Whether you're being faced with a lawsuit or you intend to file one, you're going to need someone to represent you in a court of law. While you do have the option of representing yourself, you can be assured that your opponent most likely will not. Instead, you'll be facing someone who has spent a good portion of their life studying and performing their job where you may have only witnessed legal proceedings on TV.

It can be difficult, however, to figure out what sort of lawyer to hire. There's many different fields out there and all with varying levels of cost, experience, and strengths. This article will go over a few things to keep in mind when figuring out how to choose the right lawyer to best represent you.

1. Know Their Field

While some lawyers dabble in a bit of everything, most have a specialized field of expertise. These different fields of law can vastly determine who you seek to represent you. After all, if you want someone to represent you in a case of child custody, then you don't want to hire a lawyer who has considerable experience centered around automobile accidents. As such, do a little digging into a few different types of lawyers and discover where their experience mainly hails from. To get the best representation for your case, find someone who has experience fighting for or against in that particular field of law.

2. Cost Means Nothing

There seems to be a common thought that the more expensive someone or something is, then the better quality they are. This is simply put not true. Many local lawyers with little more than a budget-friendly NonStopSigns.com sign hanging above their small office door often offer affordable prices and are incredibly experienced and knowledgeable about their profession. Instead of emptying your wallet for a law firm with a skyrise office and high prices to match, you should instead consider a lawyer who has an affordable price and the matching amount of experience that you need.

3. Experience, Experience, Experience

As with any job or service, what it all comes down to is how much an experience a person has. For a lawyer, this isn't any different. The more cases a lawyer serves, the more they learn and can adapt their practice. Those lessons can then benefit you. While younger firms and practices have their merits, it's always better to side with experience. However, you should keep in mind that this experience may be misleading. Certain firms may use an accumulative amount of experience instead of a specific estimate of experience of each lawyer. In this way, they can often explain away the higher cost of their services.

To make sure you're not fooled, research the practice and lawyers themselves. When you find someone that appears to have the experience that you are comfortable with then you should give them a call.

4. Meet

The last method to keep in mind is when you meet with the lawyer that you're interested in representing you. Many lawyers offer a free consultation. Use that time wisely and ask them about their history. You can receive a good judge of their character through the interview. Through this meeting, you can rely on your gut and instinct to make that final decision for you as to whether this is the lawyer or not to best represent you and your legal interests.