We are experienced Illinois attorneys who have helped hundreds of thousands of people with their legal issues. If you’d like to speak with an attorney for free, you can contact us any time at 312-346-5320.
We started our legal guidance and lawyer referral service way back in 2001. A big motivation for it was seeing so many cases where clients hired the wrong attorney for their case. We saw divorce lawyers handling car accident cases because they thought they could make a quick buck. We saw inexperienced attorneys taking on traffic and criminal cases. Not every one of these scenarios went bad, but it was our belief that if we could get people with the right kind of attorney for their case, more cases would end up with clients getting the result they deserve.
In one of our first calls, we heard a question that we still get multiple times a week. It’s a variation of this:
I know I need a lawyer, but I don’t know which type I need. Can you help me figure that out?
The answer is yes and it’s one reason why we still exist almost 22 years later. We don’t know an attorney for every situation, but we can tell you what type you should be looking for and clarify what different practice areas actually mean.
The most common clarification we give is when people say that the need a civil attorney. What most don’t understand is that every lawsuit is a civil lawsuit, so by definition, pretty much every attorney who goes to court in non criminal cases is a civil lawyer.
What we advise people to do is find a lawyer who has handled many similar cases to what you are going through. If your spouse’s life insurance policy isn’t getting paid upon their death, you want an attorney who has handled those cases hundreds of times. If you are trying to get commissions from your old job, you need a labor lawyer with a real track record of success. If you want to sue your neighbor because they damaged your property, there are not lawyers who “specialize” in that, but plenty who do what we call general civil litigation.
The general civil litigation attorneys can handle all sorts of cases, but are usually best for odd litigation that doesn’t happen all of the time.
Our strength is that we constantly network and try to identify great lawyers who do a great job for their clients. That doesn’t guarantee you a result, but it does, in our opinion, increase your chances of success.
Some other advice we can give is not to hire the first attorney you can get on the phone, but really think if they are the best for your case. It’s worth waiting to get someone who really can show a winning history with similar situations to what you are going through.
The bottom line is that you shouldn’t try to guess who you should hire. We would be happy to help you figure out your choices and make an educated decision. Please contact us any time if you’d like to discuss your case in confidence.