Wednesday, 17 February 2016

What You Should Know Before Hiring Washington DC Immigration Lawyers

By Marie Stewart


When you have to deal with issues related to immigration, you should consider hiring an immigration lawyer. It is important to note the situations when help from such an expert is required, and the qualities you have to look for before you make a choice. For residents of Washington DC immigration lawyers can be hired from within the state, or outside. This is because immigration issues are usually federal so a lawyer from any state can help you.

Most people are usually uncertain whether to involve an attorney in their affairs or not. If you are undecided, you will not make the necessary decisions. The availability of information from the immigration department might also influence you not to hire a lawyer. However, you should realize that state departments are not liable or even responsible for all the information they provide. If you interpret it wrongly, you will be fully responsible. It is therefore important to seek legal expertise.

Sometimes, you might find people who call themselves immigration consultants. You should not consider such people legal experts because most operate without a license. Even if you might save money when you get help from such a person, you should realize that there are limited recourse options should the person turn out to be dishonest.

It may not be very easy to evaluate and choose an attorney to represent you because there are so many offering these services. You can use the fees charged by the attorneys as your yardstick when evaluating them. The evaluation is also good because it will help you know the current market rates. Any attorney whose rate is way beyond what others are charging might not be genuine. You also need to find out whether an attorney has faced disciplinary actions in the past.

After serving many clients, a lawyer will cultivate a certain reputation. This means you have to confirm whether the prospective lawyer you have in mind has a positive reputation. If there is a lot of criticism about the services offered by the attorney, you should not hire him or her.

It is better to choose an attorney who specializes in this area only. Immigration laws keep changing with time, which means that the lawyer must be up to date with the latest developments. Someone practicing in different areas of law might not be able to keep up with these changes.

The ratio of lawyers to paralegals in a firm matters. Many firms in Washington, DC hire several paralegals to assist their lawyers in handling cases. This way, they can keep costs manageable. However, if the ratio is more three paralegals per lawyer, it means that most aspects of your case will not be handled by the attorney you hire.

You should not forget to check whether an attorney is handling too much work. When an attorney takes too many cases, it becomes hard to concentrate on the details of each case. Even if the attorney seems over-qualified for the job, you should stay away if you think the workload seems too heavy. The discussed tips will help you find a good attorney for your immigration issues. This way, you will have sufficient information about your case. You will also be confident that you have an attorney who can concentrate on your case fully.




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