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If you live in a city of any size, you can find dozens of attorney webites by simply typing your city name and the word attorney. The question is: How do you choose an attorney from those available in your geographic area? The answer is good-old-fashion leg work. Call the attorney you are considering hiring and ask him or her the following questions:

• How many years of experience do you have?
• How many matters of this type have you handled?
• If the matter involves litigation, how many cases have you taken to trial?
• How do you handle correspondence with your clients?
• Are you available for consultations after hours or on the weekends?
• How much of the work on my case will be delegated to office staff?

If you do not get acceptable answers to these six questions, then speak with a different attorney. Remember you control the goals of your case and the attorney is responsible for the process to meet those goals.

Most attorneys, including the attorneys at T.R. Spencer Law Office, will answer questions posed by a potential client over the phone without charging a fee. These initial contacts generally last between five and fifteen minutes. It is during this call that a you, as a potential client, have the ability to assess whether one of our attorneys has both the time and experience to assist you with your legal matter. It is during this telephone call that you should ask questions about the scope and expected cost of your legal matter.

Think of a retainer as a down payment against which future costs are billed. It is from this retainer that costs such as filing fees, service fees and the preparation of initial paperwork, are paid. The cost of services are deducted from the retainer as they accrue. Many attorneys will not do additional work for a client unless there is money in the retainer account or other payment arrangements have been made. Along the Wasatch Front, attorney retainers generally run from $1,500.00 to $10,000.00, depending on the type of matter involved and the experience of the particular attorney. Your retainer amount will depend on estimated time needed to address your issues, the assets or debts involved, and other case specific factors.

Most legal matters are completed with an attorney charging an hourly rate, although fix price services are available for some tasks, as you can see from our website. An attorney will bill for each hour (or portion of an hour) when work is completed on the file. An attorney with more years of experience will charge a higher hourly rate, as that attorney will need to spend less time on an issue than an inexperienced attorney. Along the Wasatch Front, hourly billing rates are generally $200.00 to $375.00 per hour, depending on the type of case and the experience of the attorney. You should discuss hourly billing rates with one of our attorneys during your initial telephone contact and/or at your initial consultation. Hourly billing rates at T.R. Spencer Law Office, run between $195.00 per hour and $300.00 per hour, pending on which attorney you work with and the type of work involved.

In order to make the most out of your initial face-to-face meeting with one of our attorneys, it is a good idea to gather materials that would be helpful to the attorney before your meeting. Spend some time thinking about the kind of documentation that might be helpful, and how you can logically explain your situation to the attorney. A list of initial face-to-face materials for particular types of cases can be found elsewhere on this website.

Be prepared to provide your attorney with all of your contact information, including an email address, and an alternative number, such as the number of a parent or co-worker. For many types of cases, identifying information, such as Social Security Numbers, will also be requested by your attorney, as they must be provided to the Court or to Government agencies as part of the litigation process.

During your initial face-to-face meeting plan to get all of your questions answered. Depending on your situation, you should consider asking the following questions:

• What kind of cases do you normally handle?
• What percentage of your practice is devoted to this area of law?
• How many situations similar to mine have you handled in the past year?
• How many of these types of cases are resolved short of trial? (Either through mediation or other means of settlement)
• What aspects of my case are the most difficult to resolve?
• How do you keep in touch with your clients?
• Are you available after hours?
• Will other attorneys be working on my case?
• How do you bill your clients?
• Do you require a retainer? If so, how much?
• What do you think are the strengths and weaknesses of my case?

In addition to your personal contact information, Utah attorneys are required to provide the opposing party with what are called Initial Disclosures. Part of Initial Disclosure process in each Utah case requires each party to provide contact information for potential witnesses and relevant documents. Please come prepared to provide this information to your attorney.

Every client would like to believe that his or her case is the only case an attorney has to work on. However, unless you are someone like Donald Trump, your attorney has more than one case to keep track of. Don't expect your attorney to provide you with minute by minute updates. All law suits are deadline driven. The Court will set a schedule under which the various stages of a litigated matter must be completed. When the deadlines are met, no party or attorney (except in cases of an emergency) is permitted ambush the other side. If you have hired an attorney to answer a complaint, expect that the answer will be filed timely, but don't expect it to be done in the next five minutes. Your attorney will provide you with the Court imposed schedule when it is received by the Court. If you do not understand what those deadlines mean, then meet with your attorney and get a clarification.

The costs associated with litigation can be classified as either known or unknown. Know costs include Court filing fees, document service fees and deposition costs, so far as a per page cost is concerned. All other costs, including the cost to prepare pleadings to be filed with the Court, depend on the type of case, the number of claims, and a thousand other factors.

If your matter involves litigation (going to Court) as opposed to a transactional matter (such as the negotiation of a contract or mediating a dispute), the party who has the claim will electronically file what is called a Complaint" or "Petition" with the Court. This document will layout all the claims and allegations associated with case. The other party will then have the opportunity to file a document called "Answer" to the allegations set forth in the Complaint or Petition. The party filing an Answer can also file a document called a "Counterclaim" to layout any claims or allegations the Answering party may have against the party who filed the Complaint or Petition.