
FINDING THE RIGHT IMMIGRATION
LAWYER
The process of immigrating to the Canada,
Australia or United States is one of the most
important life
experiences many people will go
through in their lives. Moving
countries is
usually
complex and stressful and the consequences of
failing to plan properly can lead to nightmare
scenarios. Many
people
turn to immigration
lawyers to assist with
immigrating file
but how do you decide if you need an
immigration lawyer? How do you select the
right immigration
lawyer? There is no exact
recipe for addressing these questions. But,
hopefully, this article
will
help.
Do you need a
lawyer?
Immigration law is one of the most
politically divisive areas of the legal system
and it is therefore
not
surprising that it has
grown incredibly dense
and is constantly
changing. No fewer than
three major agencies
administer the US
immigration system and
dozens of other agencies play a role.
While web sites and concerted efforts by
these agencies to provide better information
to the public are
starting to bear fruit, it
could be a grave mistake to rely on
company,
representatives
or even what they call themselves
consultants
for legal advice relating to
immigrating. Why?
Consider
the
following:
-
They have no responsibility or liability
for information they
provide.
-
Fees:
How does the attorney set his fees?
Most
immigration lawyers work
on a flat fee
basis,
though in many matters, hourly billing or
contingency billing may be done. If an
attorney prices way outside
of the market,
either
on the high of the low side. This should be
a source of concern. The lawyer may not have
any idea how much
work
is really involved in
the case. Or the
lawyer may simply be
attempting to gouge. A
lawyer who quotes a
price too low may also
be able to price that
way because the work is being pushed down to
the level of a legal assistant or very
junior associate. There are
great lawyers
who
charge more and lawyers who operate extremely
efficiently who can charge less. But
comparison shopping will
serve you
well.
-
Disciplinary
actions: Has the attorney ever been
disciplined by the Board of
Professional
Responsibility of the state bar? This is an
obvious
sign of problems. There are also
people who
falsely claim to be
licensed attorneys. The
local bar is also the place to check that
the attorney is
licensed and in good
standing.
-
Community
reputation: Has the lawyer established
a
good name for himself or
herself in the
community? If your attorney has a sterling
community reputation,
chances are it was
earned through hard
work.
-
Client
references: A strong reference from a
friend
or colleague is often
the best indicator of
whether a lawyer is up to
snuff.
-
Focus
of practice Within immigration lawyer,
there
are a variety of
subspecialties: employment,
family, asylum, deportation, etc.
Consider
going with a
lawyer with a strong background in your
particular type of
case.
-
Immigration
exclusive practice: Many lawyers list
immigration law as one of a
variety of types
of
matters they handle. It is tough enough for a
full-time immigration lawyer to keep abreast
of all of the
developments in the practice
area. It is nearly impossible to be a
top
notch immigration
lawyer while trying to balance being an
expert in many other practice areas as well.
While someone can be
a
good immigration
lawyer and also be very
competent in another
practice area, watch
out for lawyers where
immigration is one
practice area on a
laundry list of claimed
specialties.
-
Years
in practice: Much of immigration law
is
unwritten and the longer
one is in practice,
but the opposite can be true as well.
Lawyers
who have been practicing for years
may
become lazy about staying
up to date on the
latest changes. Some of the worst lawyers
practicing immigration
law in this country
are the ones who have
been around the
longest. So try and strike a
balance.
-
Lawyer-Paralegal
ratio: One of the ways immigration
practices
are attempting to
keep costs down is to hire
paralegals and legal assistants to do
much
of the work that
immigration lawyers used to do on their own.
In some markets, this may be the only way to
keep costs low enough
for people to afford
to hire a lawyer. But you should know what
you are paying for.
Some of the most
expensive immigration firms
still staff with
extremely high ratios of paralegals and
sometimes
as high as ten paralegals per
attorney. A
more modest ratio of one
to two paralegals
per
attorney may mean that the firm is not too
overloaded with work and it may mean that
the attorney you thought
you were hiring
actually knows what is happening on your
case and
has the time to speak with you
about your
case.
-
Caseload:
Is your lawyer taking on so much
work
that there is no way
cases can properly be
handled? Too many lawyers do not know when
to draw the line and
either say no to taking
on additional work
or
to make the decision
to take on more attorneys and staff.
-
Use
of technology: Technology has
revolutionized
the practice of
immigration law probably as
much as any other area in the legal
profession. Does your
attorney use email?
Does the attorney have
the latest research
and
case management
software? Does the attorney provide
electronic
newsletters and email alerts to
inform
clients of breaking news.
Does the firm have
an
extranet that allows you to log in to a
private and secure web
site to see what is
happening on your case?
Does the firm file
applications electronically? Lawyers who
master
technology deliver legal services
with
better quality and can
often leverage
technology to deliver legal services less
expensively.
