While it is important to have an attorney that you can trust, it is equally important that he or she has extensive experience in the area of law for which you require their services. For example, you should you use an attorney with estate planning experience to draft your will, a divorce attorney to draft divorce papers and a trial lawyer to defend you in a criminal case. General practitioners are good for basic real estate transactions, or other non-complex matter, but their lack of detailed knowledge and experience in a given field can hurt your case.

Consider the Size of the Firm You’d Be Dealing With

There are advantages to hiring a lawyer from a small firm. In most cases, you receive personalized, prompt attention. In addition, the lawyer representing you will probably have a fairly large amount of time to dedicate to your case. This may not be the situation at large firms, where attorneys must often juggle numerous cases and may have many responsibilities to the firm and its partners that could draw their attention away from your needs.

Beware of Bar Association Referral Hotlines: The Bar Associations have lawyer referral services (in San Diego County, we have the San Diego County Bar Association Referral Service and North County San Diego County Bar Association Referral Service). Understand that lawyers have signed up and paid a fee to be listed in certain specialties with these referral services. Their names come up on a rotating basis. And also note that the bar association is not making any judgment about who is a good attorney and who is not. They are simply connecting a bar member in good standing with a prospective client.

Search for attorneys who are board certified specialists. Some states allow attorneys to become certified specialists in a particular area of law, such as trusts and estates. If professional certification is available in your state, the bar association will have information on it.

Before applying for certification, an attorney must have a certain number of years of experience practicing law in the area, usually at least five.
To become certified, an attorney must submit a number of professional references, take additional courses in that area of law, and pass a lengthy written exam.

Looking for a Estate planning attorney in Sacramento area ? The Law Offices of Brian D. Russ is a full-service law firm serving clients throughout the Sacramento region in estate planning and general litigation support. Brian earned a Master’s of Public Policy from the Panetta Institute for Public Policy at California State University Monterey Bay (go Otters!), a Bachelor of Arts from UC Davis (go Aggies!), and an Associate of Arts from Las Positas Community College (go Hawks!).

Brian has many published works, including:

Lobbyists Are People Too, and They Should Be Free to Contribute to Their Local Legislative Races
AB 1301: An Attempt to Eliminate Persistent Voter Discrimination
All Wrapped Up and Nowhere to Gogo: Wrap Contracts Meet the Wrapture
A Case for Indexing the Minimum Wage in California: An Analysis of Indexed Minimum Wage Policies in Santa Fe, NM and San Francisco, CA
The California State Assembly: Where the People Don’t Matter – On the Campaign Financing of Assembly Candidates and the Puzzling Lack of Public Outcry. Call or text me today to discuss your situation: (916) 750-5155. Or send me an email at brian@brianrusslaw.com.