If you are contemplating legal action, your first big decision is likely which lawyer is right for you. How do you find a good lawyer?

Talk to friends and family. Chances are good that someone you know has used a lawyer or knows someone who has. Ask friends and family who they used and about their experience. Were they satisfied with the service they were provided? Ask for specifics about why they did - or did not- feel their lawyer provided good service. Find out if the lawyer returned telephone calls or emails in a timely manner, whether the case was pursued and completed in a reasonable time, whether the lawyer listened to requests and concerns, whether the person was kept informed about the status of his or her case, whether fees charged were fair and bills detailed enough to know what legal work was completed on the case.

Referral Services. There are a number of referral services in California. The State Bar of California provides a list of referral services around the state. Referral services require Modesto CA lawyers to register and generally require lawyer members to 25 hours of Minimum Continuing Legal Education every 3 years.

Lawyer referral services which are certified follow certain rules which will protect you.

A certified lawyer referral service may direct you to lawyers with experience in certain areas of the law such as bankruptcy, criminal, probate, landlord-tenant, family law and other areas. Certification Rules also encourage lawyer referral services to offer free and low cost legal help as well as lawyers who speak languages in addition to English.

In order to find an attorney referral service:

* Go to the "County Programs" link above;
* Call the State Bar's Lawyer Referral Services Directory at 1-866-442-2529 (toll free in California) or 415-538-2250 (from outside California);

To obtain public information about an attorney (address, State Bar status, etc.) go to Attorney Search.
members.calbar.ca.gov/fal/membersearch/quicksearch