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Finding a lawyer can be difficult enough as it is, but actually hiring one whom you can trust completely is almost close to impossible. Close, but not quite. There are still means and ways to find a legal representative whom you can rely on for any law related debacle you may be facing right now (or will be facing in the future.)

Here is a guide as to how to find a lawyer to work your case.

1. Ask for friends, family and other lawyers for referrals.

First off: you need to actually find a lawyer. If you are like 85% of the world’s population, you probably do not know any legal representative on a friendly basis. The best way for you to find a trustworthy attorney is to ask for referrals from people around you, preferably someone whom they have already worked with. Assuredly so, when it comes to hiring an attorney you can trust, a referral is a hundred times better than a shot in the dark.

Skip the ads if you are indeed in need of a legal representative. TV ads or ads in the yellow pages can be enticing; at the same time, it can also be misleading. For one thing, you would not have any idea if the information in these ads is actually true. Also, if these lawyers are actually making brisk business (as most of their ads imply) why then would they need to advertise their services further?

2. Do a great deal of research on the background of the lawyers you want to approach.

If your friends and family do refer you to lawyers who may want to work your case, you need to research further on their background before you actually hire them. (You need to suppress the need to hire them on the spot, as is the wont of many of us who are desperate for legal counsel.)

As you know, there are many kinds of lawyers out there. Some have specialization, while others do not. If you want to be (at the very least) complacent with hiring a professional who will do the best he or she can for you, you must hire someone who specializes in your type of case.

Naturally, there is a huge difference in hiring a lawyer who will handle your traffic violations in court and trying to find an attorney who will try to arrange for financial support for your children. There are lawyers who can handle a huge workload of cases. Like doctors, there are general practitioners in the field of law and there are the specialists. There are counselors who deal exclusively on appeals; bankruptcy; business and contracts; criminal defense; family law; personal injury; real estate; wills and estates; and workers’ compensation.

Performing background checks does not end with learning about the lawyers’ career expertise; you also need to know whether or not they have actually won cases in their clients’ favor. This can be done in three ways. One: you can go to the library and check out archives of local papers to see whether the lawyers or the law firms they belong to have successfully handled some of their more publicized cases. Two: if your prospective counsel is indeed a referral from friends and family, simply ask them if the cases have handled well. Three: you could directly go to the source, and ask the lawyers themselves.

3. Setting up for an interview.

There are lawyers who would be willing to set up interviews for free, but there are those who ask fro payment upfront. If you have indeed done considerable research on the prospective attorneys you wish to hire, you would know which ones ask for initial consultation fees and which ones do not.

Try to take a list of questions to ask the counselors. You would not want to waste time dawdling with uncertainly, especially if the counselors are asking for an initial fee.