Author name: Larry Sarezky

Larry Sarezky, Esq.

The good news is there is a wealth of advice about divorce available.

The bad news is there is a wealth of advice about divorce available.

Much of the advice you receive as you move through your divorce will come from friends and family, members of divorce support groups, and thousands of blogs, articles, and official-looking though quite often inaccurate websites.  Advice from these sources is of limited value because it is offered:

• • With no knowledge, and/or little understanding, of the facts of your case
• • With no knowledge, and/or little understanding, of the relevant laws of your state
• • By friends and family members who care dearly about you—and whose advice is biased as a result
• • By folks who will care dearly about you (momentarily) if you buy their on-line products or services, help promote their causes, or “like,” “follow,” or listen to them grouse about their own divorce experiences

In deciding whether to accept a piece of advice about your divorce, ask yourself if it is:

• • Offered by a local qualified divorce professional who knows your circumstances
• • Designed to help you achieve your goals, or just to make you feel better
• • Consistent with goals that are important to you such as
• • Protecting your children from the conflict with your spouse
• • Reaching a fair result as efficiently as possible

There’s no substitute for advice from a local divorce lawyer, divorce coach or certified divorce financial analyst who can give you sound counsel regarding the divorce maze.  Even if you don’t feel you can afford to retain a divorce lawyer, invest in a consultation to learn about options such as alternative dispute resolution and “unbundled representation” that can get you quality assistance at less expense than you might expect.

This article is based on material in Larry Sarezky’s new book
Divorce, Simply Stated available at www.DivorceSimplyStated.com
Learn how to keep children off the custody battlefield with Talk to Strangers, the Telly-Award winning short film and accompanying parents’ guide available at www.ChildCustodyFilm.com

If you can afford a divorce lawyer, you should hire one. There’s too much at stake and too many complexities in divorce to risk “winging it” without expert advice. However, you can save some money by delaying hiring a lawyer while you complete a number of tasks:

• • File for divorce yourself using forms available on your state’s court system website
• • Use a certified divorce planner or certified divorce financial analyst who charge substantially less than lawyers, to
  • • Help you organize your financial paperwork
  • • Help you prepare your financial disclosure statement
  • • Discuss with you other divorce-related issues such as pensions, alimony deductions, etc.
• • Consult a divorce coach, if necessary, regarding organizing your finances and dealing with non-financial issues such as caring for, and making decisions about your children

Note that you should use this approach only if:

• • You have consulted with a matrimonial attorney who indicates that there are no pressing matters requiring immediate legal representation such as pendente lite (temporary) support or custody issues
• • You and your children are not at risk of harm from your spouse
• • You have very little money available for attorneys’ fees
• • There are experienced CDPs or CDFAs in your area

There’s another approach to legal representation that also saves fees by reducing lawyers’ billable hours. It’s called “unbundled representation” and it’s available in most states. In unbundled representation arrangements, lawyers are paid to handle only certain parts of a case. I will be discussing unbundled representation in a later blog in this series.

If you are going through a divorce, you have enough problems. You don’t need to add a crushing legal bill to the pile. Under the right circumstances, you can limit legal fees by limiting the amount of time your lawyer spends on your case.

Learn more about saving legal fees in Larry Sarezky’s new book Divorce, Simply Stated. www.DivorceSimplyStated.com

In Part I of this article, I discussed some questions to ask a lawyer at an initial consultation. Those questions related to the law and how it applies to the facts of your case.

This second part of the article deals with the other questions to be asked. Those questions relate to the lawyer’s credentials and the kind of attorney/client relationship you can expect to have with the lawyer.

Specifically, you want to find out the following:

1. The lawyer’s experience in the area of family law
2. Whether and how support staff and other lawyers may be involved in your case
3. The lawyer’s billing practices
4.  Specifics of how the attorney/client relationship would work

1. Experience in family law

You want a lawyer who has devoted at least 50% of his/her practice to family law, for not less than 5 years. It’s not necessary that the lawyer handle only family matters. In fact, an attorney with a more varied background may be better equipped to deal with estate, property or bankruptcy issues that might arise.

Also important is the kind of family law experience a lawyer has. The great majority of divorce cases are settled without need for a trial. Thus, you want an experienced negotiator. But at least in traditional “court-based” cases, you also need an experienced trial lawyer. That’s because even in cases that ultimately settle, there can be contested hearings on matters such as temporary support or custody, or depositions. These proceedings require litigation skills.

Finally, distinguish between “experience” and “credentials.” Diplomas from top law schools are impressive. I know this because some of my friends have them hanging in their offices, and it impresses me. But diplomas don’t guarantee a quality lawyer. Some of the finest lawyers I know went to law schools you never heard of. And the longer a lawyer has been out of law school, the less relevant that school is. Sound judgment and problem-solving skills result more from experience than legal pedigree.

2. Whether and how support staff and other lawyers may be involved in your case

If you decide to hire a member of a firm, you want that lawyer—not a partner or associate attorney—to handle the significant aspects of your case such as contested hearings and settlement negotiation. If a lawyer seems hesitant to make such a commitment, find another one who feels your case is important enough to remain personally involved with it.

Law firms usually have ample support staff, but not always. Ask about the availability and experience of associate attorneys, paralegals and legal assistants who may work on your case, and what exactly they will be doing.

If you hire a sole practitioner, the quality and role of support staff become even more important. You want your solo attorney to have experienced staff capable of answering your questions and handling routine matters that arise when the attorney is unavailable. Legal secretaries and paralegals, however, should not be making decisions regarding your case, so discuss with the lawyer how all that will work. While you’re at it, make sure that you won’t be billed for secretarial/clerical tasks such as scheduling, photocopying, and responding to billing inquiries.

