The lawyer-client match needs to be a good one on a personal, as well as a professional, level.

Perry Weitz also makes sure that the person whom he hires is the one who is actually going to do the work. In some firms, a client may hire a top-notch lawyer, but it is actually younger associates who perform the lion’s share of the work. “I want to make sure the lawyer I hire is not going to be delegating the work to other people,” Mr. Weitz says.

In addition to scrutinizing a lawyer, Perry Weitz asserts that it is essential to examine the firm in which the lawyer works. He looks for a firm with leverage and power, with financial resources as well as legal ability. “I gauge this through the past results the firm has achieved,” says Mr. Weitz, “the types of lawyers they have in their firm, and the kind of litigation that they have handled before”

Of course nobody wants to write their lawyer a blank check, so it’s always important to ask for the lawyer to project what the case will cost in the initial meetings. Personal injury cases are generally handled on a contingency basis, which means that fees are not paid up front by the client. But most legal work—from real estate and divorces to corporate matters—is billed on an hourly basis, so it’s important to understand what a lawyer’s fee is, as well as the fees of other lawyers and paralegals who might be spending time on the case. Many lawyers are capable of giving a range of the number of hours likely to be involved.

Lawyers in “The New York Area’s Best Lawyers” possess strong work ethics, so it is imperative that the lawyers they hire are just as diligent and industrious. “I like to see an understanding—whether someone is a trial lawyer or not—that the workday ends when you think you have done your job, not when it is five o’clock,” says Harvey Weitz.

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