You need to see an attorney and finally have made your appointment for a consultation. Perhaps you are feeling stress about your legal problem which is compounded by the uncertainty of seeing an attorney. Most people do not deal with attorneys often, and this can cause uncertainty and stress.
Here are some suggestions to make your first legal consultation successful and to maximize the benefits of the consultation.
1. Try to gather the names of all the people involved in your issue. Include people on your side, such as witnesses. Also include the name(s) of the people or companies which are adverse to you – the ones you are having a problem with. This will assist the attorney in running a “conflict check” to make sure that the attorney’s firm is not currently representing the other parties. This can also help to make sure that the attorney’s prior engagements will not be at odds with your legal objectives.
2. Write down all the key dates in your matter and what happened on those dates. For example, the date you were served with a lawsuit, the date that the disagreement arose, and the.
3. Some people think that it is a good idea to write up narrative to give to the attorney during the consultation. While a detailed narrative may be helpful later, it might not be the best idea for an initial consultation. It is more efficient to have focused bullet points to go over, which provides time for the attorney to interact and ask questions that may not have been anticipated by the your. The only way to get good guidance with your matter is to give the attorney the most information that is needed to assist you.
4. If you have documents, try to get them organized, perhaps in chronological order. For example, if you have emails that you feel important to your matter, try to arrange them in the order they were sent or received and underline critical passages. It is also helpful to separate documents into categories, such as court documents, emails, letters received, etc., for easy location during your consultation.
5. Most importantly, relax. The attorney is there to help you and hopefully end the legal problem which has been bothering you.
These tips will all help your legal consultation go much more smoothly and help you get to the solution you need as cost effectively as possible.