When Is The Right Time To Hire A Lawyer And How To Find The Right One
Most of us go through life never thinking that we may need legal representation for whatever reason.
The thinking goes, so long as we are doing things lawfully and are responsible citizens, why should we ever need to hire a lawyer? Well, you don’t actually have to have done something egregious or landed yourself in a ton of hot water in order to begin the hunt for a lawyer.
There are many different situations for which you should seek out legal counsel, none of which have to be in the aftermath of horrifying ordeals.
If you’re in a tough situation, but not sure whether or not you need to hire a lawyer, then this article is for you. The following represents a bunch of life situations in which hiring lawyers may be necessary and beneficial to you.
Starting a Small Business
So, you are a budding entrepreneur and have the means to finally start your own small business. To establish an LLC, you would need to hire a lawyer in order to get the paperwork done for you. While there is a portion of the work you can probably complete on your own, you still need legal representation to help you draft different kinds of legally binding contracts, make sure you are compliant with the local code of ethics, and so on. If you are not necessarily interested in starting your own storefront but have a cool idea that you want to patent and copyright, then hiring an attorney to help protect your intellectual property is a smart move. Whatever the case may be, getting a lawyer to help iron out the kinks as you begin the exciting process of starting your own business is crucial for long-term success.
Getting Injured on the Job
If you break your wrist while at work or have had a loved one die in a hospital under what you feel were wrongful terms, then getting a lawyer to help defend your interests is important. As the team at the Weaver Law Firm will tell you, at the very least, receiving legal advice will help you understand your rights, and whether you can receive workers’ compensation, or can hold your employer liable for creating work conditions – intentionally or not – that caused harm. Only a lawyer can help with this issue, and it is smart to hire one since you will find yourself stuck with medical bills and other expenses to pay that you may not be able to afford as you recover.
Becoming a Citizen
You’ve come to the country legally, visited a few times, or perhaps you yourself are an American citizen who has recently married a foreigner. It used to be a bit easier to obtain a green card or apply for full citizenship just fifteen or twenty years ago. Now it’s pretty impossible without the extra help from a lawyer. Even if one of you is married to an American, the paperwork has become a lot more complicated, and you can be rejected or denied for an improper filing, which will cause you to have to refile and pay the fees twice. This could all be avoided by hiring an experienced immigration lawyer familiar with all the strange questions clients will be asked, and who can fill out the paperwork easily and in one fell swoop. The immigration process, and filing for an adjustment of status, are tricky and takes endless pages of complicated legal documents to get done. It’s better not to fall down the rabbit hole, and hire a lawyer right off the bat.
Car Accidents
Getting into a car accident is a nightmare, but it can happen to anyone. Even if you’ve gotten into an accident and are lucky enough to not be severely harmed, you probably still have damages to pay – or receive – and will be dealing with a lot of headaches from auto insurance companies, the local hospital as you try to pay the bills, and so on. The laws vary according to different states, but you most likely need to establish fault, and a lot of work goes into that process. Only a lawyer will help you make sense of the legal system, and it is prudent to hire one in order to avoid paying additional and unnecessary fees.
While you can probably peruse information online easily, and feel that you should be able to solve most of your problems on your own, you will most likely still need a lawyer’s help. Unless you’ve gone through the requisite legal training yourself, it’s hard to keep up with evolving regulations on the state and federal levels. Hiring an experienced lawyer is the best insurance you can offer to yourself or a loved one going through a rough patch, or embarking on something completely new.