So you need a good lawyer you can trust for your business? Where do you turn? Whom do you ask? And aside from personal referrals and word-of-mouth, what criteria do you use?
These questions are asked increasingly, despite the abundance of lawyers. That shows it is increasingly hard to find a good, honest lawyer. While there are many attorneys out there, very few, it seems are deserving of any distinction.
The Client Is The Boss. Your Lawyer Must Answer To You. Not To Some Firm Committee. Your business needs and deserves an independent lawyer, and a law firm which upholds the same attributes.
A business owner should be dealing with a law firm owner on the other side of the table. You should not be shunted off to employees with glorified titles and who have no “skin in the game.” You should insist on dealing with management and with ownership. Anyone else does not have real authority and therefore has no real power to manage your client relationship or solve any problems you bring to the firm’s attention.
Once again, this is not something you should accept. Do not settle for mediocrity. You will get enough mediocrity dressed up in shiny gold so you won’t notice. Do notice and complain about the mediocrity or substandard work you do detect.