I frequently tell people it’s time to hire an attorney. For instance, I got an email from someone yesterday, who believes he’s been illegally terminated from the Philly school district. His assigned union rep is best buddies with the principal who fired him. There isn’t a blooming thing I can do from Switzerland about about that. That’s the type of thing you need a lawyer for. Me saying, “Gee, that sounds unfair!” won’t cut it. (And, given the level of corruption in Philadelphia, finding a trustworthy lawyer might be a bit difficult. If you are such a person, willing to battle this, let me know and I’ll give my reader your info.)
Anyway, sometimes you need a lawyer, whether it’s something simple like help with severance negotiation (which can sometimes be complex, but often is simple), or something complex like a sexual harassment case. But, contacting a lawyer can be a little scary. You don’t know what to expect. You may never have needed the services of an attorney before. Fortunately, Christopher McKinney, a Texas Employment lawyer, just wrote two posts about hiring an employment lawyer. If you need an employment lawyer now or might need one in the future, read this. Regardless, bookmark his posts for the future, when you just might need an attorney.
1. How to Hire An Employment Lawyer. This tells you what to look for, that you’ll have to pay, and all about the questionnaire you’ll have to fill out.
2. Preparing for Your Initial Consultation With An Employment Lawyer. He’ll tell you what to bring and what to leave home and even how to dress. (Yes, it matters).
Seriously, read these articles. Embrace these. They will help you if you ever need an employment lawyer. It will save you time and money if you know what you need to do going in. Also, you can find an employment attorney at NELA.org. If there are other employee side employment attorney organizations, I’m happy to add them to this post.
Update: Daniel Schwartz has written an article for business owners/managers about when they should call an employment attorney. Read it here:
Three Times When You Should Call an Employment Lawyer
The second link appears to be broken.
Fixed. Thanks! You’d think I’d stop making these mistakes.
The American Bar Association has an attorney referral service. More information here: http://apps.americanbar.org/legalservices/lris/directory/
I haven’t called for employment issues, but they’ve been very helpful with immigration and family law needs.
Thanks, Kate!
You are right that things in the Philly school district are really messy these days. I think these references are a great idea.
I agree that sometimes hiring a lawyer is in your best interest. If something seems to be unfair or just seems to be out of the ordinary, then I might want to hire a lawyer. Don’t think you can get through all the red tape and law mumbo jumbo on your own. That is why lawyers do what they do, and that is to help people like us out.
It’s true that hiring is an attorney is pretty unfamiliar ground for people. Besides providing information about how to do it, how do you usually go about encouraging someone to do it? I’ve noticed that people who have already been in at least one situation where an attorney has been necessary, they are a lot more willing to hire an attorney again. Another intimidating thing can be the fact that there are so many different types of lawyers and people don’t always know what kind they’ll need. Thanks for the article!
Thanks for posting this! I got in a complicated situation with one of my co-workers, so I could use help from a lawyer. I agree, having to contact a lawyer can be a bit intimidating, so I’m glad that you posted these tips to help people like me who are involved in a sexual harassment lawsuit. It seems like consulting a few different lawyers before picking one is a good way to choose a lawyer. I’ll be sure to do that instead of going with the first lawyer I talk to so that I can get the representation that I’ll need for my case.
Thanks for the information. I agree that sometimes it can be a little scary to contact a lawyer. I really appreciate you posting the links to these posts. It is really helpful to know what to look for and what you need to do to be prepared to hire an employment attorney.
Thanks for the information on how to hire an employment lawyer. My brother needs help with severance negotiation, and has been considering a lawyer. I’ll be sure to share the link you posted about what to look for in a lawyer and what he’ll pay. Great post.
It is so helpful to learn more about employment lawyers. My good friend really needs help from a lawyer about her job, but she isn’t sure how to hire one. This link is really helpful and offers some great tips. I will be sure to share this with her so that she has a better idea of what to look for. That way, she will know the cost and know more about the paperwork that she will need to fill out. Thanks for the great post! http://www.thefriedmannfirm.com
Wow I wouldn’t even know where to begin with immigration issues. Thank you for the links to the other articles, there are people who don’t realize that hiring an employment lawyer is the better option when an issue is so complicated.
This article delivers truly great tips for hiring an employment-lawyer, Thanks for writing helpful information.
I love this blog! Such a great resource. Thanks for posting valuable info on how to hire an employment lawyer.
These are some really good information about finding an employment law attorney. I like what you said about how you need to look for ones with experience. It would be best if you want everything to workout correctly.
Workplace Fairness has attorney listings for lawyers who represent workers in employment cases at http://www.workplacefairness.org/find-attorney. There are also over 400 pages of know-your-rights information and several pages about working with an attorney, filing with government agencies, and going to court.
Based on everything else I’ve read here I’ve found a lot of great information on due diligence and also learning the main reason why people hire lawyers: advice, not just information. That’s a very valuable service for those who don’t know the law to avoid being taken advantage of by those that do. Thanks for the helpful post.
Thanks for writing some helpful guidelines for hire an employment lawyer. I’m sure people would find best tips from this post.
I’ve been looking around for ideas about hiring an employment lawyer. My sister has been fired from her job and she thinks that her company has overstepped some legal requirements in the process. However, we’d like to be sure before we consult one as lawyers don’t really come cheap. Thanks for these tips and links!
Just got here from My CEO Is Forcing Me to Resign, only to discover that both the linked articles have gone 404. You wouldn’t happen to have copies you’re allowed to post, would you?
You make a great point that you can go to an employment lawyer for something as simple as a severance negotiation. My sister thinks that her boss hasn’t given her the right about of severance after firing her, and is really stressing about that. I’ll recommend that she looks into hiring an employment lawyer soon so that she can get back on her feet as soon as possible.