How To Choose The Best Thailand Attorney For Me?

Thailand Attorney Choices

Choosing a Thailand lawyer to represent you is an important decision. This decision could be the difference between going to jail or remaining a free man. Of course, not all Thailand legal cases have such drastic consequences but generally speaking you will be investing significant time and effort in the process and it makes sense to hire the strongest Thai legal team you can afford.

First Steps:

Thailand Legal Research online

Nowadays there are a wealth of directory resources available online to help you create a shortlist. Some are more reputable than others so choose carefully. We’d recommend a simple Google for the expertise your looking for e.g. ‘Thailand family lawyer”, “Personal Injury Thailand”, “Thailand divorce lawyer”.

Google spends millions of dollars to ensure the most useful listings appear at the top of your search so this is probably the fastest way to select some firms to schedule meetings with.

Ask friends, colleagues and other lawyers for recommendations and referrals

Trust is a big part of the client lawyer relationship and if your personal network has recently encountered similiar legal issues to yourself, perhaps your friends or colleagues can give you some insight into their experiences.

Set up consultations with at least 2 Thai legal firms

Many lawyers offer legal consultations for free or for a low fee. Remember that at this meeting, you are not going to receive extensive legal advice (that comes later), but you are conducting an interview of the lawyer to determine if you feel comfortable with the lawyer’s expertise, and you trust him to take on your case.

We recommend the following questions to ask in this meeting to get a better feeling for your Thailand lawyers expertise:

1. Ask about the attorney’s credentials, including his or her education and experience.
2. What experience does the lawyer have in your type of legal matter?
3. How long has he been in practice?
4. What is his track record of success?
5. What percentage of his caseload is dedicated to handling your type of legal problem?
6. Does he provide any special skills or have special certifications pertinent to your case?
7. Does he outsource any key legal tasks relating to your case?
8. Can he provide references from other clients?
9. How will he inform you of developments in your case?
10. Does he have a written fee agreement or representation agreement?
11. Ask about fees, including whether you will pay an hourly rate or be billed a flat fee. If you expect that you will require the services of the attorney on a regular basis, ask whether you would need to pay a sum of money to the lawyer upfront to retain his or her services. This “retainer” payment is essentially the prepayment of legal fees to be used in the future.

Expect the consultation to last approximately 40 minutes to an hour, depending on the complexity of your case. When completed, you may tell the lawyer that you want to think about your options before retaining the lawyer, or, if you feel comfortable, tell the lawyer that you would like to hire him or her on the spot.

How much will it cost?

As mentioned earlier the fees should be clear and transparent and within your budget. When hiring a Thailand based lawyer, the legal process can be rather slow so a fixed fee may save you money in the long run.