In your divorce, few things are going to make as big a difference to the overall outcome as the skill and experience of the lawyer you choose to work with. A good lawyer can make this process go smoothly and protect your assets along the way; a bad lawyer will only see you as a payday. It’s also important that your lawyer has experience locally, because their knowledge of state law and familiarity in working within the local family courts will go a long way towards helping you achieve the best outcome. As you search “divorce lawyer near me,” here are some things to consider.
What to Consider When Hiring a Divorce Lawyer Near You
How Much Experience Do They Have?
This might be the single most important factor to consider when you’re comparing lawyers. A divorce is life altering, and the decisions you make in your divorce are going to change everything about your future. You want as much experience as you can get on your side as you make these decisions.
The first thing to check is how much experience your lawyer has, and specifically with family law. It’s always best to work with a law firm that is dedicated entirely to family law because “the law” is far too enormous an area for any lawyer, or even any law firm, to specialize in every part of it. Good lawyers dedicate themselves to a particular area or two, and family law is one of the most complicated of these areas.
As you look over experience, take a look at whether the lawyer offers different types of help for different types of divorce. For example, are they experienced in high-asset divorces? Do they know how to help with the domestic partnership dissolution? Do they offer flat-fee divorces for those who are parting amicably from their spouse and want to get things done quickly? What about situations where there’s domestic violence? Can they help you to get restraining orders or other help if your spouse is a danger to you or your children?
Are They Honest With You From the Start?
Your lawyer should always be honest with you, and sometimes that may mean telling you something you don’t really want to hear. If you’re getting divorced, you certainly have goals and hopes for how that divorce is going to go, what it’s going to cost, what you’ll be able to get in terms of assets, and how child custody will be determined. But those goals might not be realistic.
You don’t want to work with a lawyer who promises you can have whatever you ask for, so that you’re shocked later to discover nothing is going the way you expected. A good lawyer will tell you the truth right from the beginning. They will tell you what to expect in terms of costs and how long a divorce should take. They will listen to your goals and tell you which ones are realistic and offer suggestions for how to tweak your goals as well as how to present them in the best possible light to the court.
Can You Communicate Effectively?
Some of this you won’t be able to determine until you have your initial consultation, but it’s very important that you be able to talk well with your lawyer. You want to be able to be honest with them and feel like you are being heard and understood; you also want them to be able to explain things to you effectively. One way to gauge this before you ever meet a lawyer is to look over their website. Do they provide blog posts that give you clear and helpful information? Is it easy to see how to contact them? If you reach out via the website, does someone get back to you quickly? Those are all good signs from the outside.
As you meet with a lawyer, remember that sometimes the lawyers in a law firm task other legal professionals to do a lot of the communication with clients, and this is not necessarily a bad thing. While you certainly want to be able to talk to your lawyer whenever it’s important and know that you will be heard, you also want to have some confidence that your lawyer will be spending their time working on those important legal aspects of your case that only a trained lawyer can handle and not wasting time (or your money) on things that someone else could do. As you meet in your first consultation, ask who you will be interacting with normally as your case progresses and how often you should expect a progress report.
Are They Willing to Take This to Trial?
Your attorney’s track record is important here. While you want an attorney who does have experience with helping couples come to an amicable agreement and get most things worked out outside of court, any divorce has the potential to become a protracted and contentious battle, even if it doesn’t seem at the moment like that’s possible.
Emotions run high in any divorce, and things can get messy. If that should happen, and if your spouse should suddenly become difficult to work with, is your lawyer also able and willing to go all the way to fight for you in court? Do they have experience helping clients with mediation? You want some confidence that, no matter what shape your divorce may take, your lawyer is ready to help you through it.
What Is Their Process?
Every lawyer and every long firm will have their own unique process for dealing with a case. And then there is the issue of costs. It’s important that you understand exactly what to expect before you begin, and if you do, everything will go more quickly and easily. In your first consultation with the lawyer, ask them about costs and how they usually deal with them. Then, ask about how things should go. What is your lawyer going to need from you? How do they prefer that you communicate: by phone, by email, by regular mailings, by personal visits, or by a combination of these, and what situations would require, for example, a personal visit rather than an email?
Also ask your lawyer what steps your divorce is likely to go through and what you should expect from them at each step. As mentioned above, you want to also know how often you should expect to hear from your lawyer, and who will be contacting you to give you those updates or to ask you questions if more information is needed. If you need to talk directly to your lawyer, it’s also important that you know how to do that.
The choice you make for your lawyer could make a huge difference to your divorce. The right lawyer will get things done quickly and smoothly, giving you confidence and peace of mind along the way, and help you stay focused on the future so that all your choices promote your best long-term interests.
Contact the Law Office of Kevin Lemieux in San Diego, CA today for a free consultation.
