Need a lawyer?

Sadly, I've had reason to ask a few questions of lawyers lately.

So I found an approach that I love, which some folks in our county I've spoken to never heard of. I thought I'd share this method with you.

You can go through the referral service of The Washtenaw County Bar Association. You go there, call or whatever, and basically give them a quick overview, tell them the type area of law you need, pay $30 for a sit-down, one-on-one with a REAL, lawyer in town. Now, do your homework, have your top 3 concise questions written down, perhaps type up a statement overview because time's a tickin' and 30 minutes at a lawyer's office does seem to click by quickly. You're not there to tell them your whole life story and this isn't some therapy session. Think of it as sitting in a quick cab ride with a captive lawyer. But c'mon, 30 bucks for 30 minutes consult with no obligation. Great way to start.

For my particular situation, I needed to ask a few questions of a labor lawyer. I met with Jennifer Salvatore from Nacht Law & Associates. She was fabulous. If your situation is a labor matter, and you want to skip the referral service because you already know you have a bigger deal going on, I highly recommend her or this firm. I know their business is booming with the economic predicament of our area lately, and their billboards are up all over town. I personally know of a couple of instances where they gained favorable outcomes for their clients.

Most people I've spoken to don't want to get the ball rolling on their particular legal matters because that first upfront cost. This just gives you more confidence as a consumer, shopping for a lawyer. I think it's very reasonable. I've shared this info with others and had very favorable responses. (One person even gave me a free Panera Bread coffee -yeah!)

Go to http://www.washbar.org/lawyer.html or call 734-994-4912.

Now, this office is located in the courthouse on Main Street so you & your items will be scanned just like at the airport. You may need to leave your camera cell phone in a locker at the front, which I think rents for an additional .25 cents or something. They are on the first floor, down that long hall on the left. They have a small sign that says "WCBA" and across from the office with lots of windows. Good luck!