World is
full of underhanded people and before engaging in any type of business or
taking assistance from anybody, it is necessary to know the background and
performance record of a particular business or firm. Likewise, when it comes to
take legal assistance from a law firm for your case, it is essential to go
through the work background and performance. The simplest way is to find out
the ratings of the firm to know its legal abilities and standards.
The
law firms are generally rated on the basis of their skills and general ethical
standards. In almost every country there are rating system which conduct
surveys and evaluate law firms on the basis of confidential opinions of the bar
members and the judiciary. These ratings are given on a five-year term, generally
after a lawyer or attorney has been admitted to the bar. Basically, there are
two mechanisms of the rating systems; Legal Ability and the General Ethical
Standards. Former is graded typically in three ways; A (very high to
preeminent), B (high to very high) and C (good to high) while the latter
denotes loyalty to professional standards of ethical conduct, diligence,
reliability and other criteria regarding performance of legal responsibilities.
General and ethical standard rating is obligatory in order to receive legal
ability which is denoted as ‘V’.
The
ratings are further classified as follows:
·
AV Rating: This denotes that the firm has
attained highest degree of excellency in law practice, skill and integrity.
·
BV Rating: It denotes a reputable firm which is
well established with significant amount of client base.
·
CV: It denotes that the firm is above average in
legal ability and high ethical standard.
This
system helps one determine which legal firm is worth hiring. It also shows the
level of experience and competence of a law firm. Werribee law firm where
I was working as an attorney was given AV rating. But being un-rated does not
signify that the law firm has no credibility. Many reputable law firms stay
unrated or they choose not to participate in the rating system. So, finding a
trustworthy law firm is as like as looking at the right lawyer for your case.
However, besides ratings, the two important factors to consider are reputation
and experience which are enough to determine that the firm can handle your
legal needs with utmost commitment.
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