Guide to Finding Lancaster Lawyer

What is a Lancaster Lawyer?

A Lancaster lawyer is certified to practice law and provide legal advice in the city of Lancaster and state of Pennsylvania. A Lancaster lawyer will usually obtain their law degree from one of Pennsylvania’s seven accredited law schools. Lancaster attorneys have many degrees of specialization, but some types of law are practiced more than others in the area.

Where is Lancaster?

The city of Lancaster is located in south-central Pennsylvania, and the city sits between the cities of York and Reading. The city has a population around 60,000, and the metropolitan area has around 500,000 people. The city is also one of the oldest cities in the entire United States, and the city is known for its rich display of history and historical landmarks.

The city is also located within reasonable distance to Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Harrisburg. If you are considering hiring a Lancaster lawyer, you should also consider looking for lawyers within some of the bigger metropolitan areas that fall close to the city. There are advantages to hiring lawyers within bigger cities and advantages to hiring attorneys in smaller cities as well. Lawyers within larger cities will often offer more services through their firm. However, an attorney within a smaller city is usually much more knowledgeable of the city around them, and they will often know a large number of important people.

How can I find a Lancaster lawyer with a good standing?

There are many ways to find a Lancaster lawyer with a good standing around the south-central Pennsylvania area. You should often consider what type of education the attorney received, what types of associations the lawyer belongs to, and what type of reputation the Lancaster lawyer may have.

Firstly, it’s always a good idea to ask people you know in order to find an experienced and well known attorney. If a person has been involved in a similar case as you and was happy with the outcome, you should ask the family member or other peer for a referral. Good Lancaster lawyer often heavily rely on referrals because word of mouth is often much better than the average advertisement.

Secondly, you should always consider what associations your attorney belongs to. Attorneys are required to join a state’s bar association, but they will often decide to join other associations based on types of law and types of ethnicity. When looking for an attorney in the south-central Pennsylvania area, you may want to consider the following associations:

• Pennsylvania Bar Association

• Lancaster Bar Association

• Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

• Dauphin County Bar Association

• York County Bar Association

• York Region Law Association

• Philadelphia Bar Association

• Berks County Bar Association

The above associations are only some of the lawyer organizations you may want to consider around the south-central Pennsylvania area.

Lastly, when seeking an attorney with high qualifications, you should always consider the type of education they received. A practicing lawyer within the state of Pennsylvania is required to complete at least 12 Continuing Legal Education (CLE) hours a year. A renowned Lancaster lawyer will often complete more CLE hours within a given year.

Lancaster lawyer may have received their law degree from one of Pennsylvania’s seven accredited law schools as well. Some schools have higher reputations than others, but the level of prestige from a law program doesn’t always determine the quality of an attorney. An attorney’s education always continues after law school, but some of the better law schools in Pennsylvania are below:

1) University of Pennsylvania School of Law- this program is often considered to be the most prestigious program in all of Pennsylvania. The school often ranks around the 7th best law school in the nation.

2) Pennsylvania State University, Dickinson School of Law- this law school is the oldest program in the state of Pennsylvania, and it is nationally recognized for its academics and faculty.

3) Duquesne University School of Law- this law school is nationally recognized for its excellence and is the only catholic law school in Pennsylvania

4) University of Pittsburgh School of Law-this program is located close to Duquesne University and sits in downtown Pittsburgh. The school is both nationally and internationally recognized for its emphasis on international law

There are also three other law schools in Pennsylvania:

1) Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law

2) Villanova University School of Law

3) Widener University School of Law

Are there rules regarding how lawyers can advertise their service in Lancaster?

The state of Pennsylvania contains many laws that target how a Lancaster lawyer can advertise his or her services. Under the Pennsylvania Legal Ethics laws, sections 7.1 and 7.2 pertain specifically to standards and procedures for Lancaster lawyer and their advertisements. If you believe a Lancaster lawyer has contacted you in an unprofessional manner, you may be entitled to legal malpractice compensation in certain cases. A lawyer must follow the following procedures in the city of Lancaster:

Section 7.1

• A lawyer cannot misconstrue facts about the amount of previous damages awarded, client endorsements, or success in obtaining specific verdicts

• A firm must specifically advertise individuals who do not qualify as attorneys within the practice, such as paralegals and interpreters

• A firm cannot advertise client testimonials about the outcome of the case, however the firm can advertise testimonials about the nature of the lawyer’s work

• A lawyer must make only objective comparisons to other lawyers, and they cannot use terms such as “experienced”, “expert”, “highly qualified”, or “competent”

Section 7.2

• A copy of an advertisement shall be kept for at least two years, and the copy will include information about where it was used

• A lawyer cannot give anything of value to a person for recommending a service

• An advertisement cannot be endorsed by a celebrity or other popular public figure

• An advertisement cannot contain portray a fictitious entity as a law firm, nor can it portray fictitious names of lawyers

• An advertisement cannot portray reenactments that are not authentic, and all reenactments must contain a disclosure

• All advertisement must disclose the location or the city or town of the firm in which the lawyers actually practice