3. The lawyer’s billing practices

Make sure you receive a letter that clearly states the details of your fee agreement before you pay your retainer.

Read the agreement carefully and be sure you understand it. Your lawyer won’t be shy about billing you under the agreement, so don’t be shy about asking about it.

One key but frequently overlooked aspect of billing is the “billing increment.” Many lawyers bill in increments of 1/10 of an hour, which means that the smallest amount for which you will be billed is six minutes worth—even for a 3-minute phone call. (This is a good reason, by the way, to wait to call your lawyer until you have more than just one question to ask.)

However, some lawyers charge a minimum of 2/10 of an hour or even a quarter of an hour for each service rendered. That can make a big difference. For example, a 3-minute phone call to a $450/hr. lawyer who charges in increments of .1 hours will cost you $45.00. The same call to a $350/hr. lawyer who charges you .2 hours will cost you $70.00!

Finally, make sure that the fee agreement provides that any unused portion of your initial or subsequent retainers will be returned to you.

4. How will the attorney/client relationship work?

I hate it when people don’t respond to my calls, emails, texts or my hollering outside their office building after they haven’t responded to one of my more traditional attempts to contact them.

Some lawyers are notorious for not responding to their clients. Ask how quickly the lawyer will get back to you. If the response time exceeds 24 hours, consider going elsewhere. There’s no sense retaining a lawyer who you already know is gong to drive you nuts.

Also, find out on what tasks you might save money by doing them yourself. Tell the lawyer that you would like to do some things that you might otherwise have to pay for, like scanning and organizing documents.

Finally, ask how decisions will be made in your case. Generally, clients set goals and attorneys decide how to achieve them. To the extent you can identify your goals at this early stage, ask the lawyer to comment on them. Reach an understanding that the two of you will agree upon a (written) list of goals before settlement negotiation begins.

Listen not only to the responses the lawyer gives, but also to the tone of them. As mentioned in Part 1 of this article, try to get a read on the lawyer’s “emotional intelligence,” which includes qualities like empathy and perspective.

A good working relationship with a lawyer requires mutual respect. Find out before you sign up if such a relationship is in the cards.

Learn more about how to maximize results and minimize costs
in Larry Sarezky’s new book Divorce, Simply Stated

Finding an experienced family attorney with whom you “click” dramatically improves your prospects for achieving your divorce goals.

With the possible exception of your current spouse, let’s assume you are a good judge of people. Let’s further assume that you’ve read a blog or 2 on how to choose a divorce lawyer. Finally, let’s assume you’ve listened to your friends bitch endlessly about their lawyers.

All of that should enable you to choose a lawyer for yourself, right?

Not quite.

You need to ask two kinds of questions at an initial interview with a divorce lawyer:

The first type of question relates to the law and how it applies to your case. These are the questions that have been rattling around your brain loudly enough to wake you up at 3:00 AM every night. Like “will my kids be all right?” And “will I be able to keep my house?” And “can I keep my entire pension?”

At the interview stage, no lawyer can say precisely how your case will be resolved. But an experienced family lawyer should be able to give you a range of likely outcomes on key issues. Those issues typically include:

• • Whether your case calls for spousal support and if so, the range of likely amounts and the length of time they will be paid
• • What property is considered “marital property” that will be divided, and the approximate percentage of marital property each spouse is likely to receive
• • How child-related issues such as custody and allocation of time with the children are likely to be resolved in light of the children’s ages, the parents’ availability to be with the children and the historical allocation of responsibilities between the parents
• • The lawyer’s best projection of likely outcomes regarding “case specific” questions such as
  • • Whether your home might need to be sold and if so, when
  • • If your spouse is self-employed, how much can reasonably be done to determine his/her actual income for support purposes
  • • To the extent possible, how long the case should take and a ballpark of likely legal fees both (1) if the case settles, and (2) if there is a trial

You can increase the value of the lawyer’s advice by bringing some key documents to the consultation, namely:

• • Your last 3 income tax returns
• • 3 years of corporate returns for any incorporated business (other than “S corporations”) owned by you or your spouse
• • A “net worth statement;” a fancy name for a list of what you own (assets) and what you owe (liabilities)

Also, work on an estimate of your living expenses prior to the consultation, particularly costs associated with your current home. If you’re feeling particularly ambitious, take a shot at filling out the expense section of the “financial disclosure statement” or “financial affidavit” that you’ll find on your state court system’s website.

During the consultation itself, pay close attention not only to what the lawyer says, but how she says it. Does she respond fully to your questions? Are the answers stated with confidence? Is she easy to understand? These kinds of questions relate to a lawyer’s emotional intelligence, a critical factor that is too often overlooked by clients who are understandably focused on legalities.

Lawyers generally bring their touchy-feely A-game to an initial interview. If the lawyer appears distracted or impatient at this early stage, that’s more likely to get worse than better as your case progresses.

You’re not looking for a new BFF at an initial consultation but you do need to feel comfortable enough with your lawyer to be able to work with her and ask her questions during your case. We all know people who just aren’t on our wavelength. Make sure your lawyer isn’t one of them.

The second category of questions to ask at an initial interview relates to the lawyer and the attorney/client relationship. Those questions can be divided into 4 categories:

1. The lawyer’s experience in family law
2. Whether and how support staff and other lawyers may be involved in your case
3. The lawyer’s billing practices
4. Specifics of how the attorney/client relationship would work

In Part 2 of this article, I’ll discuss these inquiries in detail.

Larry Sarezky, Esq.