Benefits of Using a Sole Practitioner
Many people have the mistaken belief that “bigger is better.” They believe hiring a large law firm is the best course of action when confronted with a lawsuit. In our experience, the best decision a client can make when a lawsuit must be filed or defended is to retain an attorney who is a sole practitioner. Some of the many benefits of a sole practitioner representing you in a lawsuit are as follows:
A sole practitioner is more efficient than a group of lawyers. There are substantial costs and fees incurred when lawyers divide up legal research, discovery, and trial.
It is nearly impossible for a lawyer to effectively communicate with other lawyers regarding all aspects of a case. A lawyer needs to be present for all meetings, depositions, and motions and be familiar with all documents and pleadings to know the case. Doubling or tripling lawyer time is expensive. Multiple lawyers are an inherent inefficiency of a large firm.
A sole practitioner who handles the discovery will know what story to tell at trial since he is the trial attorney. Every trial is an effort to tell your side of the story.
The sole practitioner will have conducted the depositions and has been able to analyze and observe firsthand the parties, witnesses, and documents which are important to the case. He will not divide up the trial but instead will be able to maintain and introduce a consistent and flowing story to the trier of fact.
Large firms spread the legal work of the case around to others, jeopardizing consistency and efficiency.
Usually, there is a partner in charge of the case, with associates doing much of the work. The partner may or may not try the case. The lawyer who has done much of the work on your case may be moved or assigned from your case to some other case.
When you retain a sole practitioner, you know who your lawyer is.
You know who is responsible for the work to be done and whom you can communicate with about your case.
No lawsuit is too big for a sole practitioner. If a single trial attorney cannot comprehend a lawsuit, how can a single judge or a collection of average citizens in a jury understand it?
The sole practitioner knows his caseload and availability, so he should be able to take a case based on his first-hand knowledge of his workload.