Not all lawyers have efficiency and experience in handling employment issues. An employment lawyer is the best person to deal with work-related disputes at your workplace. Some issues are not serious and can be resolved through communications but not all are the same.
Sometimes, it becomes important to consult a lawyer to get justice or compensation for workplace violations. It holds particularly true if your employer has sacked you on a flimsy ground, its conduct shows discriminatory practices, you are not paid a whopping sum in unpaid wages or your workplace-related issue involves complexities or comes under an ambiguous area of law.
How to Find a Wage and Hour Lawyer
There are several ways to find a good lawyer for handling your workplace-related disputes. Words of mouth do magic in such cases. If your friends, family members or neighbors don’t know a wage and hour attorney, they might have names of other lawyers who can recommend someone having specialization in this particular niche.
An important point to remember is individual preferences in case of choosing a lawyer are influenced by an array of intangible factors such as the professional’s personality and your comfort level while talking to the person. Followings are a few questions that you should ask a person, who has supplied a recommendation, to get an unbiased review of a particular Massachusetts wage and hour attorney:
- Did the attorney respond to your calls or email? If yes, was the person quick or late in responding to your queries?
- Did the lawyer give you enough time to explain your issues so that he/she could have a clear idea of the situation?
- Were all the bills sent to you properly recorded? Did the cost estimation that you received at the beginning of the case match what you had to spend after everything got settled?
- Did the lawyer handle everything personally or pass it to his/her junior working in the same firm?
If you cannot find a personal recommendation, approach any of the following organizations for a referral:
- State or Local Bar Associations
- Private Referral Services
- Local Legal Clinics
- Nonprofit Organizations
Make sure not to work with a lawyer who handles disputes in other niches such as, divorce related issues, personal injuries etc. Reject outright if anyone suggests a lawyer who has no expertise or efficiency in handling wage and hour cases.
Meeting a Wage and Hour Attorney
You may receive maximum five to six recommendations from your acquaintances. The challenge to choose one from the suggested names gets easier if you research a little on each lawyer. Visit their online profile or web pages to collect information as much as possible. In most states, you can contact the state’s bar association to confirm if the particular lawyer faces disciplinary charges for any kind of misconduct and is authorized to practice in the court. Some states maintain an online database that mentions the practicing lawyers’ names in an alphabetical order.
Keep in mind that just because you have hired a lawyer never means you cannot fire the person. If your relationship with the lawyer does not work out well, you have right to switch to another attorney for takeover of your case. Remember that justice delayed is justice denied.
