Choosing the right lawyer is very important but also extremely tough.
It’s important to find a right and trusted fit because this is the person you will be telling all your darkest secrets to and revealing your personal information like where all your assets are.
Finding this perfect mate is also extremely tough. There’s a lack of information (before Immortalize was launched) and trying to compare whatever little information you can gather is a dreadful pain.
Unpleasant Customer Service
In our attempt to get pricings from law firms through mystery calling, we found that to get an answer for even the simplest question like “How much does your will cost?” takes between 20 minutes to 6 weeks (some didn’t even answer their calls or reply to emails).
There’s very little customer service to talk about and the experience was generally unpleasant.
In today’s service-oriented world where consumers want information now, this is just unacceptable. That’s why we gathered the information on behalf of everyone to make it easier for all to find the right lawyer.
Finding The Perfect Fit
Through this article, you will get an idea of what factors to consider when choosing your lawyer, why those factors matter and see how to easily filter through the data we’ve collected for you to find your perfect fit.
Let’s start with an overview of the factors to consider. These factors are a combination of your constraints and your personal preferences.
Your Constraints
Type of Service Provider
Type of Services
Office Locations & Operating Locations
Specialized/Other Services
Your Personal Preferences
Mode of Contact
Firm Size
Price
Service Style
Reviews
We'll discuss them individually, starting from your constraints.
Type of Service Provider
There are many life, death, estate and legacy planning providers, going from online wills, financial firms, insurance companies all through to funeral parlor. For the purpose of this article, we will only look at lawyers (but feel free to explore others).
Type of Services
Not all lawyers do wills. In fact, in our conversation with lawyers, some have expressed that they try to avoid doing wills if they can because it’s not very profitable and there’s a high liability.
Find law firms that actually say they do wills.
Office Locations & Operating Locations
Next, office location and operating location and why they matter.
Office locations are where a law firm have an office or physical presence so that you can arrange for an in-person meeting. For example, if you live in Australia and needs to do a Singapore will, you may want to engage a law firm that has an office in Australia so that you can sign your will in person.
Operating locations are where the law firms/lawyer can operate in. For example, the law firm/lawyer may have an office only in Singapore but is licensed to advice on matters in Singapore and Australia. This will be applicable when you have assets in more than one location as the will you do in one location may not be applicable to your assets in all locations.
Specialized & Other Services
Not every lawyer can advice on Syariah law for Muslims or is an expert in LGBT+ estate planning matters. If you have such needs, find providers that can advice on such specialized areas.
Next, let's narrow the search to accommodate for your personal preferences.
Mode of Contact
In today’s Covid-19 world, you may prefer to have conversations with your lawyer over video call first and go down to the office only when you need to. Alternatively, you may prefer the traditional way of seeing your lawyer in person.
Immortalize Search Tip: Select "Bookable via Immortalize" to seek out law firms that you can get real time information and/or book instantly.
Firm Size
Some people prefer bigger law firms for their wide presence while others prefer to do their private matters with smaller, more relatable law firms.
Price
This is probably the key decision factor for many. Here’s a disclaimer because this area is controversial.
We have collected price information based on what’s on the law firms’ website, through mystery calling and also voluntary by providers who have signed up on Immortalize platform and graciously agreed on giving price transparency to the public.
For those without a pricing or companies not on Immortalize platform, it could be because
1. They complained and didn’t want price transparency. For law firms who aren’t for helping make it more convenient for you, we are fine with dropping them off your radar.
2. We didn’t manage to get it.
3. We haven’t got around to getting it (we will get there soon!).
Lesson Learned
One thing we learn from collecting pricing information and doing mystery callings are
1. You always need to check what’s included in the price – the cheapest ones often have many restrictions like limits on number of beneficiaries; and
2. Everything else the same, does the more expensive offering means you are getting better advice? There really isn’t an objective standard for this.
If you decide to go to a lawyer, what you really should be paying for is someone’s time and the quality of their advice. Make sure you choose a lawyer that spends sufficient time to understand your circumstances and what you want.
Once you have shortlisted some firms, you will be able to compare offering details.
[Note: The price comparison function will be available soon. For now, you can view the law firm's pricings through their booking page.]
Service Style
Some lawyers are professional and straightforward while others are personable and thoughtful. What kind of advisor can you relate most to and work best with? For lawyers on Immortalize’s platform, we have sought to enhance convenience for you by profiling them.
You can get more information about individual lawyers through their profile link or our interviews with them. [See profiles of the best, the most outstanding and the legitimate providers.]
Reviews
What’s a marketplace without recommendations from other users? As with all precautions regarding reviews, good reviews can often be fake while bad reviews may sometimes be from unreasonable clients. We make the system as fair as possible for both sides so you can make the judgement call.
Conclusion
We have now gone through all the key factors you need to know to find the right lawyer for you.
Once you have shortlisted a few, make use of our other functions like Quick Consult, where you can have a quick chat with the lawyer, ask them more details on what you need to know and interview them before committing to one.
Start your legacy planning journey now.
Other Useful Guides:
Find a professional, compare prices, and kickstart your estate planning
Disclaimer: Nothing in this article or site should be construed as providing legal advice or advice of any sort. The information provided are general in nature and may become inaccurate over time. Please consult a professional for advice.
For any issues or queries, please contact j@immortalize.io
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