There seem to be a a number of ways to choose
a legal practitioner that has
strengths in copyright and intellectual property services.
Firstly: Ask a Lawyer, Attorney or Legal Practitioner to
reffer you to someone that they know.
ie. If you have had to have used a solicitor before and
were happy with their service - but you know that they do not specialise
in this specific area of copyright law speciality; politely question them about
who they would refer you to who DOES specialise in this area.
- Ask for at least 2 if not 3 seperate names.
- There may of course already be someone at the law company that you use who
may specialise in the area of intellectual property or copyright law.
Secondly. Quiz your colleagues and freinds.
More than often, you would not have had to have dealt with a lawyer or
soliciter before, but most likely someone you know will have.
- Were they happy with the solicitor or Lawyer that they used. (Even if it
was not for copyright law - as you can refer to the first point above)
- Often, this reccomendation from friends makes you feel more comfortable
about your choice.
Thirdly. Proffesional Services that you already
utilise.
You would already have contact with proffesionals like your
doctor, or your accountant. These people will most likely know a contact
for you to meet with.
- The person who employ's you or your family members might know a lawyer.
- If you are a member of a Trade Union - they will also most likely know a
lawyer that you can contact.
When you have found a lawyer: You need to have your first contact with
them. We have all heard how expensive lawyers and solicitors can be based
on their time that you use. So - you need to be fully aware of why you are
going to meet them and what you want out of the meeting.
a) MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR THE MEETING,
Be sure to give the solicitor as much of an exact idea of your problem and
what you believe that you want to acheive and why you need their help.
- This is where you need to obtain and peice together all of your documents
and materials that relate to your case - such as your copyright filing details
etc.. They need to be organised in a manner that you can easily display
and talk about them. Make sure that you take all with you to your first
meeting.
For example:
In as much detail as you can, write out exactly how your copyright has been
infringed upon, why you believe so and how you can prove that someone has copied
your original expression / origional work withour your permission.
You need to remember everything that you can about how this is your origional
work and how you believe that the infringement could have happened.
- Dont forget to list any expenses or loss of business / revenue that you
may have incurred due to this copyright infringement. You will also have to
take to the meeting any documents that can support these claims.
- Every bit of extra information that you can have to hand, at a fast
pace - manes that the attorney can find it faster and easier to give you
legal copyright advice in an efficient and proper manner and in the shortest
possible time. You do not want to set up extra meetings that may cost
money, just because you did not come prepared with all the documents that you
might need to present.
b) YOU ARE PAYING FOR ADVICE. ASK LOTS OF QUESTIONS.
Like with your preperation of documents that you will need to
discuss your copyright infringement case with your attorney, You need to prepare
your list of questions thouroughly. This first meeting is YOUR opportunity
to learn all available information that you will require - most
importantly, you need to learn if this is the right copyright advice attorney
for your specific needs.
You need to be as certain as you can that this is an attorney or solictor
that you are ok about using and that you are confident in their knowledge,
service and fees..
Don't be afraid to write down questions and read them off like a check-list
in the meeting and take note's of any responses. You are the
client.
Some questions to ask a lawyer in your first meeting:
i)Do they have experience of any kind with your specific case. Ask
for a short example and a reference if possible.
ii) Can your attorney give you a reasonable idea of the time that
will be involved with a case such as yours.
iii)Is your attorney or lawyer in the position to begin work on your case
immediatly?
iv) What stages or processes are there that lead up to getting your
particular copyright issue resolved.
v)Of these stages, what sort of time can you expect for each individual
stage as you move forward to a final outcome.
vi)Ask the solicitor to provide an open and
straight first view of how successful they believe that your case could be and
why.
vii)Is
the attorney familiar with the laws in your state?
Viii)Is the attorney available when you call? (You need a
lawyer to be available whenever you need them)
ix)Like with your document preperation, and this
list of your questions - ask if there is anything further going forward
that you can prepare for your solicitor to shorten the time that they have to
spend on your particular issue and therefore help cut down any costs that you
will incur.
Before you make a final decision on engaging the right attorney.
- Be very open about your need to be informed on every change or development
in your particular case.
- Depending on your country or state, an attorny must provide all
information about costs involved. These should generally include:
- How the services are costed.
- How billing will work.
- A ball park figure of the final costs involved dependent on outcomes.
- You must obtain this information before retaining an attorney if possible,
or as soon as you can after you have chosen your lawyer.
- FINALY - you must remember, that THIS WEBPAGE THAT YOU ARE READING IS A GUIDE ONLY TO HELP YOU SEEK
PROFESSIONAL ADVICE. THIS IS NOT A LEGAL GUIDE AND WE DO NOT CLAIM TO HAVE ALL
OF THE INFORMATION THAT YOU MAY REQUIRE. THIS PAGE HAS NOT BEEN
REVIEWED BY A PROFESSIONAL AND THEREFORE SHOULD NOT BE RELIED UPON SOLEY TO
PROVIDE THE PROFESSIONAL ADVICE THAT YOU MAY REQUIRE.
Please also consult other webpages to garner more information on the subject, to allow you to make an informed decision based on your own research.
