Guide to Louisville Law Firms
With over a thousand practicing lawyers working nearby, Louisville can be a confusing place to try to find a law firm. It's even harder to narrow down your choices of Louisville law firms if you don't know exactly what you're looking for. This guide will help you to understand what kind of Louisville law firm will best suit your needs so that you can narrow down your options.
Before You Start
It's important to understand what you want out of your experience with a Louisville law firm before you really start looking. To start, get out a pen and paper and write down what legal problem you are looking for Louisville law firms to help you with. Try to make the description of your problem just a sentence long, so that it stays focused. After this sentence, write down your ideal outcome—what resolution would make you happiest?
After you have written down your problem and its ideal solutions, start thinking about what you want from the Louisville law firm you hire. Do you want to find Louisville law firms that are all business and very professional, or do you prefer a more relaxed and personal touch? Do you want to find an aggressive lawyer? An experienced one? Whatever your preferences are, write them down. There's no right or wrong answer—being honest about your needs will help you to find the right Louisville law firms for you.
Big Law Firms
One of the best ways to narrow down your early search for a Louisville law firm is to figure out whether you want a large or small firm handling your case. The largest firms in Louisville have over 50 attorneys, while the smallest have just one or two. Both large and small Louisville law firms have distinct advantages and disadvantages, so there is no “one size fits all” law firm that will be best for every client.
Here are some signs that a larger Louisville law firm may be your best option:
ñ You need a “deep bench” of lawyers who can handle not only your immediate legal problem, but any legal troubles you encounter in the future. Because of their higher number of lawyers, large Louisville law firms may be a good choice for ongoing representation.
ñ You want your Louisville law firm to have a lot of support staff, and don't mind sometimes talking to staff instead of your attorney.
ñ You want legal representation for a corporation rather than a person. Large Louisville law firms generally have substantially more experience representing large corporate clients, and may be able to better anticipate the needs of these clients.
ñ You are comfortable in a formal, professional environment and expect your Louisville law firm to maintain a professional, businesslike decorum in all their interactions with clients.
This may not sound like the kind of legal representation you want—and that's okay. Big Louisville law firms tend to cater to a specific kind of client. If you are a first-time legal client or prefer a different type of atmosphere, you may be substantially more comfortable with a smaller Louisville law firm. Even the prices of bigger Louisville law firms may put them out of the running—expect to pay around $200 an hour for a less experienced attorney at these firms, while partners bill at a rate of around $400-500 an hour.
Small and Mid-Sized Law Firms
If you are an individual client on a budget, you probably want to look at small firms exclusively. The much wider range of prices offered by small Louisville law firms can help you to find a lawyer without breaking your budget. A smaller Louisville law firm may be more willing to offer payment plans if you cannot pay your full bill upfront, and may also offer low flat rate pricing for basic legal services like filing for divorce or bankruptcy.
You may also find that you prefer small Louisville la w firms because some offer more direct access to attorneys rather than making clients talk to secretaries first. You may also find that a smaller Louisville law firm will have more of a personal touch, and the entire staff is much more likely to know your name and case.
Smaller firms can have as few as one or two lawyers. These smallest Louisville law firms can vary widely in terms of personality and “feel” of the firm. You may want to get recommendations for a small Louisville law firm from friends and relatives who have had experience dealing with similar legal issues to yours, if possible.
General Practice Law Firms
Even just a few decades ago, most Louisville law firms were so-called “general practice” firms that accepted most clients for a very broad range of cases. As legal fields have become more specialilzed, the general practice Louisville law firm is becoming a rarer breed, but for many clients, these firms still offer a very good option for legal services.
If you're looking for a lasting lawyer/client relationship rather than Louisville law firms to take on a single case, a general practice Louisville law firm may be the best way to initiate that relationship. The lawyers at these firms can represent you for a long time to come, regardless of the types of legal issues you have. Clients looking for a Louisville law firm for just the duration of one case, however, may prefer to choose a specialist firm.
Specialty Law Firms
Most Louisville law firms today are now specialist firms. This means that the cases they take are limited to a few legal practice areas. There are specialist law firms in Louisville that specialize in personal injury, medical malpractice, divorce and family law, labor and employment law, tax law, bankruptcy, and many other fields.
Once you have decided which specialty category your case falls into, you can begin researching different specialty Louisville law firms so that you can find which Louisville law firm you most want to represent you.
