Just because you find yourself in the middle of a legal matter just not necessarily mean that you need legal representation or an attorney. If you are trying to fight a speed ticket or are having to go to small claims court, you can represent yourself. However, there are many other reasons why you would need to find an attorney. You can get information on lawyers or help finding a good attorney online or at local law firms. Here are some situations which show when to get an attorney.
- If you don’t understand the law.
While you may not necessarily need legal representation, there are times when legal advice could do you good. IF you are having trouble understanding the law regarding your particular situation, then there is no reason why you shouldn’t find a good attorney to give you legal advice. The law can be fairly complicated. For example, if you are going to be starting a business or merging with another one, you could hire a lawyer to look over the contracts and make sure everything is in order. - If a lawyer could make the difference.
If you are facing a criminal case, a lawyer could be the difference between spending time locked up or not. A civil case could mean that you are going to have to shell out financially but having a lawyer could lower that amount. Of course you will have to pay the lawyer but some lawyers will not collect until they have won you the case and then they will take a percentage of your settlement. - If something needs to be challenged.
If you are not a lawyer, then you probably do not know how to effectively challenge a piece of evidence or something. Legal representation will know if something was illegally obtained and could be thrown out in court, no matter how incriminating it is. They will recognize when a lab improperly handles the evidence. Lawyers look into these kinds of things even outside the courtroom when can end up being very helpful to you. - If you need to file court documents.
One of the best things about having a lawyer is that they can cut down on a lot of time. If you need to file court documents or other legal papers, then legal representation can not only comb through and make sure it is all in order, but they know the channels in which to get things expedited. You will likely not have to wait as long for an answer if you can get a lawyer to file your papers for you. - If you need witnesses or private detectives.
Attorneys have a lot of great connections when it comes to reaching professionals to help with cases. They actually depend a lot on their network of resources to help them. Most people who are not attorneys or have any connection to the law do have access to these type of professionals. - If you aren’t sure how you should please.
Or maybe you don’t even know what it means to ‘plead.’ You are not obligated to please guilty, even if evidence points to you. Having an attorney that can understand what the best option is and can explain things to you will be very helpful in avoiding the worst case scenario for you. - If you need to accept or reject a settlement.
It’s important for the lawyer that you hire to have experience in the field of your situation because they will be able to figure out if you will be able to get a better settlement if you go to court or if you should accept what you have been offered. It’s hard to know if you should take the risk or not, but a good lawyer can help you decide. - If you need a consultation.
Many lawyers will provide a free consultation in order to let you know if you need a lawyer or not depending on your current situation. This will be a face to face sit down in which you will explain what is going on and the lawyer can let you know if you have a case or not. This will help you to determine if you should hire a lawyer. There’s no harm in meeting with a lawyer seeing as it’s a free consultation.
