Finding an Attorney guide and scorecard

Building a shortlist

Do not start with an advertisement. Adverts tell you who spends most on marketing.

• Your state bar association ¹
• Other parents, asked about the experience rather than the outcome
• Any lawyer you already trust, in any field
• Your state parent center or Family-to-Family center, who will not recommend a firm but often know families who have been through it ⁴
• Public court dockets in your county, which show who actually files these cases

Aim for three.

Firm being scored

Firm / date / who I met / who would do the work

The questions

Ask every one, of every firm, and write the answer down.

1. How many birth injury cases have you personally handled?
2. How many have you taken to trial, and when was the last?
3. Who will do the work day to day, and who is at trial?
4. What would you want answered about this case?
5. What weaknesses can you already see?
6. What is the deadline, and on what basis?
7. Contingency percentage, and does it change at trial?
8. Do costs come out before or after your fee?
9. Who pays costs if we lose?
10. How long do cases like this take?
11. What will be asked of my family, and when?
12. How often will I hear from you, and from whom?
13. What happens if we disagree about settling?
14. Can I take the fee agreement home?

What a strong answer sounds like

Score specificity, not confidence.

Weak: "We have handled hundreds of these." Strong: "About fifteen HIE cases in the last decade. Two went to trial."

Weak: "You have a strong case." Strong: "I cannot say yet. I need the strips, the cord gases and the MRI, reviewed by an obstetrician and a neonatologist."

Weak: "Standard fee." Strong: "Forty percent, and costs come out before the fee is calculated. Here is a worked example." ²

Weak: "These cases are worth millions." Strong: "Value depends on a life care plan that has not been written. Anyone giving you a number today is guessing."

Red flags

• A guarantee, or a number, at the first meeting
• Pressure to sign today
• Contact you did not initiate, soon after a birth
• Refusing to say who will do the work
• Vagueness about fees and costs ²
• No answer on trial experience
• Dismissing your questions
• Any suggestion of altering or withholding records
• Not licensed in your state, with no clear explanation of local counsel ¹

Not a red flag: being told your case is weak, or being turned down. Ask why. If two or three firms decline for the same reason, that reason is real.

My comparison

Firm / specific experience / trial record / clarity on money / did they tell me something I did not want to hear / did I understand them