How Do You Know If You've Hired a Dud?

"Mr Attorney, I don't have any experience with law and don't know how the lines of communication work between the attorney and the client. I don't want to jump to conclusions about how you are handling our case so can you please put my mind to ease by explaining my role and when I can look forward to hearing about updates to our case. This case is my world and I need you to understand how much this means to us and how much we are counting on you to lead us. Thank you for understanding."

I wish you the best !!!!!! Please keep us posted.

You might contact this lawyer and ask courteously how the matter is coming. The answer (or lack of one) might help you decide what to do. If you get to talk to the lawyer in person (face-to-face or on the phone), do some brain-picking. Say, "I don't know anything about legal procedures. I don't know how long anything takes, or how complicated it is. Would you tell me what steps you're taking? When should I start worrying that something's wrong?"

Attorneys will charge you for every time they talk to you, so sometimes lots of communication isn't a good thing. It makes it really difficult if you are a perfectionist, on top of being a bit nervous, not to know every little thing at all times, but trust me, you don't want to be charged just to know the play-by-play.

It's hard to know if you got a dud or not, but you don't have tons of money to throw around so keeping communication to a minimum is a good thing.

Did this attorney come recommended to you? Is there a local legal aide office that can guide you to any type of reviews there may be on him?

Some attorneys are all business. They know what they're doing and they just do it once they have all the facts of the case from you. They are able to remove the emotion from it and proceed as necessary.

I'm not sure what questions you've asked him, but sometimes no news is good news.

I hope everything works out to your benefit, Ephie.
Best wishes always.

You will not hear from your lawyer until he needs you for something. Then, you will need to jump through hoops to make yourself avaialble. No news doesn't necessarily mean nothing is going on that should be; it just means he doesn't need to talk to you and run up your bill. The court system moves sooooooooooooooo slowly. Whether you are getting updates doesn't mean he is a dud. My brother's attorney is fabulous, one of the best available in the State, and he's still lucky to even get a return phone call unless there's something of urgent importance. Yes, it's rude and irritating as heck. However, it has nothing to do with competency in manuvering the legal system or being fabulously effective in Court.

Keep in mind that he may not be contacting you too often because usually they charge you for any communication - he might be attempting to keep your costs down. However, a quick email to ask him for an update might help you feel better. In the email, make him aware of how important this case is to you and that you appreciate him staying on top of things. If you want to pay for it, ask him for an email update once a week or once every other week? Did you check his credentials? You should be able to find how where he went to school and how long he has been practicing - you might even be able to google him for more info on his career success...