It is very difficult to shop for an attorney. When I was looking for one to represent me in a case where I really needed a criminal defense attorney on my side regarding a very negative, unjust experience, I searched for a very long time for someone competent, affordable (I’m a student), honest, and available. It seemed that I could find someone with either one of those traits, but rarely two, let alone all four. Laura was affordable (really saved me money in every possible way), surprisingly honest and open with me, explained everything, was there whenever I had questions, and someone I felt I could really trust in this time of vulnerability. She really made me feel like a valuable customer and she was not someone who was trying to milk me for every dollar. She is greatly competent and educated me in everything I asked (law is something I knew nothing about). She really went out of her way to make sure that I felt confident in an area that I felt so powerless, at first. She brought a nurturing, but strong and thorough perspective before the case, and really surprised me at how strong she was in court–considering how caring (and I can’t believe I dare to say “caring” about an attorney.. others I spoke with always seemed a bit shady and void of humanity even lol) she was before the case. It wasn’t like I imagine an experience with other attorneys would be–where they leave you in the dark and just want you to trust them for no reason to just do their job. If you want to participate and feel confident, she did everything she could to make me reclaim a feeling of power and control, though areas I didn’t want to participate as much, she took charge–and I felt complete confidence in her really being on my side without underlying agendas. Someone with ALL these traits is hard to find in any field, certainly far more difficult in the field of law. I think she really carried with her the absolute best characteristics from her past as a public defender.
tldr: If you want a competent, available, and honest attorney whom you can really trust and feel confident about that he/she is REALLY on your side, you have found the one!
Oh, and we won the case.. and the outcome was above and beyond the statistical outcome for the type of case.