Our self employed client became disabled several years ago and applied to a major disability insurance company for benefits. Benefits were denied. The client went to an attorney who ran a full page ad in the telephone book. The ad listed many different areas of law that the attorney claimed expertise in. He took the client’s money and basically did nothing for the next year and a half. When suit was filed he included many claims that are invalid under Virginia law. These claims only made the insurance company dig in their heals. The client came to us after deadlines for disclosing expert witnesses had passed and after the court had dismissed the invalid claims. We took over the case, gave the client an honest and informed evaluation and had the case settled within two weeks. See a checklist of things you can do to make sure that you are hiring the best attorney for your case.