You work best with your attorney if you act sincere, honest and friendly. You should also consider the following suggestions:

1) Ask questions. Ask your attorney if you want to know something or do not understand something. For example, if you do not understand an answer, ask your attorney to explain it again. There are many points of law that even attorneys do not fully understand, do not be ashamed to ask questions. The reason why many people have had bad experiences with an attorney may have been because the questions were not sufficient or because they had an attorney who did not take the time to explain things in detail.

2) Give your attorney full and complete information. Everything you say to your attorney is confidential. An attorney can lose his/her license to practice if he or she discloses information without your permission. So do not hold back in telling your attorney the relevant facts of your case. Tell all, although it may not seem important. There are many things that may seem of minor significance for most people but that can change the outcome of a case. Do not contain information out of fear of damaging your case. It will definitely hurt your case if your attorney does not know something on time and he discovered it in the Judicial Court through opposing counsel! If your attorney knows everything beforehand, he/she could better plan to eliminate or reduce the damage that would affect your case.

3) Accept Reality. Listen and accept what your attorney tells you regarding the law and the legal system. It would do no good to argue with your attorney because the law or the system does not work the way you think it should. For example, if your attorney tells you the judge cannot hear your case for another two weeks, do not demand that the judge accommodate a hearing for the next day. If you refuse to accept reality, just be prepared to be disappointed. Remember: It is not the attorney’s fault that the system is not perfect, or that the law does not say what you would like it to say.

4) Be patient. This means to be patient with the system (which is often slow as mentioned before) and also be patient with your attorney. Do not expect that he/she will return your phone call within an hour; he/she may not be unable to return it the same day. Most attorneys are very busy and exhausted.

5) Talk to the legal assistant. Your attorney’s legal assistant is a valuable source of information. So be nice to him/her and make an effort to meet him/her. Often they can answer your questions and not charge for the time you take in speaking to them.

6) Be on time. This applies to appointments with your attorney, and court hearings.

7) How to save money: Of course you do not want to spend unnecessary amounts of money for an attorney. Here you will find suggestions you can do to avoid excessive legal fees. Do not make unnecessary phone calls to your attorney. Give the information to the legal assistant whenever possible. First direct inquiries and questions to the legal assistant and the legal assistant will refer the questions to the attorney if she/he cannot answer your question.

Plan your phone calls to get down to business, taking less time from your attorney.

Do some preparatory work, for example, collect and review documents yourself.

8) Prepare for appointments. Have all the documents relating to your case in your possession, plan your visit ahead of time, make an outline of the topics you want discussed and the questions you wish to ask your attorney.