6 Qualities to Look for in an Immigration Attorney

When you are dealing with immigration issues and are ready to hire an attorney to help you with your case, you have a lot of options when it comes to legal professionals – maybe even too many. In fact, knowing who to hire and trust with your sensitive immigration matters can as overwhelming as it may be stressful, especially considering the fact that choosing an under-qualified lawyer could:

• Directly affect the outcome of your case.
• Cause your immigration matters to be unnecessarily delayed, which could have other serious impacts on your life.

Here we will outline 6 important qualities to look for when you are ready to hire an immigration attorney. Keeping these qualities in mind as you research and meet with possible lawyers can help you choose the best legal professional to oversee your important immigration matters.

1. Experience

   Immigration law is a complicated field, and the processes associated with different types of immigration affairs can be just as complex. As a result, having an immigration attorney who has experience handling various types of immigration matters is crucial to making sure that your case is resolved as efficiently (and beneficially) as possible.You may be able to find out how much experience an attorney has with immigration cases by looking through his website. If you can’t readily find information regarding a lawyer’s experience on his website, you may also want to call that lawyer directly to ask about his experience handling immigration cases similar to yours.

2. Glowing Record with the State Bar Association

   If any attorney has ever been censured or had formal complaints filed against him by, for instance, former clients, records of these matters will be recorded and kept by the state bar association. If you are considering hire a lawyer to handle your important immigration affairs, checking with the state bar association first is a good idea because it can confirm the lawyer’s experience while also possibly alerting you to any professional problems a lawyer may have had in the past.

3. Has good communication skills

   At any given point while your immigration matters are moving forward, you will likely want to be kept in the loop and informed about what is happening with your case, what challenges may be arising and what you may need to do to overcome these obstacles. This means that you need to be able to rely on the fact that your immigration lawyer will be proactive about reaching out to you and that, when he does, he will be forthright about the status of your case.While you can ask an attorney directly about his communication skills (by, for instance, asking how often he will communicate with you about your case in the future, or how quickly he’ll get back to you if you reach out to him to ask questions about your case), it’s also a good idea to see what his past clients have said about his communication skills.

4. Will be accessible to you as your case progresses

   This quality falls in line with communication skills, as it generally requires that you are able to get ahold of your lawyer when you have questions, need advice and/or simply need reassurance about your case. While it’s not necessarily reasonable to assume that an attorney will always be available to pick up your call the moment you place it, it is reasonable to expect your lawyer to get back to you within a few days.If a lawyer has a history of not getting back to his former clients (which you may learn about from client testimonials, for example), then be careful about moving forward with that attorney, and continue shopping around for another lawyer.

5. Services in Multiple Languages

   While you may speak and read English fluently, having an immigration attorney who provides services in multiple languages can be essential if your immigration affairs involves family members, colleagues or others who do not speak (or who only speak limited) English. If language may be an issue for you or someone else who will be involved in your immigration case, make sure that any lawyer who you choose to hire and move forward with offers services in your native (or preferred) language.

6. Honesty

   At the end of the day, you need to be able to trust your immigration attorney, rely on him to tell you the truth about your case at any given time and give you clear, upfront advice regarding your options when your case hits roadblocks (or any challenges).Getting a sense of a lawyer’s integrity and honesty may come by meeting with him during an initial consult (as well as by reviewing client testimonials to see what his former clients have to say about his honesty). If during this meeting, you are not totally comfortable with the answers or impression you receive from a lawyer, it’s best to look for an attorney with whom you are fully comfortable.

Los Angeles, California Immigration Lawyers at the Hanlon Law Group, P.C. At the Hanlon Law Group, P.C., our Los Angeles immigration attorneys have more than 15 years of experience successfully representing clients in various types of immigration cases, including those that involve the most basic immigration applications to those associated with extremely complicated federal court litigation. Our firm offers state-of-the art technology to deliver these services efficiently while also providing each of our clients with old-fashioned personal service. That means you can count on your case progressing as quickly as possible while feeling confident that your Hanlon Law Group lawyer will answer your questions quickly, clearly and honestly.To learn more about our citizenship, immigration and deportation defense services contact our Los Angeles immigration attorneys today by calling (626) 684-3712 or (866) 227-5527 or by emailing us using the form at the upper right-hand side of the screen. From our office in Pasadena, we serve clients throughout the Los Angeles area, across the state of California and from around the world.We offer free, confidential initial consultations to provide potential clients with expert advice regarding their immigration law needs. Additionally, we are able to provide immigration legal services in various languages, including in Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, Bahasa Indonesian, Tagalog and Fukienese.