-
Communication:
The number one complaint against
lawyers in
this country is not
poor work quality. It is
failing to communicate with their
clients.
You are
paying a lot of money to hire a lawyer and it is
your right to expect to be kept informed of
developments and have
your calls and emails
returned in a timely manner. On the other
hand, there is still
such a thing as excess
and calling your
lawyer everyday to find out
what is happening on your case is not
necessarily fair
either.
-
Board
certified: A few states certify
lawyers in
the practice of
immigration law. If your
lawyer practices in a state that does,
make
sure he or she
has this credential. It is no guarantee of
quality, but it can certainly be an
indicator.
-
Educational
background: While many fine lawyers
have
come out of mediocre law
schools and lousy
lawyers come out of the Ivy Leagues, where a
lawyer went to school can still be an
indicator of a person
ability to
achieve.
-
Publications:
Lawyers who write frequently about
their
practice area tend to
keep themselves better
informed about their area of law. The
ability to get
published also may indicate
that the lawyer
expertise is
respected.
-
Conflicts
of interest: Immigration lawyers often
have
an inherent conflict
of interest,
particularly in business immigration matters
where
they are assisting an employer and
employee
at the same time. Most
of the time this is
not a problem. But be careful to pay
attention
to this fact if the interests
should diverge
such as when an
employer and employee start
to have problems getting
along.
-
Personality
compatibility: Your experience with
your
immigration lawyer is
more than just the
result of the lawyer experience and
competency.
A lawyer bedside manner can mean
a lot at
the end of the day to
how the overall
experience goes. Find a lawyer who really
seems to
care about your
case.
-
Promising
too much: There are actually
immigration
lawyers out there who
swear they have never
lost a case even after a lengthy career. Be
nervous about lawyers
who promise success. A
lawyer who honestly
presents the risks is
worth a lot more. Likewise, be very weary of
attorneys who claim to have special
influence with the government.
Also beware
of lawyers
who speak too negatively of the
competition. If the
lawyer is worthy, they
can stand on their
own
record rather than
tearing down the record of
competitors.
-
Engagement
letters: Read the fine print in your
engagement letters. Some
lawyers load
agreements down with so much legalese and
one-sided
provisions that it should give you
pause.
Consider using a lawyer
who provides an
agreement that is written in plain English
that
appears to be
even-handle.
What do I do if I just
cannot afford a quality immigration
lawyer?
Many people will just never realistically be
able to hire an immigration lawyer due to
costs. There are sometimes
still options that
will
allow you to utilize the services of an
immigration lawyer. Many
lawyers work with pro
bono legal
organizations in their communities
and accept a limited number of no
or reduced
fee cases.
Keep in mind that you will typically nee to be
screened by one of these community
organizations to determine that
your case is
the type of
case that is appropriate for a referral to
a
pro bono lawyer. You will usually be
screened
as well to determine
whether you
truly are unable to pay.
More and more lawyers are also offering to
unbundle their legal services and are offering
a la carte legal
work.
This means that instead
of handling a case
from beginning to
end, a
lawyer will prepare only parts of the case or
simply provide
the client with the lawyer
expertise. So
perhaps you want to submit
your green card
application yourself, but would like to
consult with
an attorney and have an attorney
review your
application. A lawyer
who unbundles their
services might work with you to provide just
the
amount of expertise you absolutely need
and
can afford. The practice
is still
controversial
in some segments of the legal community, but
organizations like the American Bar
Association are openly embracing
the
concept.
What to do if your
lawyer mismanages your
case?
Unfortunately, the question of what to do
when you have hired a bad lawyer is more than
just theoretical for
many. The answer largely
depends on the facts of your case. First,
determine whether the
problem is really the
lawyer fault. In many
cases, people complain
that their lawyers are ineffective when, in
fact, the problems are
beyond the lawyer
control.
If your lawyer really has messed up but you
think the mistake is honest and does not
reflect deeper problems
relating to
competency,
it may be easier to work with the lawyer in
resolving the matter than in just switching to
a new law firm. If
you
question the competency
of your lawyer, you
may want to get a
second
opinion from another attorney. Beware,
however, that many
immigration lawyers do not
accept cases from
people firing previous
attorneys. Why? Many
people simply have a negative mindset and will
never be satisfied with their lawyers. While
many people have
legitimate reasons to change
lawyers, you really want to avoid
garnering a
damaged
goods and make sure you choose carefully the
first time.
At the end of the day, making yourself an
educated consumer of legal services will
improve your chance for
your case to managed
successfully. That means learning as much as
you can about
immigration law so that you can
work with your
lawyer
to achieve the best
solution possible for your case. It also will
help you make sure that
you are hiring a
lawyer that really knows
their stuff, and also
to
be sure that the money you pay, the service
you will get.
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Immigration
service
center.
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