Honest Lawyers

When you are trying to find a lawyer either for representation in court or for legal advice, it is very important that you find somebody that has your best interest at heart. There are thousands of lawyers out there, so how do you know which one is going to be right for you? It is not always easy to tell which lawyers are skilled, knowledgeable and dedicated to their work, but there are steps you can take to narrow your search. Here are some Do’s and Don’ts that you should follow when you start your search for a lawyer. Remember, lawyers are available to you to help you with any legal issues you may be involved in. Having the right lawyer could be a life changing factor during your time in court.

DO: Speak to many lawyers before making your decision. The more familiarity you have with the process, the better chance you will have to find the best lawyer in your area. It is very possible that the first lawyer you speak to will be the one that you end up with, but you do not want to miss out on other experienced lawyers just because you did not speak with a variety of legal professionals before making your choice.

DO NOT: Take an acquaintance’s recommendation at their word. Somebody might recommend a lawyer to you without knowing much about them or their practice. Finding respectable lawyers takes some time and research. If you do not put in the required effort, you might get stuck with a lawyer that is only concerned about their payment.

DO: Use the Internet as a guide. There are many review websites on the web that will let you browse through the profiles of thousands of lawyers in a fraction of the time it would take with conventional resources. One these web pages, you will be able to view the specialties, contact information, and location of lawyers in your area. A great thing about a review website is that you can see what previous clients think about a particular lawyer. Seeing other people’s opinions will give you some insight into whether a lawyer is honest and dedicated, and you can find all this out before even speaking a word to or stepping into an office of an attorney.

DO NOT: Deal with lawyers that seem desperate. If a lawyer does their job well, the amount of clientele they receive will reflect that. If you are basically being begged or forced to hire a litigator, or they seem to be charge for things that normally should be free, just stay away.

It might sound as though all the lawyers out there are out to get you, but that is not true. You just want to make sure you have the best legal professionals at your disposal. Having an inexperienced or unskilled lawyer could reflect poorly on you, and that’s the last thing you need.

Illegal Activities

By allowing lawyers to defend us in a court of law, we are putting all of our trust in them. We want our lawyers to do everything in their power to help us succeed, and most of the time they do just that. There are lawyers out there, however, that have another agenda. When a lawyer breaks our trust, it causes us all to lose a little bit of faith in the system. There are many reasons why lawyers might choose a dishonest route. Sometimes they may benefit from their clients not winning their cases, they could be having personal problems, and several others are out there. The point is, even if you are a lawyer, if you break the law you are going to get caught. Here are some of the lawyers that have found that out firsthand, and have faced the music because of their actions.

1. Anne Adams – A New York lawyer, Adams has been banned from appearing as an attorney after facing three drunk driving misdemeanors, trying to fix the outcome of a case, and supposedly taking thousands of dollars from a client. Also, while lawyer Anne Adams’s case was open, security footage showed her and the judge hearing the case go into a car together for ten minutes. What went on inside the car is not certain, but both Adams and the judge resigned shortly after. Lawyers like this should not only have their licenses taken away, they should be placed in jail.

2. Goering G.C. Paderanga – This is a very recent case that actually is from the Phillipines. Paderanga, a lawyer, has been banned from practicing law for a year for falsifying documents. The case was brought before the supreme court by John Christen S. Hegna who was with the Office of the Bar Confidant. All lawyers are required to take an oath before practicing, and the proceedings made it evident that Paderanga had violated that oath. Paderanga faced repercussions for that violation, just as any other lawyer would, and it was made clear that any violations in the future would be much more severe.

3. Todd Genger – This is also a recent case. Although this lawyer did not do anything illegal in a courtroom or while dealing with a case, you would think that lawyers would have more sense than to get caught soliciting minors for sex on the Internet. Not only would a lawyer have seen people get caught doing these disgusting acts, anybody with a television has seen the men trying to have sex with underage girls get tackled by police on camera. For a lawyer of all people to be caught doing something like this is insane.

These three lawyers have been caught just like many others before them. Now they are paying the consequences. A lawyer should be fighting for us and upholding justice, not trying to abuse the system for their personal gains.