By Cailyn Theo
Have you been facing some kind of workplace dispute with your employer or your immediate boss? While there are issues that you can resolve by openly communicating, there are other times when the intervention of a lawyer is necessary.
Open communication doesn’t always lead to receiving the rightful compensation or justice that you’re entitled to. This is true if you were terminated for reasons like discrimination, or the employer owes you lumpsum in the form of unpaid wages, or your organization comprises an ambiguous or complicated area of law.
Here’s how you can choose a Massachusetts wage and hour attorney to resolve all workplace issues.
Selecting a wage and hour lawyer
To find the most reputable lawyer, word of mouth is probably the best way. If your friends and family members know a family lawyer, he might be able to give you valuable leads on an employment lawyer. Following are a few questions to ask your potential employment lawyer.
- Is the lawyer going to respond to your calls and communicate on time?
- Will the lawyer invest his time to listen to your issues and try to understand your situation?
- Did he itemize all the bills properly according to the cost projections he got at the beginning of the case?
- Did this lawyer handle your case or hand it off to a junior or a less-experienced lawyer?
Private referral services
You may even find out the best referral services via private companies. There are many web resources that match up employment lawyers or wage and hour attorneys with employees for a case evaluation session.
Local or state bar associations
In a country, every state has its personal bar association, which is the governing body that supervises, licenses, and regulates all the lawyers that are practicing in the state. Moreover, there are state bar associations that have attorney referral services in lieu of a nominal fee.
Non-profit organizations
It is also possible to find a referral through companies that play the role of advocates for minority groups. National organizations also deal with workplace rights and claims like the National Association of Working Women, that have the leads of the most competent lawyers.
Local legal clinics
While there are some that make referrals of lawyers based on their experience and knowledge. Some others have lawyers who handle cases at a nominal charge. Find out the legal aid clinics of your locality by checking out the telephone directory under Legal Services or Legal Aid Society.
Questions you may ask an employment lawyer
These are the few questions that you should ask an employment lawyer:
- According to your opinion, is my case a strong one? What is the compensation I may expect?
- Who will do the major portion of my casework?
- How many years of experience do you have?
- Did you handle cases like mine before?
- What fees do you charge?
Once you get the answers to all these questions, take a wise decision before choosing him. Make sure he has your best interests in mind.
