What You Need In a Divorce Lawyer
A divorce defines a huge part of your financial, legal, emotional, and physical lives. That’s why it’s absolutely critical to approach the issue with a team that will make sure that you get everything you need — and hopefully a good portion of what you want — out of the proceeding. In particular, you need (at the minimum!) a lawyer who:
- Practices family law. This might seem like an obvious one, but there are a lot of generalize lawyers who will be willing to work on your divorce. Don’t settle — choose a firm that specializes in family law.
- Actually practices family law. There are also firms out there that put ‘Family Law’ on their plaques and on their front door, but actually specifically deal with estate planning or adoptions or some specific area within family law. Make sure that any lawyer you work with has a history of divorce cases that were settled to their clients’ satisfaction.
- Is willing to negotiate — and a good negotiator. Unless you’re absolutely determined to stick it to your ex in the most brutal way, the vast majority of a divorce can and should occur out of the courtroom — in a setting where the rules of negotiation, not argumentation, are the norm. If your lawyer can’t thrive in that setting, you don’t want them representing you there.
- Is willing to fight — and an excellent advocate. Similarly, if the divorce does go to the courtroom, you don’t want to have hired a mediator with a law degree — you want someone who can and will argue passionately and eloquently for you.
- Shares your desire to ‘win’. This can be a tricky one, because your desire to ‘win’ doesn’t actually have to be a desire to win in court — you might believe that a ‘win’ is a split that everyone walks away from equally (un)happy. Or you may think that anything short of leaving your ex crying in a gutter is a loss. Whatever attitude you have toward the process, having a lawyer that shares your opinion on what constitutes ‘victory’ is key.
- Represents you and only you. There are a surprising amount of times when a single firm offers to represent both sides in a divorce — this is a patently bad idea, even if you really want an amicable separation and you believe your spouse does as well.
Of course, to learn these things about a firm or a lawyer, you’re going to have to talk to them — but that’s a good thing. The last and in some ways most important thing about a lawyer is that they make you comfortable and feel positive about how the proceedings are going to go; that kind of intuitive sense you can only get by talking to them in the first place, so embrace the opportunity.
Too much information?
We focus exclusively on family law matters so we are always available to answer your questions and help.
Leave a Reply