Five Things Your Attorney Needs To Know To Give You An Accurate Estimate
It's important that you have a good idea of how much you're going to have to pay in attorney fees when you're beginning to resolve legal issues. Getting an accurate estimate from an attorney allows you to budget for your legal fees in the coming months so you'll get through your legal issues with healthy finances.
If you're looking for estimates from attorneys regarding your case, you should know that the following five things may impact the estimate attorneys give you:
What charges are being pressed against you
Of course, the number one things an attorney needs to know is what charges you're looking at. You should be honest with attorneys from the get-go about all the charges that are pending against you.
Better yet, you should show attorneys any documentation you've gotten from the court so that they know exactly what your'e up against.
The evidence against you that the prosecution has
The more evidence the prosecution has against you, the more challenging it is going to be to defend your case. More evidence against you means that your attorney is going to have to put more effort into successfully fighting off the charges.
When you meet with an attorney to get an estimate, discuss why the charges are being pressed against you and how you've gotten into legal problems.
What's in your background
If you have had criminal legal issues before, your attorney may be facing more of an uphill battle to win your case. Nevertheless, it's important to be open about your background when you first meet with an attorney to get an accurate estimate on what the legal fees will be.
How much you can pay upfront
You may find that an attorney agrees to a lower flat fee if you can pay everything upfront than he or she would offer if you planned to pay at the end of the case. Even putting a significant retainer down at the beginning of the case could lead the attorney to give you some discount on an estimate.
What type of evidence you already have in support of your case
In certain types of cases, lawyers have to spend a significant amount of time gathering evidence and engaging in the discovery process.
You may be able to do some of this work for the attorney and save him or her some work. Gather evidence yourself before you visit with an attorney for an estimate. Attorneys will often bill clients by the hour, so you can save money if you can cut down on the number of hours the attorney has to put into the case.
