When Do You Need a Lawyer?

If you are facing a legal problem, you need to decide whether you can handle the problem on your own or whether you will require legal advice. For some kinds of problems you may not need a lawyer.

For example, let’s say you are renting an apartment from a landlord and your kitchen cabinets fall off the walls, breaking all of your good dishes. No one is injured in the accident, and the landlord will attach the cabinets to the wall and take care of all repairs. All you want is the money to buy a new set of dishes. But you would spend more on an attorney than it would cost you to replace the dishes.  

In that case, it would make more sense for you to drive down to the local court and file papers in small claims court. For $15-$20 you can file a case, submit papers and appear before a judge who will hear the evidence and make a judgment.

Now, let’s consider a different situation. Let’s say you are living in a house built by a contractor. Over a period of months, your family gets sick. It takes a long time to discover the source of the problem but eventually you find out your new home has mold between the walls and this is what is making your family sick. There is no way you can navigate the issues, do the research, come up with evidence and professional witnesses and win a suit of this nature.  

If you are a victim of a crime or you are accused of a crime, a conviction could affect your future, your financial stability and your family. It is important to find and use the right attorneys and to get the right legal advice. If you need a divorce lawyer to protect your rights and ensure you get your fair share of property and appropriate rights to your children, you would be foolish to go with the first lawyer you find in the phone book. The more serious the crime or issue, the more important it is to have good legal representation.