Do I need a Lawyer for my Legal Issue?
What do they do anyway?
If you are asking yourself this question, then I think what you need is to change your frame of mind.
A lawyer is a service provider like any other profession or trade.
Lawyers work within a set of rules and regulations day in day out and have established experience of dealing with legal issues that are commonplace.
When legal issues become more complex, lawyers know where to find the right solutions or how to develop an outcome that is desirable, or even necessary.
Time dealing with a legal issue is saved when you use somebody that is skilled, knowledgeable and experienced.
It may be possible for them to answer your legal problem in the space of a phone call and save you valuable time, energy and stress.
It is that knowledge, skill and expertise that you are paying for when you consult a lawyer.
A good lawyer can deal with legal problems quickly, efficiently and properly because of that knowledge, training and experience that they have established.
The frame of mind you should be in is one which asks the question:
Do I want a lawyer?
I can just do it myself!
The legal system lawyers work within is not secret.
It comprises thousands of pages of legislation and regulations enacted by the government (State and Federal), all of which are available to the public to read and download from the legislatures’ websites, for free.
Further, the legal principles that are applied by the judiciary (the Judges and Magistrates) are formed and interpreted from an enormous history of caselaw which is, again, generally available to the public to read and download, for free.
Check out our useful links page to see where you can obtain these.
There are also an abundance of books published that cover distinct topics of the law, provide in depth analysis, interpretation and commentary on distinct legal issues, and the principles of law that might apply to your particular legal matter.
These books are available to purchase by the public and many of the most respected books are available to borrow from a public library, again, for free.
My point is, if anyone was to put their mind to researching their legal issue by consulting these resources, then they wouldn’t need a lawyer and would be capable enough to deal with their own particular legal problem (but certainly not another person’s legal issues).
Every lawyer you encounter has obtained a law degree that requires them to obtain enough legal knowledge to provide you with an immediate shortcut through all that reading, research and analysis.
So, if you are up for some reading, give it a crack! If not, I’d strongly recommend leaving any legal issue to a lawyer to deal with on your behalf.
I'll just Google it?
Google is a fantastic search engine (shameless plug!).
The information is collates and indexes is no doubt useful and relevant. It will lead you to resources, and articles, and stories, and examples, and templates, and forums.
However, I do not recommend anybody answer their legal issue from merely considering these resources, and certainly not follow an answer given within an online forum.
Lawyers are trained, qualified, and licenced to give legal advice and provide legal services.
Similarly, caution should be taken when reading some article on a website (even ours, hence the disclaimer).
The law changes State to State to Territory in Australia and the laws of Queensland can be quite different to the information that is published by law firms and others that don’t practice here.
It is simply impossible to provide a generalised answer to every nuance of legal issue that exists.
In some cases the most minor fact in your own legal issues may be the telling element that might turn that random generalised answer into your legal problem.
As a lawyer experienced in litigation, the problem caused by acting on ill-advice (or no advice) will cost 10 times more in legal fees to fix, than it would have cost to engage a lawyer to do it properly at the start, avoiding the problem.
My mate's a lawyer... i'll just ask them!
No doubt your mate is a knowledgeable, wonderful person, that you trust.
But, they are unlikely to be the best lawyer to consult to find answers your legal issue, or provide you with a legal service.
That’s not because they are not a good lawyer. That’s because they may well be be too close to you as friends for it to be wise for them to act for you.
Lawyers are encouraged to avoid acting as legal advisors to their friends and family.
There are ethical issues that can arise, and pose a challenge for the lawyer to ensure that they act properly, objectively, ethically, and uphold their own duties as a lawyer.
A close connection between a lawyer and their client might prevent the lawyer giving you frank, clear and honest legal advice, for fear of damaging the relationship.
You may be asking your lawyer friend to give legal advice that is not in their area of expertise, and they may feel obligated to help, when they know they shouldn’t.
The last thing you want is for well-meaning legal advice to go wring. It is not worth jeopardising your relationship with your friend or family.
Your lawyer friend or family can be there to support you personally, but don’t put them in a tight spot and ask them to be take you on as a client too.
DISCLAIMER: The content on this page was written at a specific point in time in the past and is provided as general guidance only. It is not intended to be specific legal advice to any person’s particular circumstances who may be reading it. We do not recommend you use this article as a replacement for obtaining proper legal advice on your issue and encourage anyone reading this content to obtain legal advice to ensure the above information and guidance remains valid and suits your particular circumstance. In our experience, there is no ‘one size fits all’ to any legal issue!
