Whether you've been a victim of or are accused of securities fraud, you'll need a good lawyer who specializes in the field. Take your time and shop around, looking for the firm or individual attorney with the best mix of price, experience, accreditation and education for your case.

It's not a good idea to accept the lowest bid you're offered for your securities fraud case, at least not without doing a lot of research and comparing potential candidates. The low bidder may have bid low either because they're forgetting something important, or they're not going to do the best possible job for you (whether intentionally or not).

Ask your securities fraud attorney to print out an estimate of their fees for you, well before they actually launch the case. You may not need to; this is par for the course for some law firms, who include estimated fees in a formal contract that you'll need to sign before proceeding.