-Partners in Practice -

It's a little like having to go to the dentist. No one really wants to, but sooner or later, it can become something of a necessity; usually, for reasons better dealt with sooner than later.

Finding a good attorney can be problematic, much more so than finding a good dentist. For one thing, an attorney can be of real help to you only if he or she has a fairly detailed understanding of what it is you are all about. Few do. For another, the most valuable service your attorney can provide may require an approach that runs counter to professional attitudes and behavior instilled in the earliest days in law school. So deeply ingrained are the attractions of legal combat that it takes a rare personality to accommodate your primary concern with staying out of trouble in the first place (as opposed, say, to getting out of trouble after the fact). Fortunately, there are some attorneys who will fight if they must, but who would prefer to help you avoid conflict if they can.

Clearly, some of the basic business problems encountered in professional practice can best be addressed with the help of counsel. Partnership agreements and transition of ownership are examples, and there are attorneys who specialize in these matters. But, your principal need for legal support on a continuing basis centers around the serious professional liability exposures you face almost daily; exposures which tend to arise out of incautious contracting practices, actions that have the unintended effect of changing the nature of your agreements, mismanagement of conflicts in their early stages, and ill-conceived strategies for collecting overdue fees.

In each of these areas a good attorney can be of real help. In each, you can seek help early, or you can wait until you have a problem so serious the only possible outcomes are "bad" and "worse." The point is, if you are able to maintain an ongoing relationship with an attorney you respect and have confidence in, you can get advice when you need it-without being paralyzed by uncertainty about who the right attorney might be, how high the fees, what is and is not reasonable to ask, or when it might be appropriate to call upon his or her services.

Not every dentist can put braces on your children's teeth; not every attorney can deal with the problems you are likely to find yourself faced with in your professional practice. Knowing this, it would seem to make sense to spend a certain amount of time in finding an attorney capable of responding effectively to your needs. Here are some of the characteristics you may want to look for in making your choice:

1. An understanding of you and your practice. Your attorney needs to know what you do every day, how you go about your work, what your motivations are, where the crises tend to arise and why. He or she also needs to have a sound working knowledge of professional liability and an understanding of the legal issues you typically encounter in your contracts and on the job.

2. Technical knowledge. A good attorney will be able to deal with the technical aspects of your work without needing a formal education at your expense. He or she should be as comfortable with architectural and engineering jargon as with the jargon of the legal profession...and able to translate easily from both into plain English.

3. Ameliorative approach. You need to be satisfied your attorney understands that litigation is a prohibitively expensive way to resolve disputes. The assistance you will most often require lies in resolving problems, without arousing animosity, not in exacerbating them through the pursuit of adversarial actions designed for nothing quite so much as a showdown in a court of law.

4. Effective negotiator. Your attorney's skills may be needed to help you extract yourself from conflict or persuade your client and his or her attorney that a particular course of action is reasonable. Attorneys who can guide difficult situations to a successful conclusion can be worth far more than the not insubstantial fees you will be asked to pay for their services.

5. Reliable judgment. In order to maintain a sound relationship with an attorney, you have to have confidence in the fact that he or she will consistently make decisions and recommendations that serve your best interests. If you find yourself uneasy with the advice you are getting, it may be a signal you are dealing with the wrong attorney.

6. Personal attention. You want to work with an experienced professional, not a law factory. It is not at all helpful to you if the problems you face are shuffled to a junior associate whose understanding of your needs is no deeper than a reading of an AIA or an NSPE/ACEC/ASCE standard contract form. The training of young attorneys is important to most law firms, but it is not important enough to you that you should have to bear the cost.

Once you have a basic understanding of what you are looking for, how do you start your search? Finding a good attorney is not so very different from finding a good architect or engineer. Perhaps the best place to begin is with your friends-other professionals whose judgment you trust and who may already have resolved the problem. You might also ask insurance brokers who specialize in working with architects and engineers whether they know attorneys they would feel comfortable in recommending. You might even ask another attorney.

After you are satisfied you have a reasonable and manageable list of potential candidates, set up interview meetings. Go in prepared to ask questions of concern to you. Inquire about qualifications and references. Raise the issue of fees, and ask how you might work together in such a way as to hold your costs within tolerable limits. Find out how much or how little is known about your profession and the way you work (and fill in the gaps if it seems appropriate).

Finally, try to learn something about the professional interests of the attorneys you talk to-how they work, what they like to do best, how they view the law as it affects you and the problems you typically face. Their responses can tell you a great deal about how they are likely to approach those problems on your behalf.

By the time you are finished with your interviews, you should feel comfortable in making a selection. If you do not, keep looking. When you finally succeed, start with a small task, and work from there. Remember, building client trust and confidence is no less a challenge for your attorney than it is for you.

For inquiries or problems please contact us via e-mail at Earleen Thomas or call us directly at 800-705-7742.
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