When you have a legal case on your hands, like something as important as a criminal defense case or a personal injury lawsuit, you need to know that you can depend on the attorney and law firm that you choose to help you manage it and represent you. The problem that can come up when looking for a trustworthy lawyer is that every legal professional will say that they are great at what they do, and every client review has the chance to be biased or only reflect that client’s specific experience. What can you rely on if you shouldn’t always take an attorney’s or a review’s words at face value? By varying your sources of information about a legal professional, you can better learn about how they can help you.
News Stories Can Tell the Whole Story
When you want to know what’s happening in your area or the world at large, you go to a trusted news source. What you might not realize is that you can do the same thing when you want to know what attorney can handle your case, especially for criminal defense matters.
Check trustworthy and reputable news sources for stories and articles about cases similar to yours in your city or state. A quick Google search filtered by ‘News’ will often bring up stories about historic wins and complex cases that captured the nation’s attention. The attorneys and law firms mentioned in those stories are likely to be trustworthy and reliable, particularly in cases similar to the ones featured in those stories.
Two important things to keep in mind about when a news story is written about a lawyer’s success:
- Major news sources have reputations to uphold, so they fact-check their information and don’t lie.
- News stories in major publications are written and published in a controlled environment that stops them from being manufactured or fabricated, unlike most online review sources like Yelp.
Experiences from People Who Know the Attorney
Before newspapers became so popular and well before newspapers turned into online news sites and apps, people learned through word-of-mouth and secondhand experiences. When you need to hire an attorney for your case, don’t underestimate the value of directly talking to someone who has worked with that attorney before. It should be emphasized that speaking directly to a former client or an attorney who acted as co-counsel with the attorney in question is important, rather than just relying on anything they have posted online like a review. You’ll want to be able to ask them questions about their experience directly and gauge their responses then and there, which is more valuable than trying to pick apart their online post to decide what they really want to say.
Even better, if you can talk to a friend or family member who has worked with the attorney you are thinking of hiring, do it. You know what your friends and family prefer and dislike, so you will be able to easily pick up the good and bad things about the attorney if they can tell you about their experience.
Don’t Forget to Check Case Results
Real-world experience in any practice or field is irreplaceable. To find a trustworthy attorney, check if they share their case results and look for a case similar to yours. Past results cannot guarantee future results, but they do give you an idea of what the attorney and law firm are capable of and what types of cases they handle more often than not.
If a case result includes the name of the case – which will usually look something like “State v. <Defendant’s Name>” – you can go a step further and look up publicly available information for that case. With this method of research, you might even be able to see if your case will be handled in the same court, and then benefit from that attorney’s familiarity with that court and its judges. (Keep in mind that some case results might be confidential, so the exact name of the case might not be shared.)
Online Reviews Can Be Helpful, Of Course
Although personal biases can ultimately change the reliability of an online review or testimonial about an attorney or law firm, that isn’t to say that online reviews can’t be helpful. One way you can help avoid tilted or dishonest reviews is to look around at more than one online review source and determine what people have to say on average. For example, if one person says a law firm was slow to return calls, it looks bad, but if 10 other people say they were happy with how the law firm handled communications, then it suggests that there might have been uncommon complications with that person’s case in particular.
Customers tend to only leave a review when they are really happy or really angry with a product or service, and this remains true in the field of legal services. Overall, you will have to use your better judgment when browsing online review sources.
Check Out Patituce & Associates Reviews, News & Recent Wins
At Patituce & Associates, we believe that we should be your first choice when you need criminal defense representation in Ohio. Don’t just take our word for it, though. We invite you to learn about us through media mentions in major newsgroups that pride themselves on accurate information. We ask that you browse our catalog of recent and impressive case results that detail just some of the many ways we have found victory for clients in difficult situations. We encourage you to talk to your friends, family, and coworkers from throughout Ohio about any cases we have handled for them. Of course, we also advise you to look at our many online reviews from different sources that overwhelmingly include testimonials from satisfied clients.
Yes, here at Patituce & Associates, we are confident that you will want us to represent you during your criminal defense case in Ohio because our experience and reputation speak for themselves, as well as countless others who have seen our work and recognized what we can do for our clients.
Want to know more about Patituce & Associates and what sets us apart as a trustworthy and accomplished criminal defense law office in Ohio? Feel free to talk to us directly by calling (440) 771-1175 or using an online contact form to request a consultation. Thank you.
