Reply to Finding divorce lawyer who isn't a barracuda

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I wouldn’t count out barracudas/sharks/whatever.

You think it’s calm and cooperative now, but you want to go into it with every tool you might need. My goal was to find someone who was calm and measured, would be competent at working with mediators or 1:1 with the other attorney, but also capable of litigation if necessary. You never know what kinds of motions your spouse might be convinced to file over even tiny things. It just takes one hearing to realize you have an attorney who’s in over their head.

Avoid anyone who is all collaborative or who jumps straight into trial/hearing strategies. Consult with at least 3-4 attorneys to get an understand of different ideas and strategies for your situation. I hired the attorney who said that he couldn’t actually recommend a strategy right away and acknowledged some issues that I had unconsciously minimized as potential hurdles to cooperation.

If an attorney doesn’t understand your perspective from the first consult, that’s a bad sign. I spoke with one attorney who was insistent that I do x, y and z right away but clearly didn’t understand how those things fit into the context of my life. If you sense that they aren’t listening and are applying a standard script or framework to you, move on.[/quote]

The lawyer you talk to might seem like she/he “gets” it. Then they shuffle your case to an associate. You have to check and double check everything. Then charge you for that, effectively.

In my experience, you minus well do it yourself out of the gate. At least most of it.
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You’re replying to me and you mentioned something I didn’t add: it was very important to me to not get shuffled to an associate and to avoid a place where caseloads were so big that paralegals and associates are constantly stepping in. I knew that my case was too complex to deal with delays or confusion from knowledge transfer issues and that any savings from lower associate/paralegal rates would be gobbled up by time needed for knowledge transfer. I hired someone at a small, 6-attorney firm with lower caseloads. My attorney is the only person I work with. My STBX is using a giant firm with apparently multiple paralegals and associates popping in and out. It’s caused a lot of problems for him because they miss deadlines, can’t keep track of details, and seem to be constantly shuffling him around.

As for doing it by myself: I do most of the document management and prep myself. I don’t go into a meeting or call without having outlined an agenda in advance, prepped all of my documentation, etc. If you have the ability to do so, you want an attorney who can deal with legal details and filings and big picture strategy, and you need to do most of the rest. You can’t trust them to dig into things they don’t know about your life.

It’s important to drive your own case and be in the care of someone who will partner with you, not just slap a standard framework on your care nor leave you twisting in the wind. [/quote]

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