Oregon State Bar Information and guidance on choosing your lawyer.

Choosing the Right Lawyer for You

Make sure you feel comfortable with the lawyer's attitude, responsiveness, stated abilities and experience. You may also wish to check the lawyer's membership record with the Oregon State Bar. To inquire about a lawyer's membership record, call (503) 620-0222 from the Portland area, or (800) 452-8260 from elsewhere in Oregon. Once you have chosen a lawyer to call, have a list of questions prepared. You may wish to visit the "Public Info" section of the Oregon State Bar's website — www.osbar.org/public — and read a little bit about the area of law you have questions about. Remember: The more you understand about your legal issue, the less time the lawyer may have to spend answering your questions, saving you money. Take some time to think things over, and then make an appointment to talk further with the lawyer who seems best for you. Remember to ask what you should bring to your appointment and what the cost of the initial appointment will be.

Oregon State Bar Attorney Referral Service

Free Oregon State Bar (OSB) Attorney Referral Services can help you find and retain a qualified and ethical Oregon personal injury attorney or an Oregon lawyer for any type of Oregon legal matter. You might also be interested in the information the Oregon State Bar has to help you find and hire the right lawyer for your case. The bar has an excellent general explanation of what to expect and materials to help guide you through the process.

When you decide to hire the lawyer, make sure that the scope of his or her work and the fees to complete that work are confirmed for you in writing. Get a clearly written fee agreement that you have a chance to review before signing. Having a written fee agreement will help avoid disagreements about what the lawyer agreed to do for you and what you agreed to pay for that work.

Before you retain an Oregon personal injury attorney, research the attorney with the OSB Bar Member Research tool where you can learn about the specific attorney's Oregon State Bar disciplinary history. An attorney may have been previously disciplined or supspended for ripping off a client or other ethical issues by the Oregon State Bar.

Oregon State Bar Member Disciplinary History Research Tool

The Oregon State Bar Member research tool is available on the Oregon State Bar website.

To research an Oregon attorney you are considering hiring all you need is the attorney's name.

Using the free online Member Disciplinary Research Tool, once you've located the attorney by name, then click: "Show Disciplinary History(underneeth Bar Member's Information) which will show the particular attorney's disciplinary history with Oregon State Bar disciplinary actions.

If you have questions, contact the Oregon State Bar

disciplineonweb@osbar.org

503.431.6394

toll-free in Oregon 800.452.8260 x 394

Lawyer Ethics and Legal Malpractice

If you have had trouble with a lawyer you can submit a complaint about your issue with the Oregon State Bar.

There are different types of ethics complaints and malpractice for lawyers.

Lawyers can do a lot of bad things like stealing money or not acting in their client's best interest. Or sometimes a lawyer's fees may violate the terms of professional conduct.

Lawyers can also make mistakes or be negligent in how they handled your case, and this can amount to legal malpractice. For instance, personal injury attorneys may mess up on the statute of limitations or didn't send a tort claim notice within six months of the date of the accident or they didn't send it to the correct agency with the notification and specifics of your claim.

The Oregon State Bar requires all lawyers to carry professional liability insurance.

If the mistake causes a loss, you may be able to recover through a malpractice suit. Legal malpractice is the failure of a lawyer to represent a client in a way that conforms with the legal standard of care in the community.

If a personal injury lawyer messed up on your statute of limitations, there may still be rememedy for you.

I work with a lawyer who specializes in legal malpractice and working in conjunction there may still be a monetary settlement for you.

Contact me so that we can discuss the circumstances of your case on how to proceed.