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do you think my friend should hire an immigration lawyer for legal advice?

my female friend wants to hire an expensive immigration lawyer for legal advice with regards to her status. she needs opinions from everyone if she should go for this good and reputable lawyer or go to somebody who isnt that expensive and not as known? is there any difference with the advice they will give? is it worth it to go to an expensive one? what should she do?

Public Comments

1. Talk to people who have used both.
2. The law is the law. Fancy brand name lawyers will say the same as legal aid lawyers. Laws on the books do not change with wealth. If someone has the financial resources to hire an expensive attorney, she must have done something so heinous that money cannot buy her way out.
3. This very much depends on her case. Does she have a criminal background, is she illegal, does her case require an attorney at all? If she is legal and law-abiding, she doesn't even need a lawyer. A lot of people go through immigration without a lawyer, it's not that hard.
4. In spite of it theoretically being a process you can do yourself, not using an experienced lawyer or immigration consultant can cause delays in processing that could bring the whole process to a halt. My future income is worth enough to me that I spent the money. However, I did shop around and found a lawyer that did as good a job for half the price of the more expensive one my employer usually deals with.
5. It's not the price tag that matters, it's the person who's giving you advice. Some are absolutely better than others, and there are a fair number of people out there practicing immigration law who are incompetent or lazy. So, as noted, ask around. In my experience, AILA attorneys at least have a solid knowledge base, which is far more than I'd say for many attorneys I've met.