How Dating Rules Can Help You Find an Attorney

Editor's note: Since 1964, business-management counselors at nonprofit organization Score have given free advice to small-business clients spanning every industry. They currently serve nearly 400,000 entrepreneurs nationwide each year -- check in every week for their prudent guidance.

When's the last time you Googled someone before you went on a date? While everyone claims superiority to the practice, most of us are guilty. But we shouldn't be -- why not check someone out beforehand instead of going on a potentially disastrous date with a thrice-divorced "self-employed" poet?

Small-business owners would do well to treat their attorney hunt similarly. New to the business world, many first-time entrepreneurs use any attorney they know through friends or acquaintances, regardless of their industry. Others find someone online that they believe will fit their needs, without doing the required snooping.

The counselors at Score NYC know about the lawyer game. They also know that choosing an attorney to best fit your business needs should be like entering a healthy relationship. To lessen the chances of disastrous blind dates, Score sends its clients to a service that specializes in legal matchmaking: the New York City Bar Association's legal referral service, sponsored by the New York City Bar and the New York County Lawyers' Association. Unlike online-only services, it has 12 lawyers on staff, fielding between 500 and 700 calls a day from individuals and businesses of all sizes. ...