Selection Process
1. Yellow Page Ad- Mentions "Trusts & Estates"
2. Credentials, Designations, Education- Lawyers will judge you on how much your resume weighs. They are likely to hire those that have solid background and experience placing them in an "expert" class. Your "record" must speak for itself.
3. Website that comes up on search engines-Website mentions "litigation'
4. Word of mouth referal- Get to know claim adjusters, CPA's dealing in Real Estate, estate planners
5. Experience-Once you have done legal work, attorneys will seek you out.
6. Just ask. Write a letter to firm. Let them know you want their work. They will select from those they know
7. Membership in a professional group like Rotary- Proves you can dress up and won't burp, pass gas and fall in your soup in public.
8. Dress for success and dress conservatively if you are a woman. Sad to say, I see few females doing testimony If given a choice, lawyers will choose men over women. Accept this if you are female and seek out female lawyers who do not have bias and lawyers that have a record of hiring women.
9. Read up on the Daubert decision and sharpen your skills in statistics and offer science instead of art. Attorneys now and in the future will look for more "scientific" testimony from appraisers.
10. Impressive letter head. Put you best foot forward with law firms using bond paper stationery and formal busiess cards.
