It is not just the criminals in the world that need criminal legal advice from lawyers, many law abiding citizens need legal advice at one time or another. There are many transactions that have become so complicated with all the jargon that the average citizen can not figure it all out without the aid of a legal professional. I think that it is a good idea to shop around a little and compare fees for services that lawyers perform. Getting a quote for a job that will be done helps to determine what kind of budget you will need to accomplish your goals. In my opinion, prepaid legal services are the way to go. Using prepaid legal services helps to keep your budget in line and helps the hired lawyer to stay within the designed budget. Having your lawyer quote you a service fee and then using prepaid legal services may help keep costs down as well as remove the burden of paying off legal fees for years to come. It may even be wise to use prepaid legal services in installments if you are not able to come up with the whole fee all at once. Many times it is better to pay as you go rather than have the whole total left to pay later.