How to Pick a Lawyer for Divorce
At our office, we simply do not and cannot accept every case. It is really important to find a lawyer who has a style that matches what you are looking for in terms of divorce or family law issues. At the Bloomfield Family Law Firm, the most important factor we strive for is that we protect our clients. When we can achieve great results amicably, through mediation, and without a fight, it often saves our clients money and emotional headaches. However, if we need to, we are ready to go to court and have more trial experience than most family law lawyers. In fact, because family law lawyers do so few evidentiary hearings and trials sometimes, we find that we are able to do well when it comes to skills in the courtroom.
It is really important that the client does not only find us to be a good fit, but that you are a good fit for our office. Some people have goals that simply do not align with ours. For example, when the potential client just wants to harass the other side for the sake of harassing them, it is a case where we will not be the right lawyers. Some people also come in with absolutely unrealistic goals. For example, we have had parents who spend very few hours a week with their children, and want to seek sole custody. In these situations, we would rather not sign up to strive for results without good argument to back up what the client is seeking.
The most considerations that you should consider when picking a lawyer for divorce include:
How much experience does the lawyer have in the county where you live and with the judges who preside there? It is important that a divorce attorney knows the lay of the land where your divorce will be filed. It is also important that the lawyer does not have so many cases in front of your judge that they will not fight for you because it may annoy the court or ruffle the opposing attorney’s feathers. We have a great balance between being able to zealously represent our client while maintaining a professional reputation. While occasionally we will help a client outside of our geographic area in unique circumstances, we try to stick to Oakland County divorce cases and Macomb County divorce cases. We also handle cases in Wayne County, but we will be very up front with you about the delays in the caseloads at this time in Detroit.
You should have a list of your major goals and discuss them with the lawyer so you know what to prioritize. Michigan law is relatively straightforward when it comes to certain topics. The lawyer you are consulting with should tell you straightforwardly when you are wasting your time trying to get a result that the law would never allow. Instead, we find it is better to know what matters most to our clients and where there is greater room for varying results. Most often, the major issues where there is a lot of room for negotiation, creative solutions, and unique resolutions involve the children and how the parents will divide their time after a divorce. Another issue where there is a wide range of results is spousal support. Because we evenly represent the payors of alimony and the payees, we are very familiar with the best arguments to make and the arguments we can anticipate from the other side.
If cost is a concern, ask the lawyer for advice on what you can do to lower the cost of your divorce. We are very blunt with our clients about strategies they can take. Often, however, to be successful doing this, litigants must avoid the emotional pendulum a case can make a person feel. And often, if the opposing lawyer thinks they can create issues and earn their retirement off your case, it can end up being simply expensive because of their actions.
It is important to feel like your potential lawyer is someone you can talk to. If it is awkward to have a conversation about random things when you are first meeting, it is going to be super awkward to discuss the intimate details, if necessary, about your marriage and finances. You just need to be comfortable. When the fit does not feel right during a consultation with our office, we will tell honestly tell people during our consultation. We do always have ideas of other family law lawyers that might be a better match when we are not the right fit.
Many people will ask if it is bad to switch lawyers during a divorce or a custody issue. It is, quite frankly, common and happens all the time. We do find that very few clients fire our firm and move on to another lawyer to complete the work. It does look bad to the court when someone has repeatedly hired new counsel because they are unhappy with court’s decisions. So if a person is on their fifth lawyer in two months, this will stand out to the court. Most lawyers would advise against doing this. However, if your lawyer is not a good fit, it is okay to change and we can explain the process to you. There are times, again, when we will tell people that we would not be able to get any different of a result than their current lawyer has already gotten.
If you have questions about divorce or a family law case, please reach out to our office and we will set up a consultation. We are happy to do in-person consultations, and honestly prefer it when family law cases are discussed. Of course, we are always able to set up zoom meetings or phone calls. We find that most of the people we meet with actually do prefer to in person – however, we can be flexible.
