Internet Business: Selecting a Good Lawyer

Legal issues involving the Internet are potentially so broad that there may be not be anyone out there who could be called a pure "Internet lawyer." But that doesn't mean there aren't certain skills that you should look for if you are doing business online or if you otherwise have legal issues or problems involving the Internet.

• If you have legal issues involving information technology ("IT"), you're no doubt going to want to look for a lawyer with expertise on intellectual property issues
• If you are doing or thinking about doing business online, you should consider hiring a business or corporate lawyer with expertise involving e-commerce. You may already have a working relationship with a lawyer who can assist you on routine matters, as many business lawyers have developed some degree of expertise in e-commerce as the Internet has continued to evolve. At a minimum, this lawyer could initially assess your legal situation and try to come up with a game plan to deal with it.
• If you have a litigation matter, you will probably want to take a different tack since the law can be quite specialized in this area.

if you don't already have a lawyer, a great place to start your search for one is right here at lawyers.com. You can do a free search to come up with a list of lawyers by using the Find A Lawyer search box that can be accessed from anywhere on lawyers.com. (You should see a search box on the right side of your computer screen.)

You can then use the following guidelines to do some initial screening on the list of lawyers that you have and narrow it down to three or four prospective candidates:

• Look at biographical information, including whatever you can find on Web sites for the lawyers and their law firms. Do they appear to have expertise with the Internet or intellectual property issues? If they profess to have expertise in this area, they should certainly have a good Web site with lots of information on it.
• Use search engines to surf the Internet. Do searches under the name of the lawyer and his or her law firm. Can you find any articles, FAQs or other informational pieces the lawyer has done that give you a level of comfort? Cross check your references by doing searches using key words such as "intellectual property attorneys" or even try "Internet attorneys."
• Ask other people in your line of business if they have heard of the attorneys and what they think about them.
• Contact your state bar association or visit their Web site to find out if the lawyer is in good standing.
• Check out online directories or the yellow pages of your telephone directory. Does the lawyer advertise? If so, do you find it compelling? Helpful? Tasteful?
• Check out the online archives of your local newspaper or other publications. Has there been any publicity about the lawyer or the cases that he or she has handled?

Consider any special needs you have. For example, could you benefit from an attorney who speaks a language other than English?

You shouldn't necessarily cross a lawyer off your list just because he or she didn't have the time to meet with you on short notice. Good lawyers are busy, so they may not be able to spend as much time as they would like with prospective clients. You should also anticipate that whomever you hire may have to delegate a lot of responsibility to his or her staff. How does the lawyer's staff treat you? At a minimum, you should expect to be treated courteously and professionally by both the staff and the lawyer.

The chances are that you'll have to pay any attorney that you retain on an hourly basis. Rates can be competitive, so it may be to your benefit to shop around. Lawyers with a good reputation in this area are going to charge more. It's sometimes worthwhile to pay more for a lawyer or a law firm with a great reputation in a given area of expertise.

Is this a one-time problem or a recurring situation? If you are involved in a litigation matter, it may be a one-time experience such that you want to hire the most tenacious litigator you can find even thought it will pretty clearly not be a longtime relationship. But if you have a business where you're routinely dealing with legal issues and problems, you should think about retaining a lawyer or a law firm with broad resources to assist your business on a continuing basis.

While he or she may end up delegating work to new associates, you will probably want to hire a lawyer with at least a few years of experience.

Look to see if a lawyer is affiliated with associations that cater to your needs. Having a lawyer who is involved in a chamber of commerce, software associations or other local organizations may also be a good sign, depending on the your legal needs.

Although it may be less important when you are already operating in an online environment, you will probably want to hire a lawyer with a local office.

Before you hire a lawyer: