A lawyer near me

When people need a lawyer, what do they do? In the old days, they opened the yellow pages and searched the listings until they found a local attorney with a nearby office. But when was the last time you saw the yellow pages? These days you may know a lawyer, and call them directly. You may even have them on speed dial. (If you do, please accept my condolences.) You may ask a family member or a friend to recommend a lawyer. But more and more people go to their computer or their smartphone and search for a lawyer.

But what do you ask? Most people ask Google or another search engine for “a lawyer near me.” That may be a good search if you have a hearing in front of a local magistrate or justice of the peace. But “a lawyer near me” may not be what you should look for. Why not?

First, lawyers concentrate on certain subjects of the law. The more a lawyer does something, the better that lawyer gets. The more a lawyer learns about a subject, the more effective and efficient that lawyer becomes. Often legal subjects don’t have geographic boundaries other than the state where the proceeding, claim or transaction occurs. The law that governs the subject matter is likely to be exactly the same no matter where you live. The lawyer with the most experience and skill in the legal subject that concerns you may not be “a lawyer near me.”

There’s a more important reason why you should not search for “a lawyer near me.” With advances in technology, it becomes less important for you to meet your lawyer face-to-face. In fact, the lawyer who has the most experience and skill to serve you may not need to ever meet you in person. The best lawyer for you may be across town, on the other side of the state, or on the other side of the planet. You can get all of your legal needs served by telephone, email, text message and internet.

Instead of searching for “a lawyer near me,” look for a lawyer who with specific experience in your subject matter. Then from those lawyers you find in your search, find out whether that lawyer has a client portal that allows you to communicate and access your case file 24/7. Find out whether that lawyer takes payments online, and if so, whether they add a credit card processing fee or whether they pay the fee themselves.

A third reason not to look for “a lawyer near me” is cost and convenience. If you can get a lawyer with more experience and skill who can serve you from the convenience of your own home, why travel to an office? Why take time out from your busy schedule to meet somewhere else? And why pay for the lawyer’s expensive monthly office rent? The quality of your legal service is not dependent on any of those factors. Make it easy on yourself and get better results by searching for a lawyer who concentrates on your legal subject matter.