in court, so to speak. You’ve seen a television ad that said this attorney settled one client’s case for half a million dollars, and that’s what you want. And while your attorney would love to make that happen for you, it’s not something that can be guaranteed. So when you’re looking to hire an attorney, don’t expect the same results that anyone else has received.
Expect to wait. After a lawsuit is filed, there may be long stretches of time when you hear nothing from your attorney’s office, and that’s because civil litigation takes a long time. Your attorney or the paralegal isn’t going to call you every week just to tell you there’s nothing to tell you. If you do decide to call or email because you must know what’s going on, you should understand that the answer to that might very well be there’s nothing to tell. Does that mean that nothing is happening? It means your case is still pending in court. It means there are hundreds of other cases that are ahead of yours because those cases were filed first. It means it takes time for your case to go to trial.
An attorney cannot speed up the legal process. Waiting will, at times, be frustrating, but your case will have to take its turn through the court system. It will churn along the same path as other cases, and there is nothing your attorney can do to make sure your case goes to court before you go on vacation or gets wrapped up by the time you get back from vacation.
So if you are in the position of needing an attorney, you should understand that a lawyer knows what is needed to present your case in court. You should feel comfortable with the one you hire and be able to trust the expertise behind the lawyer because a lawsuit may take a lengthy amount of time, and it could test the limits of your patience. But sometimes, a lawsuit is the only way to right a wrong that has been done to you.
Expect to wait. After a lawsuit is filed, there may be long stretches of time when you hear nothing from your attorney’s office, and that’s because civil litigation takes a long time. Your attorney or the paralegal isn’t going to call you every week just to tell you there’s nothing to tell you. If you do decide to call or email because you must know what’s going on, you should understand that the answer to that might very well be there’s nothing to tell. Does that mean that nothing is happening? It means your case is still pending in court. It means there are hundreds of other cases that are ahead of yours because those cases were filed first. It means it takes time for your case to go to trial.
An attorney cannot speed up the legal process. Waiting will, at times, be frustrating, but your case will have to take its turn through the court system. It will churn along the same path as other cases, and there is nothing your attorney can do to make sure your case goes to court before you go on vacation or gets wrapped up by the time you get back from vacation.
So if you are in the position of needing an attorney, you should understand that a lawyer knows what is needed to present your case in court. You should feel comfortable with the one you hire and be able to trust the expertise behind the lawyer because a lawsuit may take a lengthy amount of time, and it could test the limits of your patience. But sometimes, a lawsuit is the only way to right a wrong that has been done to you.
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