Living in Thailand, you might find yourself in need of a lawyer. Hopefully it’s for setting up a business, working out your visa issues, or the like, and not because you’ve broken the law. Whatever the case is, if you need to hire a lawyer in Thailand, here’s how to do it on a budget.
One tricky part about lawyers is to figure out who to work together with: Usually it’s a question of who is the best lawyer you can afford. While it’s often easy to find the best and most expensive lawyer in a given field, finding one within your budget for a specific problem can be more of a challenge.
Below you’ll find a selection of firms that are meant to offer individuals as well as small and medium sized firms with a starting point when researching choices for legal help.
Cost Containment Strategies
There are a number of ways that can help you keep your legal costs in check. Here are a few strategies I’ve seen people use over the years.
Shop Around
As with any major purchase or hire, it pays to shop around. Meeting up with a number of lawyers gives you not only a better idea of rates and qualifications, often you can pick up some interesting tidbits in these conversations.
Lawyers might not be thrilled about it, but they also are aware that you have to look out for yourself and find a good deal.
Understand that lawyers have to justify to their bosses when spending time with a client without billing them. Many will do so by marking it down as “business development.” If you phrase your specific legal inquiry as part of a bigger picture, that may make the process easier for them as well.
Lawyers Formerly Known As
When looking for a lawyer, keep your eyes open for local lawyers who used to work for big name firms for a few years before they set out on their own. You can often double check this by looking up the LinkedIn profiles or resumes. For a small company with a limited budget, this can be a good strategy to get quality representation without breaking the bank.
Negotiate
Some firms do not negotiate on their rates, others are willing to offer a discount or may even be willing to do something that’s billed at an hourly rate for a fixed price. You won’t know until you ask and no one is offended if you do.
Multinational corporations tend to negotiate discounts in the range of 10% to 15% even with high end firms. While you may not fit that profile, it does hint at some billing flexibility on part of your lawyer. Making a compelling case for your cash strapped startup or being on a fixed income may not always work but is worth a try.
Network
Bangkok has no shortage of networking events. In most cases, it’s safe to skip the open and free ones considering the signal to noise ratio you’ll face there. Lawyers like to hang out at the AmCham and BCCT events. It’s a good chance to get to know them in a more casual environment and some may even be willing to chime in with thoughts on legal topics.
Lawyers you meet there are not vetted and asking them over a beer does not replace a professional consultation, but it’s a way to test the waters for issues where you are not at the point of hiring someone to work on it quite yet.
Academics and Law Clinics
Universities like Chiang Mai University operate law school clinics that aim to help out the local community who might otherwise not have access to legal consultations. Whether or not they can help foreigners or consult on issues is up to them. But if you’re otherwise out of choices, this might be worth a try.
There are also academics who offer legal advice. One way to go about finding one is to look in book shops for books about the topic you need advice on.
Google the authors, and email them to see if that’s an option. The quality of advice given is questionable, but if you’re super cash strapped, it’s a path worth exploring.
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