Potential clients should retain a lawyer for any of the following reasons:

• if they have been charged with a felony
• if they have been served with papers naming them as defendants in a lawsuit
• if their insurance coverage is less than the amount a third party is claiming due to their negligence
• if they are making a will or changing it
• if they wish to adopt a child
• if someone with whom they are involved in a business setting breaches his or her contract with the client
• if they are resulting in substantial harm, or if the person suing them has a lawyer.

If a person is a defendant in a civil lawsuit and fails to appear in court, a default judgment will be entered by the court against them, and for all practical purposes, they will be unable to overturn it.