Are free consultations with divorce lawyers worthwhile in helping you choose your lawyer?
Should you seek out attorneys who give you free information and advice?
Allow me to help you answer your own question with my opinion.
Do like it when people ask—or even expect—you to give away your goods or services free of charge? How often do these kinds of people become your paying customers? How many become good customers; the ones who respect you, pay you on time, and don’t complain and make ridiculous demands?
Attorneys who cater to people who seek free stuff are attorneys who don’t respect themselves enough to charge for their knowledge and expertise, who aren’t good enough to warrant being paid for their knowledge and expertise. If you decide to speak and meet with these kinds of attorneys, you will be setting yourself up to find these kinds of mediocre attorneys. Few excellent attorneys have the time to waste on free consultations. [1]
Generally speaking, attorneys who give free consultations are attorneys who care more about getting your money than they do about providing you with a service you value. Attorneys who give free consultations are attorneys you can’t really be sure you can trust. They’re not really “giving” you a free consultation, they’re enticing you with something to lure you into their orbit, so that they can convince you (and sometimes that means creating in you sense of obligation from the free consultation) to hire them. Does that sound like someone who provides legal services, or someone who merely sells them?
Let’s meet for lunch for an hour and have a real, substantive conversation about what you really want and need to know. It’s $100 for the hour, and I pick up the tab for our lunch. If I can help you, hire me. If I can’t help you, we’ll both know that by the end of our meeting.
Utah Family Law, LC | divorceutah.com | 801-466-9277
—————————-
[1] Now obviously just because an attorney charges you a fee does not mean he or she is a good attorney, so if the attorney doesn’t offer a “satisfaction or your consultation fee back” guarantee, then that’s an attorney to avoid.