How can I tell if a lawyer is good?

The United States Supreme Court has ruled that lawyers can advertise. While this may have helped some large TV law firms, it often serves to confuse people who need competent help.

Last year, I was contacted by a lady who had hired a well-known Nashville TV firm. She was very unhappy because she seldom spoke to an attorney and was passed off to secretaries and later was asked to take a settlement that would barely pay for medical bills and left little or nothing for lost wages and what she had gone through. I didn’t agree to blindly accept the case, but did agree to investigate the matter. What I found was that a large advertiser who only had three attorneys to cover a multi-county practice, and passed most of the work off to clerical staff. I also learned that the firm had no professional liability (malpractice) insurance, which provides basic client protection if the lawyer makes a mistake. I took over the case, started work, and within a relatively short time, received an offer of several times what the TV firm had recommended that the client accept.