Employment lawyers are important for many reasons, mostly for ensuring that employees are paid their fair share of wages, fighting wrongful dismissal cases, and generally combatting workplace abuses and harassment. If you are a good employee that is going through a hard time because of a terrible boss or workplace, you are going to need a good employment lawyer to have your back in the courtroom when things get rough.

Unfortunately, there are many, many bad employment lawyers out there, so it is important to know how to spot these bad employment lawyers and avoid them at all costs. Here are a few red flags that you need to be able to see to spot a bad employment lawyer:

1. They are unreachable through phone/e-mail/etc.

There is nothing worse during the legal process than a lawyer who won’t return any of your calls, won’t answer your e-mails, and won’t try to reach out to you in any way. Cases run on a tight deadline most of the time and you cannot afford to waste valuable time chasing your lawyer and try to co-ordinate a plan of attack in the courtroom. If you have a lawyer that will not get back to you, tell them that it is imperative that they return your calls. If they still do not get back to you, then it is time to dismiss their services and find another lawyer.

2. They have a bad schedule and miss deadlines

When filing a case before the court, deadlines are an essential thing to follow. If you have an employment lawyer that is not only difficult to reach out to, but also cannot file their proper paperwork on time or develop a game plan with you, that is a problem and should probably be considered as grounds for dismissal.

You cannot afford to have your case hang at the mercy of your employment lawyer’s inability to keep a proper schedule. If they have a reputation for missing deadlines, you are going to want to go with a lawyer who does not run into this issue.

3. They should not make promises that they might not be able to keep

Any lawyer from any background should never ever promise to win a case for you, it’s simply a promise that they might not be able to keep. It is fine if they express the strength of your case or act very optimistically about the trial, but they should not say that they can promise victory or an agreement between you and your employer.

4. They have an unprofessional attitude

No matter who you are doing business with, that person should have a professional attitude that is free of cursing, implements a strong professional enthusiasm towards their service, and a knowledge and respect of the field and for the customer and their time. The employment lawyer is no different.

If you sense apathy or that your employment lawyer is not fully dedicated to your case, then it is important to find another lawyer that will have more of an enthusiasm towards your case. It is possible that the current lawyer you have has a lot of other cases under their belt who are higher on their list of priorities, but you will need to find a lawyer that holds your case to account.

Getting a fair deal in the world of employment is very important and you want a partner who is going to help you get what you deserve. Any lawyer who shows any of these signs is likely to be a weak candidate for winning the judicial fight. Take these into consideration and you are that much closer to walking out of that courtroom victorious.