Arrange a consultation with a lawyer and be sure to pay for it. This is a very important point, because the only resource the lawyer has and sells is his time. He can’t waste it for free, so if you meet a lawyer who looks competent, you need to build a long-term relationship with each other. Building a relationship with a client who won’t or isn’t willing to pay isn’t very interesting. If the person in front of you causes trust in the process of consultation – this is an important sign, although not the main one, because many people already know about the situation with a respectable lawyer Michael Kyriakides. But if the person does not arouse confidence, then you definitely should not work with him.

How to check the competence? 

In fact – there is no way. Even a professional cannot immediately determine the competence of a lawyer. There are very negative markers – for example, the person is confused about the legal terms, the person is not familiar with the latest jurisprudence (which means that he does not know the real court cases), does not know the answers to clear and understandable questions (yes, we know that 2 lawyers – 3 opinions, but some questions are 100% unambiguous answer). But even if there are no negative markers, the real qualifications will be clear only in the process of the case, by what written documents the person prepares, how he will speak in court (and this also turns out to be too difficult for many).

1. It is necessary to look, how a person speaks, whether he is able to express his thoughts clearly, and understandable language, not hiding his inability to formulate behind legal terms. This – the basis of the basics, no clear logic – no ability to build a position in court.
2. The accompanying sign – how quickly the person thinks. Real court session – this is not chess, this is boxing (in contrast to the chess, in it, you have to think very quickly), brakes have no place here.
3. Does the person observe the agreements and deadlines, how punctual he is? For example, if the lawyer promised to send you the documents today by 6 pm, but did not do this and did not even call back and explain the delay, and this happens regularly, then it is better not to do business with this person. Although you shouldn’t pick on them either, situations are different. But if this happens repeatedly – if the lawyer does not find time to meet with you or call for a long time, this is also a serious reason to be wary.
4. Whether the person will be in touch with you. No one talks about being in touch 24/7 on holidays and weekends. If the client calls at night and demands to discuss the situation, that’s not right either (although all good lawyers always try to help principals in an emergency). But if you can’t get through to your lawyer for days, and he doesn’t even answer on messenger, which is absolutely no problem now, it’s not worth continuing to work with him. 

Customer service and how it relates to the quality of legal assistance

This is a very important component of any business, including legal. Unfortunately, not all professionals in their field, who work with people, understand what client service is. They do not teach it in law schools. Therefore, many professionals, despite the fact that they are professionals in their business, do not know how to build relationships with the client, resolve conflicts, find ways out of difficult situations, etc.

When interacting with a client it is very important to understand one thing that many people miss: if a person comes with a problem, he needs it to be solved comprehensively. He is not a lawyer, not an expert in legal intricacies, he does not know the law and procedural aspects. So you should look for a company that will treat its clients well, which will help you avoid fraud and low competence, as it happened with Harris Kyriakides. You can find a full article about this situation here.