How to hire a lawyer
This is a guide to hiring a lawyer — how fees work, what to ask at a consultation and what to have ready. It is not legal advice, and no website is a substitute for a lawyer who knows your situation.
Can be done online. Many lawyers work over video, so you are not limited to who is nearby. On Region Beacon, pick Online when you post a request and it reaches online businesses anywhere. All services
What the job usually involves
- Family: divorce, custody, adoption.
- Estate: wills, trusts, probate, powers of attorney.
- Property: closings, disputes, landlord and tenant.
- Injury and accident claims.
- Business formation, contracts and employment.
- Criminal defence and traffic matters.
What to ask before you agree to anything
- Do you practise in this specific area, and how often?
- How do you charge — hourly, flat fee, contingency, or a retainer?
- What is your hourly rate, and who else bills on my matter and at what rate?
- What costs are separate from your fee — filing, experts, records?
- For contingency: what percentage, and is it calculated before or after expenses?
- Who will actually handle my case day to day?
- How and how often will I hear from you?
- What is your assessment of the likely range of outcomes?
Warning signs
- A guaranteed outcome — no lawyer can promise a result.
- No written fee agreement.
- Vague answers about who does the work and what it will cost.
- Pressure to sign at a first meeting, particularly after an accident.
- Someone who contacted you first about an accident or a death.
Common questions
How do lawyers charge?
Commonly hourly with a retainer paid up front and drawn down, a flat fee for defined work like a will or a closing, or a contingency fee taken as a percentage of a recovery in injury cases. Each is normal in its context — what matters is having it in a written fee agreement that also states which costs are separate.
What should I bring to a first meeting with a lawyer?
Every document connected to the matter, a written timeline of what happened with dates, the names of everyone involved, anything already filed or served, and your questions written down. The more organised you arrive, the less of an hourly rate is spent on you finding things.
Do I need a lawyer who specialises?
For anything consequential, yes. Law is wide, and a lawyer who handles your kind of matter regularly knows the local court, the opposing parties and the realistic range of outcomes. Ask directly how much of their practice is this area.
Is a free consultation really free?
Often genuinely free in contingency-fee areas like injury, where the firm is assessing whether to take the case. In other areas a consultation is frequently charged. Ask when you book, so there is no surprise.
How does Region Beacon work for lawyers?
You describe the job once. The first nearby business that takes it gets your details and contacts you; nobody else does. You deal with whoever you pick directly, and you pay them directly — Region Beacon never handles the money and takes no commission, so nothing is added to your price for using it.
How do I know if a lawyer's quote is fair?
Get more than one. A single quote tells you what one business charges; three tell you what the job is worth where you live. Ask each for the same scope in writing, and treat a quote far below the others as probably missing something rather than a bargain.
Get quotes from lawyers near you
Describe the job once and the first nearby business to take it contacts you. Only that one gets your details, no commission is added, and your details are not sold on to anyone.