Having the right lawyer can save you time and stress. An attorney can do all the necessary research and paperwork for you, making your legal case much smoother.
A lawyer is a client representative, an officer of the legal system, and a public citizen with a special responsibility for the quality of justice. He or she must zealously advocate for clients’ legitimate interests and abide by ethical standards. Contact Ask The Law Doc – Gershon Willoughby & Getz now!
Representing clients in court includes:
- Defending them against criminal charges.
- Pursuing civil claims.
- Protecting their rights during trials and hearings.
Lawyers may also negotiate settlements to resolve legal disputes outside of the courtroom. In addition, lawyers prepare and file court documents, conduct research, and present arguments supporting their client’s positions. They may also question witnesses, examine evidence, and submit testimony.
The duties of a lawyer are prescribed in various laws, including the Rules of Professional Conduct, substantive and procedural law, and common law. Many of the Rules are imperatives, cast in the form of “shall,” “shall not,” or “shall not not.” However, a lawyer also has the discretion to exercise professional judgment guided by personal conscience and the approbation of his peers.
A lawyer’s representation of a client should be competent, prompt, and diligent. He should keep communication with the client about the matter in confidence and not disclose information relating to the representation except as required or permitted by the Rules of Professional Conduct or other laws.
Lawyers must not allow their financial interests to adversely affect their representation of a client. For example, a lawyer may not discuss his own financial situation with a client, which could impair the lawyer’s ability to give objective advice. Similarly, a lawyer must not allow his own business interests to conflict with those of his client by engaging in activities such as lending money to clients.
Nonprofit organizations rely on the services of lawyers to assist them with issues related to governance, tax-exempt status, fundraising and charitable activities. Lawyers who specialize in this area of practice often work for law firms, as staff attorneys for the federal government or as solo practitioners.
Whether it is a case concerning divorce, a car accident, or a lawsuit against a former employer, a lawyer must be prepared to present a convincing and coherent argument in a court of law. In general, a lawyer must be well educated and well-versed in the law and in the current legal practices of his field. This knowledge will help him to represent his client effectively in court.
Preparation of Documents
When creating legal documents, it is important to use specific language that is easily understood. This can include avoiding legal terms that have been used as shorthand and are rooted in Latin, which are often jokingly referred to as “legalese.” A certain amount of legalese is necessary, but the use of excessive phrases such as “to wit,” “heretofore” and “hereinafter,” can make a document difficult for the average person to read.
It is also helpful to look for sample documents on the internet of the type of pleading, motion or other legal document you are trying to create. This can help to give you an idea of what should be included in your document, and will help to ensure that your document will accomplish the goals that you intend it to.
Once you have a good idea of what you want your document to accomplish, it is time to begin writing. Be sure to write a draft of your document and carefully check it to be certain that it states clearly what you intend it to state. A lot of litigation centers around ambiguity in a particular legal document, so it is always worth taking the extra time to make sure that your document is clear and that everyone reading it understands what you mean.
Formatting is another important aspect of preparing legal documents. The courts in any jurisdiction may have formatting rules (including typeface, margins, and order of sections) that you need to follow when drafting a document to be filed with the court. Having the document neatly formatted can help to make it easier for a reader to digest and understand the information in the document, particularly for longer or more complicated legal documents.
The drafting of legal documents is an essential part of the job of a lawyer. There are many services that offer software for drafting standard legal documents, but these programs usually fail to deliver the specialized product that an attorney can provide. Using such services can save money on legal fees, but they do not replace the need for an attorney to prepare documents that are unique or complex.
Negotiation with Opponents
An attorney’s primary job in a negotiation is to get a favorable settlement for his client. To achieve this goal, the attorney must bargain in good faith and be prepared to go to trial if necessary. Unfortunately, sometimes your opponent will employ hard tactics that threaten to deadlock the negotiation and make it impossible for you to reach a settlement. These hard tactics include threats, ultimatums, unreasonable offers and stalling. In some cases, your opponent may need to reopen negotiations because of a mathematical error in arriving at an offer, he or she may have discovered new information that alters the premises on which an agreement was made or because of a misunderstanding of an earlier point in the discussion.
A good lawyer will be able to use timing and research to his or her advantage. For example, if your opponent knows that your industry experiences a peak season at certain times of the year, your attorney can use this knowledge to negotiate a more advantageous deal. A good lawyer will also know to bring reliable statistics to a negotiation and will be ready to pull them out at key moments to support his or her argument.
One way to improve the quality of a negotiated settlement is to discuss in advance what issues you would like to raise and the order in which you would like to talk about them. This is called agenda negotiation. However, some attorneys feel that this process leads to unnecessary disputes and inflexible positions. Moreover, these attorneys argue that their opponents always ignore the agreed-upon agenda, and they never stick to their own plans anyway.
An unreasonable first offer is counterproductive, because it tells your opponent that you are not bargaining in good faith or that you have reached an overly optimistic estimate of the value of the case. An extreme demand that far exceeds your own reasonable settlement value is also likely to lead to a breakdown in the negotiations. In either case, it is wise to reject these demands. The best way to handle an unreasonable first offer is to respond with a comprehensive counteroffer that encompasses all of the contested points in the case.
Flat Fees
Flat fees are an alternative fee arrangement that offers clients cost certainty and law firms profit protection. However, a flat fee structure is not right for every legal matter. It is typically not offered in court cases or in personal injury cases, for example, as they often contain too many variables to provide an accurate flat rate quote.
Unlike hourly billing, which is known to lead to lawyer burnout and encourages lawyers to pad their time to meet firm-set minimum billable hours requirements, flat fees remove the incentive to work unnecessary hours or to overbill. Additionally, it allows attorneys to reduce the administrative work of tracking time and preparing invoice narratives by simply providing a single up-front payment for the full amount of services rendered. This alleviates a significant source of tension between attorney and client that is often a result of miscommunication about the nature of the legal work being performed.
Offering a flat fee structure also provides the opportunity to distinguish your firm from your competitors. The ability to provide a clear and understandable upfront price for legal services can make your firm stand out to prospective clients. This is especially true when the flat fee is competitive with what other law firms are charging for the same services.
While the use of flat fees is growing, it is important to remember that these arrangements do not completely eliminate the need for attorneys to track their time or to prepare detailed invoices for their clients. In addition, there are certain matters that are not suitable for a flat fee approach, such as drafting a complicated will or a business plan.
The best way to ensure that you are setting fair and effective flat fees is to create a law practice management system that records how much time each type of legal task or case has historically taken your firm. This will allow you to accurately estimate how long future tasks and cases might take, so that you can avoid pricing mistakes and maximize your profitability. Using a software solution with built-in collaboration can help to streamline the process of hashing out pricing initiatives with colleagues and even includes features that can automatically suggest price changes based on new information or attorney experience.