Selecting a divorce lawyer to handle your family law case is a very important decision. The following are a few important criteria to help in finding the right divorce lawyer.
Experience and Focus
Any divorce lawyer you consider should have substantial
experience in handling divorce cases in your location. An experienced divorce
lawyer will know the tendencies of the various judges in your jurisdiction and
should be able to use this knowledge to your advantage. Additionally, that
lawyer should practice primarily in the field of divorce law. Often people will
hire a lawyer who practices primarily in some other area, thinking that any
lawyer will do. However, divorce law is a very specialized field that requires
particular skills and experience in order to have a likelihood of reaching a
successful conclusion.
Past Client Testimonials
Perhaps the best way to decide which divorce lawyer to use
for your divorce case is to find out what former clients have to say about that
lawyer. While divorce is never an enjoyable process, some divorce lawyers have
more success at satisfying their clients than others. If you do not know
someone who has been a client of that particular divorce lawyer, you should
consider asking the lawyer for a list of clients that you can contact who can
describe their experience with the lawyer. While client confidentiality is
important, any good experienced divorce lawyer should have at least a few
former clients who are willing to vouch for him or her.
Accessible
When a client becomes dissatisfied with a divorce lawyer,
one of the most common complaints is that they were unable to communicate with
the lawyer. It is very important that your divorce lawyer be accessible and
prompt in responding to your phone calls, emails, and requests for meetings.
While you can ask the divorce lawyer about their office policy, this is another
area where you can best evaluate the divorce lawyer by hearing what former
clients have to say.
If a former client of the lawyer tells you that they found
it very difficult to contact the attorney, or that the lawyer either did not
return calls or respond to emails or would take several days to do so, you
should definitely avoid that lawyer. Divorce is an unpleasant and frustrating
process under the best of circumstances. If you are unable to reach your
divorce attorney, or at least someone on his or her staff, the frustration
level can increase exponentially.
Fees
When you make your initial appointment with the divorce
attorney, you should inquire about a consultation fee. Some lawyers do brief
initial consultations for free, although most experienced divorce lawyers will
charge between $100.00 and $200.00 as a consultation fee, or will charge their
normal hourly rate.
For example, I charge a flat $100.00 consultation fee with
no additional hourly charges, regardless of the length of the meeting.
Essentially, the consultation fee is to "weed out" those people who
are not serious about the possibility of hiring me. Given that my normal hourly
rate is $200.00/hour and the usual typical consultation takes about 90 minutes,
the charge for my consultation is significantly discounted. Therefore, you
shouldn't let a consultation fee scare you away from interviewing a particular
lawyer.
During the consultation it is vitally important that you
have a candid discussion with the prospective divorce lawyer about fees and
what you can expect. Typically, an experienced divorce lawyer will require the
payment of a substantial retainer up front, against which that lawyer's hourly
rate and expenses will be charged. You should find out what that lawyer's
hourly rate is, what the up front retainer will be, whether any portion of the
retainer is refundable if it is not exhausted, and how often you can expect to
receive invoices that detail their hourly charges and expenses. You also will
want to know how detailed the invoices are. Once again, this is another area
where you can get excellent information from those people who have been clients
of that divorce lawyer.
Comfortable
While all the above issues are important, there is one final
question you should ask yourself before hiring a divorce lawyer. Are you
comfortable with that lawyer and are you confident in his or her abilities? If
the answer is anything other than a resounding "yesFind Article," you
should keep looking. Your case is too important to entrust to someone who does
not inspire your confidence.
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