Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is one lawyer I know of that is a legal consultant; works by referral mostly, and you pay for access to secure record-keeping, help with document preparation, trial prep, and you get templates. You do the work. You do the filing, you write out the motions, you do the planning. You are by yourself in the courtroom. You have a support team available answering the questions and giving guidance - but it’s at a much, mich, much cheaper rate. Like $5K and if you end up wanting to use them to represent you, you can hire them at anytime, and they give you the cost for everything detailed, up front so you know how to financially prepare.

It’s her private practice, not a huge firm or anything, and this is in the dc area. The friend in my example didn’t use this service - she went over books for hours in legal libraries.

But it’s so sad to see money wasted amongst families because one person is intent on financial destruction. It’s a huge emotional burden, but i would have navigated it with help for something like that. This isn’t the same as something like collaborative divorce. It’s like a divorce strategy consultant or something.

I just only knew of one other person (not an attorney) that successfully did it. I have great respect for her because of it. Just wondering if there were other stories.

This does not make sense...and dare I say malpractice?

DP. It's not all that different than LegalZoom, albeit with an ability to get more assistance. Limited scope retainers aren't that unusual and are becoming a little more common as the cost of lawyers become out of reach for a lot people.

I agree that it is a little bit risky for the attorney. But, so as long as the engagement letter is quite clear as to what is and is not provided, I don't see why this couldn't work. And winning a legal malpractice case is very difficult.

I checked out a NOLA guide from the library and downloaded the court forms off the internet. I paid $80 to file, served her the papers, and was granted a divorce 30 days later.

I paid a small fee for a settlement agreement that DH signed, along with all other necessary paperwork for an uncontested divorce. I filed it myself, went to the hearing solo and was granted a divorce. Spent $588, including court fees.

Ex-DH and I did in part, but we are (non-family law) attorneys so drafting legal documents and being in court was not intimidating. We also acted like adults and came to an agreement between ourselves on all terms without third party counsel.

Our process:
- We each did a quick consult with an attorney and each paid a $5K retainer. On my end, it was to have her run up a child support calculator (I pay) and confirm what I had researched re: division of assets, child custody, etc. On his end, it was to make sure his rights were protected (e.g., QDRO, home appraisal and my buy out, etc.).
- I did my research and drafted a 30 page separation agreement, Maryland court documents, and QDRO.
- I had my attorney do a once-over of the document (she made several minor changes), gave it to ex-DH, and his lawyer did a review. We went through about 5 drafts between ex-DH and I.
- He physically filed the docs, we represented ourselves pro se during the court hearing that lasted all of 15 minutes, and a month later we received the divorce decree.

This only worked because of the following factors: (1) We were cordial and could work everything out without resorting to outside counsel; (2) I was able to draft a very detailed agreement that made the court process straightforward. That said, we did have a conversation with attorneys to confirm our understanding of Maryland family law and what we should expect. We came out of pocket probably around $2-3K on lawyer's fees when all was said and done and received the delta back from the retainers, which we equally split.

I could have gone all fire and brimstone (he cheated), but it doesn't harm anyone but me in the end.

Yes, my boyfriend represented himself in his divorce against his ex-wife.

She found the best lawyer in town and racked up huge legal fees, which she tried to get him to pay.

This week, the judge after almoat 2 years of litigation, finally signed off on the divorce decree and she ended up having to pay her own legal bills.

I am an attorney (not family law) and had an contentious divorce with no children or complicated assets involved and I still hired an attorney. I see people in my area of law try to do stuff themselves all the time and it doesn't work.

I was Pro Se and got everything I wanted, which was 50/50 custody, the majority of assets (which were legitimately my separate property) lifetime buyout of alimony of <20k, and other things. I did award my ex more than required but did so in order to settle and have a clear conscience.

My ex hired a big law firm and spent around 6 figures.

I only recommend it if you have that type of mind and you are able to a lot the time (40+ hrs per week) to it.