Shopping for US immigration lawyers: What to ask in consultation? I am in the process of finding an attorney to help with my Green Card application. I consider myself very knowledgeable about this subject, but I am not an expert nor do I have any personal experience. My case is pretty straightforward and I expect that the application will be successful, but I want to hire a professional to avoid the stress of doing everything myself, as well as ensure that I don't cause any unnecessary issues for myself through an error on my part. I have never had significant business with an attorney before. There are many attorneys in my area, and all of them seem to want a consultation to discuss any details (including price). However, I'm finding this process a bit confusing and difficult. Even though my application is mostly finished, they don't want to look at it in detail until I actually hire them (usually the consultation is free or much cheaper than their services). They often assure that my case will be simple, but that doesn't help me choose which one to actually hire. After some thinking, I've come up with my own list of what an attorney can compete on. Ranked from most important to least, it is: Accuracy: Make sure the application doesn't get unnecessarily denied or delayed due to how it's filled Speed: Prepare and submit everything quickly. Friendliness and not being distracted by other cases while dealing with mine. Experience: Ideally with other people from my country, but also family green cards in general. Price and value (most want to charge a flat fee for this). Generally, in a consultation a lawyer reviews the client's case and tells them what can be done about it. However, I already have a good idea of this from personal research as well as previous consultation. My goal in the consultation is really to figure out how competitive the lawyer is in the five areas I've listed above. So, what should I ask during the consultation to help me determine which lawyer is most suitable for me? I would have liked to simply pull out the above list, and say "I am shopping around and I will hire the person who best meets these criteria, give me your pitch on how well you can meet them", but that would probably be a rude thing to do.
Only hire specialists in immigration with at least several years of experience (ask him or her about this). Hire an attorney and not just a notary. Hire someone who has someone in the office who speaks your native language. Hire someone for whom you can afford to pay the entire fee. Look at Yelp and other online reviews. Check the Attorney Registration website in your state to make sure that the lawyer is still in good standing in your state. Get referrals and anti-referrals from people you know who have used immigration lawyers. See if he or she seems to know what he's talking about and what you're talking about in your initial meeting and ask for a time and fee estimate. Remember that your goal is to hire someone who can get the job done. Don't stress about whether this is the best person for the job.
An adult is normally assumed to be competent to enter into a contract unless there is some reason to think otherwise. It is not usual to demand evidence of competency unless there is something in the appearance or actions of a party that raises such a question, or something about that party, such as a history of mental illness, known to the other party, that raises such a question. I have heard of a party being medically examined just before signing an important document, to provide evidence of competence, but generally in connection with a will, and generally when the signer is elderly and in poor physical condition, and even then such a procedure is rare. If competence is disputed, medical evidence is required to resolve the question, or more exactly to establish lack of competence. In the absence of such evidence, competence will be presumed. That was the conclusion of the MA Supreme Court in FRANCES M. SPARROW vs. DAVID D. DEMONICO &amp; another, 461 Mass. 322* (2011). The court held: without medical evidence or expert testimony that the mental condition interfered with the party's understanding of the transaction, or her ability to act reasonably in relation to it, the evidence will not be sufficient to support a conclusion of incapacity. It was a significant part of the court's reasoning in that case that a reasonable person might well have entered into the agreement in question, and that the party was represented by a lawyer, and acted in accord with the lawyer's advice. That does not, however, seem to be a requirement; merely additional evidence of the reasonableness of the action.
