Seeking out a long term disability attorney can feel like a lot of work suddenly. Who do you know who to trust? Who is going to get the job done for you? Who knows their stuff? Who will work hard until you get what you need? These are all important questions to ask yourself before beginning the search of how to find a great long term disability attorney. These 7 steps will help you find the perfect one!
Ask friends or family members
The first thing that you can do is ask friends or family members if they have used a long term disability attorney in the area before. If they have not, it’s still not a bad idea to ask them because they may know someone that has and they can ask them for you. Even if the attorney they are talking about was bad, then you know which attorney to stay away from. This quick question is never a bad idea!
Look at your options
When you know all of your options then you can start looking into them. That is why the second step is to look at the different options in your area. Make a list consisting of any attorneys that you heard about from a friend or family and then look up other long term disability attorneys online. Add them all to a list and leave some room so that you can take notes to say what you’re liking or not liking about each long term disability attorney.
Read reviews
Reviews are one of the best ways to quickly find information about a great long term disability attorney. It is as if you are talking to friends or family members and asking for their opinion without actually needing to know it. That means that you can read reviews of different people and find out their honest experience with each company. If it’s a new company you may not find many reviews, but keep that into consideration. If the company has been around for a while
Find out the cost
Of course, you want to have a great long term disability attorney but you also don’t want to pay an arm and a leg for it. Make sure that you find out the cost right away. Some attornies you don’t pay as much if they win the case. Some don’t need to be paid right away. Others have a set hourly fee. It’s important to find out if there are any hidden fees and why their estimate of how much it will cost could ever differ. This will allow you to properly compare. Remember that the most expensive may not truly be the best long term disability attorney. With that said, the cheapest may not actually be the worst. That is why it’s so important to do your research in other areas too but also to keep the price in mind.
Find out their availability
Is the attorney even available? If they are, ask how many clients they currently have. They may say they are available because they are looking for more money but don’t actually have the time to spend it with you. This is why you want to ask specific questions such as how many clients they are currently working with and how many they take on when they are full. If they are empty, it may not always be a good thing too. Although they will have more time to dedicate to you, why are there more people that want to work with them? These are questions that you want to learn and are a top priority.
Ask them additional questions during a consultation
There are many other questions that you want answers to. Some of those are perfect to ask right away on the phone and take notes on. Here are some examples of questions that you will want to ask.
How long have you been in business?
Where did you go to school? This will ensure they are a credible attorney.
What tasks will you do and what will your assistant do? This will allow you to know what the delegate out and what is done by a professional attorney.
How long will it take? This is so important. You probably have a deadline that you want to get to.
What will the process be? Understanding what they will do will help you understand the entire process better.
What happens if I lose? It’s important still to prepare for the worst and understand this process too.
What hours do you work? Can you contact them on weekends or at night? Make sure that you ask so that you have realistic expectations.
How much am I involved? Do you want to be involved? If not, let them know!
Do you offer free consultations? A free consultation can allow you to ask more questions and get an overall feel for the attorney.
How often would we get together? Again, if you don’t want to be involved make sure that you let them know.
Make your final decision
It’s time to make your final decision! Look at your list. Make sure that you don’t feel pressured when you are asking the questions to choose anyone right away. You want to be able to ask those questions to a couple of different disability attorneys so that you can get a sense of what will be best for you. Remember to go with your gut and make your final decision!
A great long term disability attorney may not happen right away. You will have to complete these 7 steps in order to find one. It is important that you do some background work before hiring your long term disability attorney so that you can feel confident with your decision and know that you are not simply choosing the first name you see on Google. These 7 steps are key to success!
