With marriage breakups happening every day, finding a reliable and competent divorce lawyer ready to take on a case isn’t always easy. Ideally a divorce attorney should be spending half their time dealing with divorce cases and preferably one who is a good mediator. Still, you also need to feel at ease with them; someone who immediately instils a sense of trust.
Adversarial attorneys will use the hammer to crack a walnut approach which often happens when these cases go to court whereas an attorney who specializes in mediation will take a much calmer approach. To save time when you contact your divorce lawyer, keep conversations brief and to the point, which can be achieved by preparing what you need from them in advance.
Make sure you know exactly what you intend to ask and record the answers as each time you contact your lawyer there will be a charge involved so note times dates and durations of conversations. Physical meetings will cost more so if an item can be dealt with by mail or on the phone this will save money.
Your divorce attorney is just a resource for legal matters so do not try to get them personally involved as that is not their function; if you need emotional support there are others who can help with this. Unless you actually want your divorce lawyer to do something about your spouse’s behaviour or actions, do not use them for general complaints as it is costly and probably won’t achieve anything.
Let your lawyer know from the start that you will be in charge of the case and they are there for legal advice and not as someone to lean on when things start getting rough. Your legal representative must be told up front that while his or her advice is essential, all decisions regarding the divorce will be made by you. Let them know that copies of any correspondence relating to the case will need to be sent to you along with any other information and if you contact them, to reply as quickly as possible.
Not all cases need a courtroom to be decided upon so you could employ a lawyer just to help you with a marital settlement, legal information or advice. This means that a little research is necessary on your part but once you have completed this, it is much easier to contact a lawyer to ask them specific questions and how they see your case concluding. You may decide to have a divorce lawyer help with your marital settlement agreement, either to draft one or just to check over one you have made yourself then contact them if you get stuck or confused.