Where does the legal consumer go to look for a lawyer?
I have practiced Law for 18 years. I have clients fill out an intake sheet and on that sheet it asks how they were referred. I have 4 inch notebooks filled with these questionnaires dating back to 2003. This was right before the Hurricanes hit Southwest Florida. Incidentally, yesterday was the first day of Hurricane season. Channel 7 news has a marvelous information center on hurricane preparedness.
Back then, most people looked in the yellow pages. There was Verizon, At and T, Yellow Book and so on. Lawyers paid a lot of money for those ads and it was competitive. Getting on the cover of a Phone Book was a big deal. Now, the legal consumer goes on-line and does research. They look at the Court web sites, case-law, reviews, etc. In my experience, clients now come to me informed, where in the past, they did not have access to any knowledge regarding filing a Bankruptcy.
I recommend legal consumers consult with three attorneys if they have time. I used to tell them, “You probably spend more time shopping for shoes then you do a lawyer” and they would nod their head yes and laugh. Not so today.
I find they compare attorneys on-line, look up credentials, backgrounds, experience, cases they have handled and client’s opinions of their experience.
The nice thing is I can do a free consultation, analyze their situation, where they are heading, strategies, options and direct the client where to go for more information. And guess what? They will! They will take the time to look at the websites and videos I gave them and they will absorb this additional knowledge on top of what I shared with them. Often times, they will call me with questions based on what they learned on their own after our consult.