Albuquerque Law Firms

Guide to Albuquerque Law Firms

If you are looking for an Albuquerque law firm, you may not know exactly where to begin. Searching for legal services can be a huge challenge if you're unsure of what different types of Albuquerque law firms do. This guide can help you narrow your choices so that you can find Albuquerque law firms that meet your needs and can represent you with your legal issues.

Before Beginning Your Search

It can be easy to lose track of your own priorities when you're flooded with information about Albuquerque law firms. Because of this, before you begin, you should get out a pen and paper to get your priorities listed in a way that will help you understand what kind of Albuquerque law firm you are interested in.

Start by writing down a brief (preferably one-sentence) description of the legal problem that you believe Albuquerque law firms can help with. After this sentence, write another sentence describing the ideal solution to the problem that an Albuquerque law firm could help you arrive at.

After briefly stating your problem and its ideal solution, begin to think about your ideal Albuquerque law firm. Do you want to find Albuquerque law firms that are traditional, or innovative? Businesslike and formal, or more relaxed? Keep in mind that there are no right or wrong answers. If there's something you want from Albuquerque law firms, write it down so that you remember it when you start looking in earnest.

Large Law Firms

One of the first big decisions you can make to narrow your Albuquerque law firm choices is whether you want a larger or smaller firm representing you. The largest Albuquerque law firms have dozens of lawyers on staff and even larger numbers of support staff, like paralegals and legal secretaries. While some large Albuquerque law firms are locally or regionally based, there are also some firms that are branches of larger, national or international firms.

Here are some indicators that a larger Albuquerque law firm may be best equipped to serve you:

ñ You are looking for representation for a corporate, rather than individual, client. Corporations are often best served by large Albuquerque law firms, which not only have more experience handling the legal affairs of corporate clients but also have lawyers in more specialty areas.

ñ You insist upon a high level of decorum and professionalism at all times in your lawyer-client relationship, and are experienced in hiring lawyers.

ñ You require an Albuquerque law firm that can represent you not only during your current legal issue but on an ongoing basis, for wide-ranging legal advice.

Not all clients will be best served by large Albuquerque law firms. For people seeking legal representation for the first time, or those who simply cannot afford the cost of a big Albuquerque law firm (which can be several hundred dollars per hour), a smaller firm may be a better option. There is no such thing as a single “best” firm for all clients—smaller firms are often better equipped to handle people who need occasional legal help rather than an ongoing lawyer/client relationship.

Small and Mid-Sized Firms

Smaller Albuquerque law firms offer a number of advantages if the big Albuquerque law firm environment doesn't sound like your ideal situation. For most legal clients, one of the biggest concerns is price. A small Albuquerque law firm will charge substantially less per hour than a larger firm, with very few exceptions.

Hourly billing can be stressful to some clients, due to the uncertainty of budgeting for the right number of hours. If you would prefer a flat fee structure, some smaller Albuquerque law firms will charge a flat rate—but you may have to shop around to get the best price. Some firms even offer payment plans, so that you can make small payments each month rather than paying the entire flat fee upfront. This can be especially useful if you need to file for bankruptcy or divorce, which can leave you with little cash on hand.

There are reasons other than cost to appreciate smaller Albuquerque law firms, as well. A smaller firm, with fewer support staff, gives you more opportunities for direct contact with your lawyer. You may also find the environment more friendly and welcoming than at a large Albuquerque law firm.

General Practice Law Firms

Deciding on whether to use a big or small Albuquerque law firm is only the first step in making your decision. Next, you should decide whether you want to look at general practice Albuquerque law firms, which handle a broad range of cases, or a specialty firm that only takes cases of a few types. While general practices dominated the legal world decades ago, today they are the exception and not the rule.

A general practice Albuquerque law firm will have lawyers who can take nearly any case, but they may not be as experienced with similar cases as specialized lawyers. If you want to hire one lawyer who can represent you in your current case and continue to give you legal advice about a broad range of topics in the future, you may want to seek out general practice Albuquerque law firms. If you only anticipate using a lawyer for your current legal issue, a specialist may be better able to help you.

Specialty Law Firms

Specialized law firms have become much more common in recent years, and there is an Oklahoma City specialty law firm for just about every type of legal case imaginable. Currently, there are specialty lawyers working in tax law, divorce and family law, employment and labor law, bankruptcy, corporate law, energy law, environmental law, disability law, environmental law, criminal defense, and many more fields as well.

Once you know what legal field your legal issue is in, you can begin to look for specialty firms that have lawyers with years of experience handling similar cases. Often, you can find biographical information on the law firm's website to help you understand the firm's level of experience with cases like yours.