Finding a good attorney to handle your child abuse or child neglect case can be daunting. Looking online there are a lot of resources looking to “help” you find an attorney. However you should know a lot of the legal directory sites are paid sites. Web-sites like Lawyers.com don’t simply list out all the lawyers in your area. They can actually be advertisements for lawyers. For a lawyer to be listed they may need to jump through hoops, or pay the site to be listed. And if lawyers want to have a link to their web-site, videos, etc then they typically have to pay even more. This applies to a lot of lawyer rating web-sites you will run across.
A relatively newcomer to the game is AVVO.com. Their site is a bit different in that they provide free listings and reviews for free. They charge for attorneys who want to advertise on the site (or be listed higher). This seems like a much more legit and ethical approach.
And doing Google searches is good, though that isn’t a perfect science either. In a lot of cases the “best” attorneys won’t be the first link you see. Getting high ranking on Google may be because they hired a good marketing firm, or they bought a good domain name and loaded their site with keywords.
Please don’t think this is all cynical. I am just sharing some insights on different approaches to finding an attorney. And don’t think all this about paying to be listed only applies to law firms. A lot of different professions are doing what they can to get their name out there – and rightfully so. Everyone uses the Internet to find what they are looking for and so the industry of listings has gotten only bigger.
So How Do I Find a Lawyer?
The best approach to finding an attorney is typically through referrals. Look out over your networks to find someone who may know the attorney you are seeking. This of course starts with friends and family, but could extend to school alumni email lists, church groups, etc. Then once you have some thoughts on who to reach out to research those people online to make sure they focus on the area of expertise you need. And give some credit to their online ratings though with a grain of salt. Lawyers who have 20 or more 5 star reviews may have stacked the deck. Your time will be well spent reading through the reviews and seeing if they actually sound legitimate. Plus make sure the reviews apply to what you need. If ever review says the person is the world’s best divorce attorney that’s great, unless you are dealing with a child neglect case.
The most important piece of advice though is talk with or meet with attorneys in person. Some will charge a consulting fee, though you should consider it an investment in what will likely be a long-term partnership.
If you are looking for a Los Angeles child abuse attorney we wish you the best of luck on your search. You probably have enough to deal with without having to worry about hiring the right person to fight for you.
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