Divorce is a tough situation for everyone involved, but it does become more manageable if you have a good divorce lawyer to help you. This also means, however, that hiring the right lawyer is very important to getting a successful resolution. As you look for a divorce lawyer in San Diego, here are some questions you should be asking and what to expect to ensure you’ve made the right choice for your case.
What Questions Should You Ask a Divorce Lawyer in San Diego Before Hiring Them?
1. How Many Divorce Cases Have You Handled?
This one is pretty simple to understand: the more experience someone has, the better they are, usually, at their job. If your lawyer has done this many times before, then your chances of having a favorable outcome in your divorce get much higher. An experienced lawyer understands the complex family laws of California and how they apply in various real-life settings. They also know how to negotiate and navigate the courtroom effectively.
If your lawyer does not have a proven track record, it’s probably a good idea to look somewhere else. While it’s true that everyone has to start at the bottom to gain experience, new lawyers should gain that kind of experience by working alongside more experienced people until they have built up their own case experience. If you are working with a law firm, this means you might have more than one lawyer working on your case: one very experienced, and one building experience. That’s fine, but you want to be sure that even if a newer lawyer is working on your case, they are working alongside someone experienced.
2. What Costs Do You Charge, and What Other Costs Should I Expect?
Obviously you will need to pay your lawyer, so it’s important to ask at the outset what pay structure they have and what kind of fee you should expect. But the cost of hiring the lawyer themselves is not the only cost in a divorce case. There may be other costs, such as hiring expert witnesses, the cost to pay for an investigation if a spouse is trying to hide assets, and other issues like potential court costs. If your lawyer has experience, they should be able to anticipate what these costs might be and give you an idea of what to expect.
As you ask the lawyer about their own fees, also ask about the billing structure. How much do you have to pay upfront? What intervals do you pay at? Is there any option for you to pay in installments?
3. What Strategy Do You Think You’ll Take With This Case?
Every divorce is unique because the individuals involved are unique. This means that every case will require its own strategy, and your case strategy should be tailored to the circumstances facing you. At the same time, the strategy should be built on previous cases and the lawyer’s experience with how those cases have gone. While no case will be exactly like yours, there will be elements of other cases that will be similar to things you’re facing.
By asking this question, you get a chance to gauge whether your lawyer has a grasp of how complex your case is and has a good strategic sense for laying out a clear path forward. Obviously, at this very first meeting, you can’t expect your lawyer to have every detail fully fleshed out. But a good lawyer with lots of experience can give you a general plan for how they would move forward. If there’s something they need to find out before they can develop their plan, they will be able to specifically tell you what that is. Your lawyer’s strategy will also give you an idea of whether they are a good fit for you.
4. Should This Be Handled In Mediation, Or Does It Have to Go to Trial?
Speaking of strategy and intention, this question gives you an idea of your lawyer’s temperament and how they prefer to resolve cases. Ideally, you want a lawyer who is experienced in resolving divorces both through mediation and also by going to trial. The lawyer who only does mediation and rarely goes into the courtroom on behalf of a client may not have the experience you need if things in your divorce get messy. This background might also demonstrate that they don’t have the stomach for going to court and won’t really fight for your rights as aggressively as necessary.
On the other hand, a lawyer who always goes to court with their divorce cases and never really resolves them in mediation might have too aggressive a temperament for your case. Mediation is typically cheaper and faster as well as less emotionally destructive to everyone involved. If it’s possible to resolve a divorce through mediation, this is often the best way to go about it. The lawyer who’s too anxious to take things to trial may be demonstrating that they don’t have good negotiating skills.
5. Do You Know My Spouse or Their Attorney?
A lawyer needs to be a professional who can put aside personal feelings and handle your case with an eye entirely to your best interests. But the reality is that everyone has certain biases, no matter how hard they try, so it’s important to ask some questions to find out if there’s any chance that bias might affect your case. The most serious bias would be if your lawyer already knows your spouse, either professionally or personally.
If your lawyer knows your spouse’s attorney, this could be a good thing. Lawyers do tend to know other lawyers, and if your lawyer has worked in a divorce before opposite your spouse’s attorney and things turned out well, their ability to collaborate could be a bonus for you.
6. Will You Handle My Case Directly?
You want to know who you’re going to be talking to as your case progresses. Some firms will have you talk to one lawyer for an initial consultation but then pass you off to another lawyer once the case actually gets started. This is not necessarily a bad thing, particularly if your interview is with a less experienced lawyer and the experienced attorneys take care of the actual legalities. However, you don’t want things to run in the opposite direction.
Bear in mind that at an experienced law firm there will be other legal professionals who are not actual attorneys who typically help the attorneys on every case. Their job is usually to take over some things in order to free up the attorneys to do what only they can do. That often means they do a lot of the communicating with clients, and that’s fine: but you want to be aware in advance of who you’ll be talking to. This is also a good time to ask how often you should expect to hear from your lawyer about the progress on your case as well as how you can get in contact if you need to.
Asking questions like these will help you determine if a potential attorney is the right one for you. To set up an initial consultation with a highly experienced San Diego divorce attorney, contact the Law Office of Kevin Lemieux today.
