Sometimes bad things can happen to good people, and if it requires legal attention; the best person that can help you is the lawyer, for they are trained in handling this kind of circumstances, they can give you the best advice and assist you in your legal journey. Finding a good lawyer is hard. It is always a personal decision to choose, who you want to represent your case in the court? Who will give you the best advices, properly help you to win your case, and not just someone who wants to earn money, but doesn’t fully understand the case.
Law practice is a united profession in Singapore, once a practitioner passed the Singapore bar exam, he/she can either be Solicitor or a barrister. A solicitor is someone who gives advises, corporate and convincing work, while the barrister is someone who shows up in court, or the one who primarily litigation related in court. There are different types of lawyer depending to the case, most of the practicing lawyers specialized in one or two areas. Sometimes they act as a generalist due to the lack of economy on scale. They do all the aspects in legal work from convincing to civil ligation.
There are different things a lawyer can do for you like filing a bankruptcy, divorce, last will, file a law suit, and etc. If you have criminal charges, a lawyer can help you understand your case, your rights, can give you advice on what’s the best thing to do, can determine the strength and the weakness of the case filed against you. They know to win the case. In some situation that requires urgent legal attention, failing to contact a lawyer can worsen the scenario.
Here are some helpful tips in finding the right lawyer:
· Research
Before choosing a lawyer, I would recommend you to do a research first. You can use Google in researching, but always remember some of the things written in Google or any search engines are not true. It is best to know the background of the lawyer, the cases that the lawyer wins in court, and how they handle their past clients. You can always ask your family, friends, and relatives if they can recommend a good lawyer.
· Experience
Not all the lawyers in Singapore has a lot of experience when it comes to handling different types of cases. It is best for you to choose the lawyer with 3 or 5 years’ experience not because you do not trust the new lawyers, but those who have more experience have better understanding in all legal procedures. They have more knowledge and skills in how to act in court so that they can win the case for their clients. Choosing a lawyer with 5 years’ experience can also avoid you for having unreliable lawyers. The longer the experience the higher the success rate of the lawyer.
· Lawyer’s Honesty
It is important to have an honest lawyer, who won’t compromise anything that isn’t true. The lawyer should always tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear from the case. He should give you his honest assessment in the case, should not give you false hope, should not give you fake feedback for the sake of earning money.
· Check if they are offering free consultation
There’s a lot of lawyers in Singapore who are giving free consultation for their new clients. While you are in the process of choosing the best lawyer, it is best to organize and collect several of these consultations from different lawyers in order for you to do you think the best lawyer that can help you. In that way you can also compare their legal knowledge.
· Make sure that they are registered lawyers
In Singapore, only registered lawyers are allowed to practice law. The lawyer that you should hire should be licensed in Singapore authority. And you don’t want to have a lawyer that is not registered? Are you going to let un registered lawyer handle your case? Are you going to believe in the advices that the unregistered lawyer will give you? No! So before choosing the lawyer you should check if they are registered lawyers. You can go to the Singapore association of lawyer’s website to get the list of registered lawyers.
· Identify what kind of lawyer you need
Different case needs different types of lawyers. If you want to file a divorce you need to consult to a lawyer that is specialized in this area. If you are corporation who needs extreme help you might want to check out the legal 500rankings in Singapore for the list of senior counsels. Always remember that do not get a lawyer that is not related to your case, or to the legal assistance that you need. You will just waste your time, effort and money. Worst you will lose the case.
· How much is the lawyer’s fee?
You might want to know how much is the lawyer’s fee before agreeing to their terms. Lawyers charge their client differently depending to the status of the case. It is okay to ask if they are offering a discount. Some of the lawyers have their rates and quotation ready for their new clients. Always remember that the most expensive lawyer doesn’t mean it has the best services, and cheap lawyers doesn’t mean that they can’t win the case. A typical lawyer in Singapore will explain you his/her fees.
· Reputation and the success rate.
It’s always better to have a lawyer with good reputation. You can always ask his/her former client, friends, relatives or someone who knows the attorney better for you to know their reputation. The better reputation, the better legal services they offer.
Conclusion:
Having problems that requires legal attention is a serious matter and should be taken well of. It is best that you have your understanding in the problem for you to know what is the best thing to do. Seeking legal assistant can fully help you, so you better chose who do you think is the best. Choosing the best lawyer is hard, but it’s harder when you know nothing about legal stuff and there is no one to help you. Follow the useful tips provided above, and check the personality of the lawyer. Sometimes having legal problems can cause stress, depression and will make you worry more. The support of your family, relatives and friends can be a great help too.