You should always check to see if a prospective lawyer really is licensed to practice litigation law in your jurisdiction. The best way to do this for free is to check the membership of your state's bar association, which is easy to do through the site http://www.ishereallyalawyer.com/.

Did you know that several services, including Google, keep track of old websites -- even deleted ones? In several recent litigation law cases, these cached old websites have made an impact. If you ever prepare for a case, keep the Internet in mind as a source of evidence.

If the litigation law professional you're using is from out of town -- or even from out of state -- first make sure that they're licensed to practice in your jurisdiction, and then make sure that they've done their homework on local litigation law. Nothing can be more deadly to your cause than an unprepared lawyer.