One of the biggest reasons people are hesitant to hire a lawyer in Illinois is that they “aren’t the suing type.”  It’s almost as if people feel that they need to apologize for calling a law firm to seek help.

I’m not sure what the suing type is.  I suppose my callers are thinking of others who they think will sue anyone for any reason.  I suppose those people are out there, but I hardly ever see them and I’ve talked to more than 200,000 people in 11 years of running our Illinois lawyer referral service.

I’m certainly not the suing type.  I once had to sue a landlord to get my security deposit back, but that was in the 1990’s.  I did file a lawsuit in 2004 against the guy that sold me my Evanston house without disclosing that any time it rained sewage would seep in to the basement.  Other than that I’ve been lawsuit free for eight years.

So I don’t look for trouble, but when I’m wronged and can’t work things out on my own, like anyone else I have to decide if going to court is worth it.

I would assume the suing type will sue anyone, any time.  That’s not a good long term strategy because if you do ever have a legitimate case, your credibility would be hurt because you are so litigious.

If you’ve been wronged, you just need to figure out if getting a lawyer is worth it to you.  But never feel the need to apologize.  When you are seeking legal help for the right reasons you are doing exactly what you should do.