A legal coach is the mid-point between full legal representation and going it alone. Working with a legal coach can make representing yourself easier and more effective, while still keeping your legal costs down. While these advantages are baked in, there are still things you can do to get the most out of legal coaching.

1. Take the free consultation

Recognizing that legal coaching is appropriate for most, but not all, legal matters, many legal coaches offer free consultations to learn more about legal coaching and unbundled legal services before you commit. Take them up on this offer. You'll want to know exactly what you're in for representing yourself, so give a legal coach a chance to propose a plan. You should leave knowing the advantages and disadvantages of representing yourself with the help of a coach.

2. Be upfront about your budget

With traditional, full-representation legal services, it can be hard to predict total costs: the lawyer does all the work, so it costs what it costs to get the matter resolved. There's very little that can be done to lower these costs. But limited representation is flexible, there's a range of representation beyond full. The lawyer works on and charges you only for those tasks you agree to in advance, so knowing your budget will help you to achieve an appropriate allocation of tasks between you and the lawyer.

3. Prepare for your meetings

Prepare for every meeting. Anything that helps you use the paid time with your coach more efficiently, saves you money, since you pay for the meetings, but not your own prep work.

Make sure you always know the purpose of the meeting, whether called by you or regularly scheduled. Have at the ready any work you've completed since the last meeting, as well as any questions you've accumulated (it's a good idea to keep a running list of your questions as they come up, but batch the non-urgent ones for the next meeting rather than calling or emailing every time you have a question).

4. Take extra time to prepare for your first meeting

There's a lot to do in your first meeting with a legal coach, so take extra time to prepare to make the most of the time that you're paying for.

Depending on how long-standing your legal matter, there might be a lot to share with your coach. Even though your coach might only be helping with a part of your case, they still need a complete picture in order to do their part. Preparing a simple, but thorough, chronology, and giving it to your coach before the meeting, if possible, convey this information with maximum efficiency.

List all relevant facts (ie facts that could make a difference in your case) in date order. Consulting a calendar or journal (or your photo reel) can help, but where you don't remember the exact date leave it blank (or be as specific as you can, eg "April") and put it in roughly date order. You'll build on this chronology as your case goes on. Limit yourself to one event per paragraph, even if there are several events per day, repeat the date and, if relevant, include time.

Next, read your chronology and think of how you'll prove each fact. If by document, find it and bring all of them with you at the first meeting. If you have them, also bring Court documents, documents received from the other side, and, if it's a family law matter, financial information for both sides.

It can also be useful to spend some time thinking about your goals. Think about what you want; what would be an ideal resolution and what would be acceptable (these might not be the same thing). Also, think about what parts of the case you'd be fine handling yourself and which you know you're going to want help with. Identify your strengths and weaknesses and what skills you already possess that you can utilize.

Finally, at the meeting take notes. Get into the habit of taking notes in all meetings, but especially the first meeting when a lot of important things are covered and decisions and agreements are made. Make sure to document them.

5. Keep your legal coach updated when something happens in your case

With traditional, full-representation legal services, once the lawyer has conduct of the file, most, if not all, information about your case goes through them. But when you're self-represented, you are the gate-keeper. Keep this in mind and try to remember to keep your lawyer apprised of the situation. Provide them with updates (steps taken by self or other side, changes) as they happen, or at least at the next meeting.

This also ensures you're getting legal advice whenever something happens in your case.

6. Use their services only when you need them

The more you know: about your case, about the process, about the law, the less you need to rely on your coach. The biggest savings with legal coaching is when you're leveraging something that you can't get yourself through free information on the internet: the legal judgment of a lawyer. When you don't have much to spend, you want to spend your money on this before anything else. Therefore, the more information you can get on your own, on your own time will save lawyer time for the tasks most in need of their skills. Ask your legal coach to point you towards these free sources, many will have a list ready. Spend as much time and effort as you can learning the basics on your own.