Where can I find an attorney who's familiar with my field of work?

June 23, 2013 11:54 AM

I am a web developer in NYC who will soon be working as a contractor. How do I find an attorney who's familiar with contract matters related to this field to draft a contract and related matters?

Basically I am looking for an attorney to draft a boilerplate contract with me, review contracts from clients related to jobs to make sure they're fair, and in rare cases talk with a client's attorney if need be.

What are some good resources for finding this ideal attorney?

posted by helios410 to Law & Government (4 answers total)

LinkedIn and the American Bar Association's Solosez group for starters. The best recommendation is always "ask another lawyer." My perusal of LinkedIn quickly found the name of one Lisa Solomon. The type of work that she does will not fill your bill, but I would bet that she could make a good recommendation.
posted by yclipse at 12:23 PM on June 23, 2013

Ask your friends for referrals. Failing that, go to one of the many co-working spots in NYC and ask what law firms service their members.


LinkedIn is a crapshoot for this type of thing.
posted by dfriedman at 12:53 PM on June 23, 2013

I think any experienced attorney whose practice is focused on small businesses, has a large number of clients, and is in a city with a lot of web developers (like NYC) would have experience with service contracts, including for programmers and designers. This is not a highly specialized area of business law, rather it's fairly common. So what you probably want to do is network with whoever you know who has or works for a small business and get some names of some attorneys from them that they like. You should also contact an insurance broker about professional liability insurance, and that broker can also probably refer you to some attorneys. I don't like to ask attorneys for referrals - I prefer to ask business owners and insurance brokers.
posted by Dansaman at 6:37 PM on June 23, 2013

Go to a meetup for web developers doing similar work to what you'll be doing and ask for referrals.
posted by Candleman at 7:58 PM on June 23, 2013