While there are many divorce lawyers in the industry, when you are looking for a divorce lawyer for your case, you shouldn’t hire just any attorney—you should take your time and find the right one. How do I choose a good divorce lawyer? Well, there are several things you should look out for. They include:

Experience

In the same way, you can’t go to an inexperienced doctor, you shouldn’t take your case to an inexperienced attorney. Divorce is a serious issue, and when you are going through it, it’s not the time to do family favors by hiring your uncle’s friend or your cousin’s boyfriend—you need to hire an experienced attorney that knows what they are doing and will show you the way forward.

As a rule of thumb, the attorney should be experienced enough in family law. While this is the case, you should note that you don’t have to hire a professional that only does divorce. While that might be their specialization, they might not be experienced enough to give you the necessary advice. This is because they most likely do one divorce case every few months.

For the best outcome, go for an all-around family lawyer. For example, if you are going through a divorce and at the same time you are on a financial edge, find an attorney that understands both family law and bankruptcy. If you are in a complicated financial situation, get a lawyer that is both an attorney and a CPA.

Availability

The other important thing to pay attention to is the availability of an attorney. The attorney might be experienced and have the right professional combination, but if they are too busy, they might not be the right fit as they won’t have enough time to dedicate to your case.

When you ask attorneys whether they have time for your case, most will say that they have it because they are used to juggling several cases at a time, but you need to be cautious about it.

A tell-tale sign the lawyer is too busy is if they reschedule your meeting a couple of times.

When you are in the office, keep your eyes open to how they conduct business. Do they keep going out to pick calls? Is the office a beehive of activity? They might not be the right attorney for your case.

Even if you meet the attorney and they seem collected and organized on the first meeting, but you feel that they don’t have time for you, get in touch with them after the business hours and leave a message that you have a question.

You should then wait and see how soon they get back to you. If they take more than a day, find another attorney.

Be wise in your research.

What do most people looking for an attorney do? They go online and choose the first attorney that shows up in the search results. This is wrong as it often results in hiring the wrong professional.

The right way to go about it is to contact three or more attorneys and schedule an interview. During the meeting, ask as many questions as possible. You can ask them about their experience, the right divorce route to follow, and other relevant details.

Cut your losses early.

Even with the best care, it’s common to make mistakes. If mid-way the divorce process you find out that the attorneys aren’t the top-rated divorce lawyers Fairfax VA you thought them to be, don’t dwell on it. Instead, start looking for a new attorney as soon as possible.