I’ve seen several recent posts here requesting legal advice. If you contact the county Bar Association, you can get a half-hour with a real attorney who specializes in your problem area for only a $25 administrative fee ($30 in Santa Clara County).

You contact your county Bar Association, pay them the fee, and they refer you to the appropriate attorney. Then, just show up with as many questions as you can think of and pump the attorney for information. The attorney’s probably hoping that you retain him to deal with your problem, but if you’re detail-oriented and ask enough questions at the $25 meeting, you can solve lots of legal problems on your own! It worked for me.

Here are the Bar Association links for three of the major Bay Area counties.

San Francisco:
http://www.sfbar.org/lrs/general.html

Alameda County:
http://www.acbanet.org/LRS.htm

Santa Clara County:
http://www.sccba.com/legalconsumer/

JJJ in East Bay

- L4B -

The best way to go, if possible, is by referral. The Bar Associations work by going down a list. The next guy on the list gets the call. (attention is paid to legal specialty, of course). The trouble is, there is no way to be sure the guy is GOOD in that area....just that he claims to practice in that part of law.

Where does one get a referral? Perhaps from someone who has had a similar problem and had it successfully resolved. Or maybe from a lawyer you TRUST, but who doesn't work in the area you need help with. Bail Bondsmen can be a good source of info....they will tend to refer their buddies, but they do know who is good. Or ask, for example on RB, about who other posters have used successfully with similar problems.....

In terms of criminal law, anyone working in the criminal justice field in any capacity in the county you are in probably knows names of some good guys...

_____________

FriscoJack