Advice

Do You Need a Lawyer?

I am often asked, "Do I need a lawyer?" The short answer is, "Maybe." The long answer is "Yes." The reasons are a matter of education and experience, as well as time.

Education and Experience

I can't know if somebody as the necessary talents to represent themselves in a brief conversation. It's quite possible you could represent yourself from start to finish. You don't have to be a lawyer to make your own claim or even file a lawsuit. However, most people do not have the education or experience to successfully represent themselves against trained adjusters and lawyers, or before a court that will have to apply the law regardless of the individual's skills.

By analogy, we have all likely been sick at some point in our lives. That sickness gave you experience and some education in dealing with health issues. When you or your kids are sick again, you know to check for fever and other symptoms to make the decision if you or they can go to school or work, whether a doctor needs to be called, or if an ambulance and hospital are necessary. If you only have a mild fever and sniffly nose, you probably won't think you need to go directly to a hospital. On the other hand, if you wake up vomiting blood with an extremely high fever, you probably wouldn't just take a pain pill and go onto work. This limited education and experience does not mean you will always be right. If you misdiagnose a case of bacterial meningitis, no matter how rare that is, the delay could be fatal. The same is true in legal matters.

You may have represented yourself in the past, or worked in a law office, but that does not mean you know all the pitfalls and tricks that the attorneys or adjusters on the other side could use against you. The Texas Rules of Civil Procedure are very detailed. A skilled attorney can trap you into numerous fatal errors. It's their job to stop you any way they can. Skilled adjusters are trained to find small mistakes, to mislead you and to limit what they will pay on your claim. Nobody is going to protect your statue of limitations, no one is going to stop you from giving away too much information, and nobody is going to tell you if you are about to break one of the rules.

Hiring an attorney takes away the risk of knowing the rules and the tricks. Texas lawyers spend an entire year (two courses over two semesters) learning the rules of civil procedure. They also take courses that often stretch a year long in particular types of law. Attorneys are also required to take annual courses to keep them up to date on the changes in the rules and on case law. Experienced lawyers have seen the tricks that deal with these ticks and to avoid the pitfalls.

Time

Representing yourself takes a great deal of time. There are a lot of calls to make and documents to gather. If you are trying to juggle a personal life, work life, and your claim, you may find yourself at a total loss. Most of us have little spare time as it is. Adding managing a claim to your normal life can become overwhelming. Hiring a lawyer takes a tremendous burden off of you. It is the attorney's job to make the phone calls, fill out the papers and gather the documents. Sure, the attorney will need your help with some things. Cases of all types are very personal and there are some things the attorney can't do or obtain without your help. But, the moment you hire a lawyer, you transfer tasks from yourself, enabling you to go on with your day to day life as much as possible.

With regard to patience, if you have a case, you are likely already low on patience. Cases are personal, the emotional attachment is high. It's easy to start making decisions from your gut and not your head. When things are highly emotionally charged and very important, rational thought is important. Skilled lawyers and adjusters thrive on getting people to make rash decisions or to emotionally "loose it." Some of the worst lawyers make a game of breaking people down. A good lawyer cares about his clients, and he or she wants to do a good job, but they learn to detach their emotions as much as possible so they can make reasoned decisions.