Do not wait until it's "2L8".
We just had a woman call us where she sued a neighbor in justice court (pro se, instead of calling someone like us first). She had been served the day before via certified mail with discovery demands from another firm (like ours). She didn't understand any of it and was opposing what the other side was demanding. We kindly informed her that we would not be able to assist because - at the bare minimum - we needed to have been hired before the demand for discovery had been made. She tried and tried to convince us to let her hire us but alas we would not. Instead, we referred her to two law firms (not our preference, that's for sure) and wished her the best of luck.
Please keep in mind, we aren't miracle makers. We don't take cases at the point of discovery (or even the day after). The only exception might be a tenant defense against eviction.
But we digress, call us early and consult. We've made it inexpensive and easy to do. God speed.