Access to Assets sat down with Attorney Ron M. Landsman to discuss some of the things to consider when hiring an attorney.

Perhaps one of the most important decisions you can make when it comes to estate and special needs planning is in the selection of the professional providing the advice. Ron Landsman is a Founding Member (1987) of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and has been a Fellow of that organization since 1990.  He has also been a member of the Special Needs Alliance since its founding in 2002.  Ron has been practicing elder law for more than 40 years and has assisted hundreds of clients with disability and estate planning needs. 

Q- What is the first thing to consider when hiring an attorney?
 
A-Well, it may sound trite, but it is important to find an attorney who is a good match for both your legal needs and your personality.  Of course there needs to be a match around the particular legal skills and knowledge, particularly when dealing with elder law and disability.  Virtually any lawyer can write a simple will, or very basic contract, but disability and elder law is very specific and very complicated.  You have to find someone with lots of experience around all the various issues that arise.  Experience in the specific area is crucial.  The attorney has to have been around long enough and have seen how all the potential issues can (and do) interact.  Basically, you should never trust an attorney under 50. 
    The other thing to consider, and I’m not sure people pay enough attention to this, is that you need to connect personally with your attorney.  A well qualified attorney is great, but if you don’t like one and other, well, that is just not going to work so well.  There are complicated personal intimate issues involved in disability and elder law.  You probably don’t want to have to navigate that with someone you can’t stand.

Q- You mention the value of experience; what about special credentials or those “super lawyer” designations?

A- Well, I was practicing elder law for 20 years before there was ever an elder law designation.  Sometimes it seems like those credentials or associations are just an attempt at marketing.  I’ve seen people one year out of law school with credentials and I wonder if they have ever actually sat down with a client and worked out a plan.  Real life people rarely conform to the cut and dry reasoning in a law school text book.
    I’ve also been part of some of those “best lawyer of the year” lists.  I’m amazed when I see other people on the list who I’ve never heard of and never worked with.  I’m really not sure of the value of some of those awards.  I guess they make a pretty good marketing tool. 
    Sometimes attorneys receive acclaim because they are good marketers.  They may push a particular product as the solution to a specific problem.  It may not be the best solution, it may not even be a good solution, but they really push the product.
    I’ve particularly seen this approach in elder law around tax issues.  Some one says “saves taxes” or “tax free,” and people jump.  It’s not always about taxes; with elder law and disability it’s about carefully crafting a plan to serve the person’s needs.  The person’s needs should drive the plan, not just the potential tax savings.

Q- What is a good red flag to warn you away from a particular attorney?

A- The attorney who promises to solve all your problems, with no downside should be avoided at all costs.
    If any attorney represents that they can solve all your problems, they are wrong, exaggerating, and do not understand the nature of estate planning, elder law, and disability.  We are talking about people—human frailties, their needs, and the cross section of multiple areas of law.  If it was that simple, you wouldn’t need an attorney.  No trust, benefit program, or legal arrangement can solve all your problems.  Be sure to ask the pros and cons, the upside and the downside.  Life, and even to a greater extent legal arrangements, are filled with compromises, concessions, and competing rules.  A good attorney should lay out the plan, go over both the benefits and limitations, and frankly admit when they do not know the answer.
    In the end, remember, good legal advice includes a review of all the facts of your situation, including many that may at first blush seem to you not to matter. The plan it generates is sensitive to your goals and wishes while taking into account a whole panoply of laws, rules, and practices, many of which may not be published and often will reflect years of experience and judgment about what works, how, and why. Whether it’s worth the cost is for you to decide.