Choosing the right lawyer can be challenging, especially when you don’t understand the law. Most lawyers focus on specific aspects of the law. This can be useful when a case falls squarely within a particular practice area. However, it is less helpful when your case includes issues that span several practice areas.
When your case involves issues that span several practice areas, you may need the expertise of multiple attorneys. These legal collaborations, each bringing a unique set of skills, are designed to provide you with the best possible service. The optimal form for your case depends on the details and the lawyers involved, ensuring a comprehensive and effective approach to your legal needs.
The legal field is one of the most common places to find partnerships. Lawyers may form partnerships for financial reasons like shared costs or consistency of work. However, many also form partnerships because they want to serve more clients.
Oliver Law Office stands out in the legal field. As a women-led law firm, we have several attorneys, all of whom have co-counsel relationships. This unique approach allows us to provide our clients with a diverse range of legal expertise.
At Oliver Law Office, we believe in the power of collaboration. If an attorney takes a case and encounters aspects of the law that they aren’t very familiar with, they collaborate with a partner to provide the client with exceptional service. This collaborative approach within the law firm ensures that we always deliver the best results for our clients.
Co-counsel agreements offer benefits in both civil and criminal law. A lawyer may bring in a co-counsel from an outside law firm if they need to:
Typically, when we seek legal co-counsel services, we seek an advisor with specialized knowledge about a particular aspect of the case. However, sometimes, that aspect of the case is so significant that we need the co-counsel to take a more meaningful role.
n that situation, we will agree to be co-lead counsel with an outside attorney. We prefer to do this with law firms we have previously worked with because it requires a lot of trust and teamwork.
Imagine the scenario. You live in New York, and you were driving through central Ohio when a pickup truck smashed into your car. Because the accident was in Ohio, it would be in an Ohio courtroom if your case went to trial.
This puts you in a challenging position. Hiring an Ohio lawyer means you have no reasonable way to meet your lawyer face-to-face. However, hiring a New York attorney means your lawyer may be unable to practice law in Ohio.
Local counsel arrangements can solve this problem. In this situation, our law firm would act as your local counsel while a New York attorney primarily worked on your case. This is a win-win situation because you can directly speak with the lawyer doing most of the work, but an attorney in Ohio can handle local matters easily.
When the situation is reversed, we may work with local counsel in another state.
In rare situations, we may want an attorney with unique knowledge of a facet of the law to handle the examination of specific witnesses. This comes up most often in product liability cases where a witness may have expert knowledge. In such situations, the lawyer must understand the topic well enough to ask the right questions and immediately notice important details with testimony.
Usually, we only need this co-counsel to question a single witness. But that is enough to make it worth working with another law firm.
Sometimes, a potential client will request our services, and we will determine that we can’t take the case. For example, we do not provide criminal defense legal services. If you were recently arrested and charged with a crime, we are not the right law firm to help you. However, that doesn’t mean we’ll leave you out in the cold.
We refer Ohio attorneys when someone comes to us with the wrong type of case. Oliver Law Office has referral arrangements with trustworthy law firms that share our commitment to excellence and ethics.
Typically, we refer cases to other law firms when the issues involved are outside the bounds of the types of law that we practice. However, this isn’t always the case. There are other situations where we might refer you to another law firm.
While this is unusual, we would have a conflict of interest. For example, if we are representing a client who is also the target of your lawsuit, it would be unethical for us to take your case. Instead, we will direct you to another law firm that practices the same type of law in Ohio.
At Oliver Law Office, we believe that every client deserves to get their attorney’s full attention. If we have enough clients that we can’t give you that level of attention, we will decline your case and direct you to another reputable Ohio law firm.
While we may take some cases outside of Ohio and make local counsel agreements, this arrangement may need to be clarified occasionally. For example, we would likely be a bad fit if you do not live in Ohio and your case is outside Ohio. Rather than force the situation, we would direct you to a local attorney who would be a better option.
In these situations, it is our duty to our clients to communicate why co-counsel is needed and how it will improve their case results. If we don’t properly communicate that, we are doing them a disservice.
If you have any questions about your case, how we will approach it, or whether outside counsel is appropriate, please ask during your case evaluation.
