How to find a good lawyer
By Jim Middlemiss • Bankrate.com

Everyone needs a good lawyer at some stage in his life. But finding the right one can be tricky. Lawyers are often called upon to deal with stressful events, whether it's filing for a divorce or selling a home.

When it comes to hiring a lawyer, there's usually something major at stake, so it's critical to find a person with whom you are comfortable and can trust. That is sometimes easier said than done, since there are more than 53,000 practising lawyers in Canada. So, where do you start? Read on to find out.

Word of mouth
"You should consider shopping around and interviewing a lawyer as you would if you were looking for quotes on landscaping," says Jasmine Sweatman, a lawyer at O'Connor MacLeod Hanna LLP in Oakville, Ont., who chairs the wills and estates section of the Ontario Bar Association, or OBA.

When it comes to finding a lawyer, gossip is good. The first thing you need to do is tap your professional network. If you already have an accountant, financial adviser or personal banker, they are good places to start. That's because those professionals often work closely together and can make good referrals.

Failing that, Sweatman suggests working your personal network, including friends, relatives and business associates, for recommendations.

Heather McGee, a family law lawyer at McGee & Fryer in Markham, Ont., and incoming president of the OBA, says that while directories like the Yellow Pages provide easy access to a list of names, they're not the most effective way to find a lawyer.

"I would really encourage people to ask around," she says. "The image a lawyer projects isn't necessarily what you're getting. You need to find out from a person who has dealt with that lawyer."

Lawyer-referral service
But that's only a start. The legal profession is provincially regulated and each province has its own law society, tasked with protecting the public interest. With the exception of New Brunswick and Nunavut, each province and territory has some type of lawyer-referral service that consumers can contact to obtain the name of a lawyer in their area who can tackle the problem at hand. (See lawyer referral services table.)

However, the referral systems require lawyers join them in order to get on the roster; they are not universal so not every qualified lawyer will be appear on the list.

Hiring criteria
When retaining a lawyer, the most important thing to look at is expertise or familiarity with the problem you have.

Sweatman adds that lawyers are like doctors in that many will specialize or confine their practices to certain types of legal problems. Common areas of specialization include: litigation, family law, wills and estates, real estate, taxation, corporate/commercial and employment law. You can contact your provincial law society to find lawyers with special designations.

Next, look for a good personal fit. "You need an opportunity to meet with the lawyer to make sure this is a lawyer who listens as much as talks," says McGee. "An important thing to ask is, 'Is this a person in whom I can place my trust?'" She says that comes before determining if the lawyer is a "warrior" in the courtroom and the right person to fight your battle.

Find out how the lawyer plans to tackle your problem. For example, she says, family law is a very emotional subject. How you approach a split between a couple can determine how they will get along for the rest of their lives, especially if children are involved. So, looking for a lawyer who uses mediation and collaborative-justice techniques can reduce conflict among parties, compared to going with someone who simply litigates from the get-go.

Be prepared
It's important to go to your first meeting with your lawyer fully prepared, so that you can explain what has happened. It's important to be forthright and disclose as much as possible. Lawyers are bound by solicitor-client privilege, which means they can't disclose what you tell them, except in the narrowest of circumstances.

Sweatman advises being clear about your service expectations, such as how often you want your lawyer to report to you. Ask yourself how involved you want to be. Some people like to be hands-off and operate on a need-to-know basis, while others demand to approve everything going out the door in advance.

Understanding fees
It's important that you understand how lawyers charge for their services. "The lawyer should be able to give a range or estimate of fees," says Malcolm Heins, treasurer of the Law Society of Ontario.

Some lawyers charge a set price for certain tasks, such as a home sale or a will, but most charge by the hour. You will also be expected to pay for disbursements, which are out-of-pocket costs for things like photocopying and filing fees.

McGee says the rate you pay depends on a number of factors, including experience of the lawyer and geography. Top lawyers in big cities can bill $300 or more to cover their staff and overhead, while lawyers in smaller centres might charge anywhere from $150 to $275, so it pays to shop around.

Under an hourly billing system, the more you call your lawyer about your problem and the more of her time you take, the more expensive your case becomes.

Sweatman says larger firms tend to be strict about billing for every hour spent on your case, while smaller firms are often more flexible. So, you might be able to negotiate a deal through which your lawyer completes the entire matter for a set fee or a sliding scale.

Signing a retainer
Once you agree to hire the lawyer, expect to sign a retainer agreement, which sets out the service the lawyer will provide and the rates and methods of billing. For example, you might be expected to provide some money upfront to cover costs in the initial stages and then be billed at stages throughout the matter.

Some lawyers also work on contingency fees, where they are paid a portion of the amount they manage to secure for you. Such fees range between 10 per cent and 30 per cent of the award, depending on the complexity of the case.

While fees are important, what's more important is the advice. "Quite often clients come in with a preconceived notion about what the law is. Sometimes the case just isn't there even though they believe it is," says Sweatman. "The lawyer's job is to provide options and recommendations. It's the client who makes the decisions."

Jim Middlemiss is a freelance writer and lawyer based in Toronto. He is a frequent contributor to the National Post, Investment Executive and Wall Street & Technology.