The Hunt for a Lawyer Begins

Where does one even start to look for a lawyer? Online? The yellow pages? And, what type of lawyer? A criminal lawyer (gasp!)? An ambulance-chaser who may sometimes represent the other side? I had absolutely no idea.

I did search online a bit but also started asking some of the folks who knew about the accident and my situation. One friend went to high school with someone who was now an attorney so I set up an appt to meet with him, tell him my story, and ask him his recommendations for next steps.

To make a very long story short, he was awful. Basically he said that since Colorado is a pedestrian-friendly state, my case was definitely going to trial (!) no matter what -- that even had I been driving on an interstate and hit a random pedestrian who had no reason to be walking on the interstate, I'd be at fault. And, he said, the cost of having him represent me through the trial would normally be about $7,000 (!) but that since I was a friend of a friend, he'd give me a $2,000 discount and so I'd only have to pay him $5,000 (still !!!).

I left his office so defeated and depressed. There was no hope, no easy out. This was going to go on forever and it was going to cost me $5,000 that I didn't have nor had any idea of how to get. I was devastated and afraid. He wasn't compassionate at all...instead, his attitude was essentially, "Yes, you certainly need help and I have a law degree so you need me."

Little could I have known that from that scary, desperate place, I'd begin to see the tender, moment-by-moment provision and care of the Father.