Judging from your question, you are most likely referring to putting written questions to an expert witness who has given an expert report. (This would be the only time you would be putting written questions to an expert, if an expert is giving oral evidence there would be no written questions involved, your counsel would be asking questions orally). Please clarify if this is the situation. In most circumstances, these written questions are for the purposes of clarification only. If an expert report says one thing on a matter, you cannot (subject to court approval), pose a question in conflict to that fact. For example: if the report says "It is my opinion that the house is valued at 1 million pounds", you cannot say "You're lying, aren't you?" or "The house is actually worth 2 million, isn't it?". You may, however, ask questions such as "how did you come to your conclusion on this point?", "can you clarify the process in which a person values a house?". As for the correct procedure, please see CPR Rule 35.6:
if they do admit to to such fraudulent behavior, either in writing or over the phone, what legal action can I take against them? First of all, the intermediary with whom you are dealing will not admit fraud in writing or over the phone. Most likely the intermediary knows where, when, and how to give a candidate or employee directions that are sought to advance the intermediary's fraudulent purposes. The intermediary's practices sound in violation of Georgia's Fair Business Practices Act (FBPA), OCGA 10-1-390 et seq. The Attorney General is in charge of receiving and processing/channeling all complaints pursuant to the FBPA. See 10-1-395(c). Apropos of your mention of scamming and "foreign nationals", you might want to report the intermediary with the USCIS if you reasonably suspect the intermediary's fraudulent practices extend to obtaining visas for its employees. 18 USC § 1546 sanctions the act of "procur[ing] by means of any false claim or statement" any document of authorized stay or employment in the US. You will have standing to sue the intermediary only if it does something unlawful to you. Even if you end up suing the intermediary, there is a chance that your case would be presided by some corrupt judge/narcofelon whose "philosophy" in court consists of favoring "employers and [...] anybody who's powerful". In line with one of the comments, you might also want to consider denouncing the intermediary publicly. When doing so, you need to ensure that you prove or are able to prove the statements of fact you make about the intermediary. In this publication, I made statements of fact that I can readily prove by showing evidence, such as excerpt(s) of a contract with the crooked intermediary as well as excerpts of his deposition. The only reason why I refrained from disclosing other fraudulent practices this intermediary incurred is that neither these were not recorded nor did he reflect them in writing (your evidence need not be in the form of sworn/notarized documents or court filings; records such as emails would be fine). It is comforting that you are not planning on dealing further with that kind of employer. On paper the intermediary might assure you that you retain full control of your resume, yet that will not prevent him from pressing you in ways you could hardly prove later on.
When they start giving legal advice ... unless your PA is a lawyer. In a nutshell, legal advice has the following characteristics: Requires legal knowledge, skill, education and judgment Applies specific law to a particular set of circumstances Affects someone's legal rights or responsibilities Creates rights and responsibilities in the advice-giver Unlike legal information - such as information posted on a street sign - legal advice proposes a specific course of action a client should take. For instance, it's the difference between telling someone what to do (legal advice) as opposed to how to do it (legal information). For your specific questions Can they research the CC&amp;Rs, Bylaws or other such states, federal statues to help me better understand the letter? Researching and even summarising is not legal advice. If they give opinions on what you should do as a result of that research it is legal advice. Can they write up a response letter that I would look at and approve ... Yes ... or if minor enough they could just respond? It depends on what's involved. If it is a purely factual response (&quot;Is this your car?&quot;) then this is ok. If it is legal advocacy, it isn't. Putting aside the legalities; how does your PA feel about you suing them if they stuff any of this up? If I was your PA, I wouldn't be acting as your agent without an indemnity.
The parties are generally entitled to present their case as they see fit, as long as they stay within the rules of evidence. If they want a straight yes or no, the court will often require the witness to provide one, which keeps lawyers happy, makes the answers clear for the jury, and limits the parties' grounds for appeal. If a yes or no answer is not as accurate as a more qualified answer, the other lawyer would typically have an opportunity to invite the witness to provide a fuller answer on redirect. If a yes or no answer is inappropriate because of assumption embedded in the question -- as in your &quot;beating his wife and kids&quot; example -- the question should quickly elicit an objection from the defense attorney, who would note that the question lacks foundation or assumes facts not in evidence. Assuming there isn't any evidence of domestic violence, the court should sustain the objection, in which case the witness would not need to answer at all.
You don't need to have an existing relationship with a lawyer to refuse to talk to the police. You can tell the police you want a lawyer before answering questions. Generally speaking, this should result in the police leaving you alone, giving you time to reach out to an attorney on your own timeline. This is of course a bit more complicated if you've already been arrested, but in most cases, you'll still be able to make calls out of jail to try to find a lawyer. If you have serious concerns about this kind of situation, having an attorney on retainer would be a good idea. The business end of the transaction is fairly simple. You would likely sign an engagement agreement with the lawyer in which you agree to pay a modest sum -- $500 or $1,000, imagine, and the lawyer would agree to take your calls when they come in and swoop in to deal with the police as necessary. The lawyer would be required to place your money in a trust account and not touch it until you call him to use his services. If you're expecting the lawyer to go further by actually appearing in court for you, filing motions, defending you at trial, etc., the retainer would likely be substantially higher.
From @Chikkadu's link (which is rules for H-1 visas only), There are a number of outside organizations which evaluate educational credentials to determine degree equivalency. Some organizations may also provide an opinion on the equivalency of experience to education. It is important that the adjudicator distinguish between these two types of evaluations. The latter type of evaluation carries little weight . Although USCIS does not specifically recognize or accredit any sources of evaluations, foreign educational degree evaluations can be of assistance if they are thorough, well documented and specific in reaching an equivalency determination. [emphasis in original] So if the immigration status for which you're applying requires a particular level of education, it may help to include such an evaluation, but the adjudicator won't rely on it alone, and it may be sufficient to include the evidence and make the argument yourself.