Finance and Law

I Need a Lawyer but Can’t Afford One. What Should I Do?

<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Americans across the country are not in the best financial position at the current moment&period; In fact&comma; for many years&comma; a <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;cnbc&period;com&sol;2020&sol;12&sol;11&sol;majority-of-americans-are-living-paycheck-to-paycheck-since-covid-hit&period;html" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">large majority of Americans<&sol;a> have been living paycheck to paycheck&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">This means when a large emergency arises&comma; the typical person might not have enough money to cover the costs they need to handle&period; This is certainly true of particular legal situations&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">If you&&num;8217&semi;ve found yourself thinking &&num;8216&semi;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;newsforpublic&period;com&sol;get-legal-help-cant-afford-lawyer&sol;">I need a lawyer but can&&num;8217&semi;t afford one<&sol;a>&comma;&&num;8217&semi; you might be stricken with feelings of anxiety or panic&period; It&&num;8217&semi;s important to understand that you still have options&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">What should you do if you need legal aid but can&&num;8217&semi;t afford it&quest; Read on and we&&num;8217&semi;ll walk you through everything that you need to know&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>How to Hire a Lawyer with No Money<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">The help of an attorney can mean a lot during a difficult legal case&period; An experienced attorney might be all but required for you to navigate the murky legal waters ahead&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Their experience and know-how can help you to make it through your case logistically&comma; develop a strategy&comma; and seek the kind of outcome you want&period; An experienced attorney can be a shoulder to lean on and a guide through a world you don&&num;8217&semi;t know much about&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">If you can&&num;8217&semi;t afford one&comma; there are options that might be available to you that should be strongly considered&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Court Appointed Attorney<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">You are likely familiar with Miranda Rights from hearing that so often repeated in various films and television shows&period; &&num;8220&semi;If you cannot afford an attorney&comma; one might be provided to you&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">This is true in some cases but not all&period; Generally speaking&comma; this is true in cases where the stakes are high&period; If you are facing criminal charges and cannot afford a lawyer for your case&comma; you will likely be able to exercise your right to obtain a court-appointed attorney&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">This right grew out of the Sixth Amendment of the Constitution and became a central part of criminal law sometime around the early sixties when a court case of a poor man versus a state attorney was deemed unfair&period; Everyone has a right to a fair trial&comma; and often that means equal representation&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Once a person is arrested&comma; they can request an attorney&&num;8217&semi;s help&period; The court will assign an attorney to the case and they will join the defendant at their first hearing&comma; which usually takes place within twenty-four hours of the arrest itself&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Most of the time&comma; these court-appointed attorneys are known as Public Defenders&period; Public Defenders are state-paid attorneys who handle large caseloads and represent individuals who cannot afford to get legal help themselves&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">They do not often have the reach&comma; the time&comma; or the budget of a private law firm&period; They will&comma; however&comma; often do their best to fight for their clients and ensure they get the best possible outcome for their case&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">However&comma; getting a court-appointed attorney is likely only possible in cases where one is facing criminal charges&period; If you are hoping to bring a case forward against someone else but don&&num;8217&semi;t have the money to hire a lawyer&comma; you might be in a trickier situation&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Pro Bono Representation<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">However&comma; there are some attorneys out there who are willing to help those who are in need financially&period; Many attorneys will offer some form of &&num;8216&semi;pro bono&&num;8217&semi; representation&period; Simply stated&comma; this is a free service for those in need&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Sound too good to be true&quest; It isn&&num;8217&semi;t&comma; though you may need to jump through a few hoops to connect yourself to the help you need&period; Many cities have pro bono legal clinics that allow those in need to come in and get legal help&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Some clinics or organizations focus on certain types of cases&comma; going out of their way to help sexual assault victims or other at-risk groups that might not be able to afford to pursue charges against more powerful defendants&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">In order to qualify for many pro bono attorney services&comma; you might need to be able to show proof of income under a certain level or meet other qualifications&period; In other cases&comma; you might be able to get free attorney service if the compensation for the case goes to supporting the legal clinic or firm&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">It&&num;8217&semi;s a good idea to look up legal aid organizations in your area if you think that you might qualify for free help&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Lawyers That Charge No Up-Front Costs<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Even if you have no money in your account at this moment&comma; it may not actually be an impediment to your getting help from an experienced attorney&period; All you might need is a strong case&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Many experienced attorneys won&&num;8217&semi;t actually require you to pay them anything upfront&period; Many won&&num;8217&semi;t require you to pay anything at all unless they help win your case&comma; in which case their payments can come out of your total compensation package&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">There are many attorneys&comma; such as those at <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;tiemannlawfirm&period;com&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">tiemannlawfirm&period;com<&sol;a>&comma; who are happy to take a free initial legal consultation with a client&period; They won&&num;8217&semi;t charge you with any bills until your case is over&comma; and many only take on cases they can feel as if they can definitely win&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>I Need a Lawyer But Can&&num;8217&semi;t Afford One<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">No one wants to be in the situation where they have to keep shouting &&num;8216&semi;I need a lawyer but can&&num;8217&semi;t afford one&&num;8217&semi; as a cry for help&period; Luckily&comma; if you can&&num;8217&semi;t afford an attorney&comma; there are still plenty of options you can pursue&comma; with the above being some of the major pathways&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Need more legal advice or information&quest; Keep scrolling our blog for more&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

Hardik Patel

Hardik Patel is a Digital Marketing Consultant and professional Blogger. He has 16+ years experience in SEO, SMO, SEM, Online reputation management, Affiliated Marketing and Content Marketing.

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