In the complex world of law, finding an attorney who meets your unique legal needs can be a daunting task, but it’s a critical one. The time you take to research your attorney ahead of time often helps facilitate your first consultation. Learning more about your lawyer’s background, location, field of law, types of clients they represent, and industries they typically work in can also help you learn more about the type of legal services you need, leading to you drastically narrowing down your search for a potential attorney.
The reality is each lawyer doesn’t represent each type of client. Practice areas have nuanced intricacies, which is why your choice of legal advocate can make all the difference in your outcome. This article highlights some of the ways you can navigate a law firm’s website to help focus on the type of attorney you need to handle your legal issue while narrowing down your list of potential attorneys. We’ll explore the various dimensions of law firm websites, including industries, practice areas, attorney profiles, and location, to help you uncover the legal counsel that best suits your case.
Here are five places to help you find the right attorney for your case:
1. Legal Practice Area Page
If you already have a good idea about the type of legal issue you’re facing, starting at a firm’s Practice Area page is a great place to narrow down which attorneys would have the most applicable experience to your case.
Why are Practice Areas at law firms important?
Browsing the various practice areas at a law firm is a good indicator of the types of cases the attorneys at the firm typically handle.
For example, Practus has many practice areas in financial services, corporate law, business development, technology, tax, and general counsel fields. This indicates we’re a firm ideal for business owners, corporations, entrepreneurs, individuals with complex legal issues, and emerging technologies. Another firm might have more practice areas around criminal defense, DUI representation, fraud, and defamation. This indicates they would be a good firm for criminal issues.
It’s possible your case may overlap between different practice areas. This is often true for complex legal issues. Finding a law firm that offers legal services in each of the practice areas where you may need help can also make your life a lot easier by only needing to work with one firm instead of several different law firms. Attorneys at Practus often enter into joint engagements, combining their skills/experience to create a comprehensive legal team that can represent clients throughout each stage of their needs.
Learn more about the 25+ practice areas we have at Practus here.
2. Legal Industries Page
It’s common to have legal issues specific to your industry, especially when regulatory agencies are involved. As a client, you may not be sure of the exact practice area your case would fall under, but you know you need a lawyer that’s experienced in your particular industry. This is where a law firm’s industry page can be extremely helpful when you’re searching for a new lawyer to assist with your case.
At Practus, our attorneys represent clients in a variety of industries, including:
- Banking & Financial Management
- Consumer Goods & Commerce
- Energy & Natural Resources
- Healthcare & Life Sciences
- Industrial Manufacturing
- Media & Entertainment
- Startups & Emerging Companies
- Technology
Check out our Industries page here.
3. Locations Page
Your attorney’s location can help narrow down your list of potential lawyers easily, especially if you have an issue that may require knowledge of local laws. Even though we’re a virtual law firm, many of our attorneys meet with their local clients face-to-face: whether on site or at an office space. Several lawyers at Practus have office spaces specifically for critical client meetings. Of course, statistics show more and more clients prefer meeting virtually instead of in person thanks to advancement of legal technology.
Why is location important if you can meet with your attorney online?
Your legal issue may involve local and state laws. Having an attorney that’s licensed in your state and familiar with these laws is necessary for proper representation. Oftentimes, attorneys live in the states where they’re licensed, so browsing a law firm’s location page will make it easier to find a variety of attorneys that can handle your legal issue.
Location is also critical if you’re facing litigation. Litigation involves court filings, appearances, and familiarity with local procedures. Researching practice areas involving litigation as well as the attorney’s location will make it much easier to find a lawyer that has the experience you’re looking for.
All that being said, attorneys don’t need to be in your local area to offer top tier legal services. Several of our attorneys are licensed in multiple states or handle cases involving federal law rather than local law. It really depends on your specific legal needs to determine whether or not your attorney needs to be local. One of the benefits of working with an attorney at a virtual law firm is that you can create a stellar legal team from around the world, regardless of where you or your attorneys live.
For example, if you’re a client that resides in a rural area (which could be a legal desert), it may be easier to work with an attorney at a virtual law firm. You can find great legal representation even if you don’t have many options in your small town due to the online nature of your attorney-client relationship. So, while location pages can help you find an attorney in your area, don’t write off a potential lawyer solely because they live in a different area than you. Use it as a factor to narrow down your search while focusing on the attorney’s experience and the types of clients they represent as well.
You can find Practus attorneys located across the world here or use the search bar on our website to find attorneys licensed in your state.
4. Attorney Bios
Attorney bios are the best place to find a specific attorney to meet your legal needs. Nearly every law firm has a section that lists their legal team and and key facts about the attorneys such as:
- Relevant experience
- Education
- Practice Areas
- Location
- Admissions
- Languages
- Additional details about their legal representation
Our website is specifically designed with clients in mind. We want you to feel comfortable contacting an attorney directly, so we include a couple paragraphs about their practice, experience that includes the types of clients they handle, and a press/blog page so you can learn how they’re involved in the local community.
To help you get to know your potential lawyer on a more personal level, our attorneys’ bios include fun facts like their favorite artists, meals, and quotes. Each Practus attorney also has their direct contact information on a virtual business card (vcard) next to their image to make it as easy as possible for you to reach out.
Visit all our attorney bio pages here.
5. News & Search Bar
Most modern law firms now have a blog or news section on their websites. This is a great place to dive deeper into the culture of the law firm and topics important to the firm’s attorneys. We call our blog section Practus News because we include everything from legal insights and legal news to inside looks into our firm’s culture and what it means to work with a virtual law firm.
These blog sections of a firm’s website are also a good place to learn more about your specific legal issue. Articles written by attorneys are often intended to help potential clients learn about their options or big changes in the law that could affect them.
You can access our Practus News page here.
We understand that you might want to get right to the point and search the entire site to find the attorney or topic you want to learn more about. Our site-wide search bar appears at the top, right of our website so that you can get all the information you’re looking for with just a word or two.
Finding the Right Attorney For Your Case
We hope this article helps point you in the right direction when looking for a new lawyer and navigating law firms’ websites. In today’s innovative climate, we want to give you the tools and resources you need to feel confident in choosing the attorney that fits your legal needs. If you have any questions about our site, please feel free to reach out to me at Valerie.Spengler@Practus.com. Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed learning more about our firm and our talented attorneys!
