After years of marital problems, your partner has left you and the marital house. What should you do? You should find family lawyers to help you out. When you hire an attorney, you should be ultra-cautious to have a great experience. To help you out, here are valuable tips you should pay attention to for you to have a great experience:
Don’t hire the first attorney you come across.
Many people hire the first attorney they find online or are recommended by their friends and family. This is wrong.
The best way to go about it is to take your time and find at least three or more attorneys and, from them, find an attorney who will be right for you.
Remember that if your matter is complex, consult an expert lawyer. During the initial appointment, you can ask the attorney questions about their experience with cases similar to yours, billing procedures, hourly rates and retainer requirements, responsiveness, communication preferences, and who else is on the attorney’s team.
You should leave the meeting with answers to these questions, a better idea of how this attorney tackles family law disputes, and any other information about how the law may apply to your circumstances.
You should use the consultation to determine if the attorney is a suitable fit for you. If you have reasons to believe the attorney won’t be a right fit for you, stay away from them, as it might get too expensive down the line.
As mentioned, hire an experienced professional with the same personality as you, and you are sure they will give you the excellent experience you want.
Be honest
No matter the problem or how humiliating you think it is, you should be honest with your attorney. Good attorneys ask, “Is there anything else we haven’t discussed that you think I should know?”
This is the time to pull back the curtain and tell your attorney what you believe is vital. Do not avoid facts solely because they will not help your argument. Your attorney should know all pertinent facts, both good and bad.
Also, do not offer facts that you (maybe incorrectly) believe are unimportant. Clients who provide more information, rather than less, have better outcomes in experience, so give as much information as possible.
Agree on the best mode of communication.
First, you and your attorney should agree on your preferred method of communication. Most people use email. This is the most efficient way for the law firm to keep records of communications.
Some attorneys refuse to interact by text messages. To ensure that you are always on the same line, you need to have clear lines of communication.
You should note that effective communication encompasses more than just the mode of communication. It also entails limiting the frequency of your inquiries to your attorney. So, ensure that you contact your attorney only when necessary.
If you contact your attorney once daily for five days in a row with a single, non-urgent query, you should expect to see five entries on your next bill, one for each day.
If you save those five questions and send them all in one email, you will only need to enter them once, saving you money in the long run. It also will give the impression that you are severe, and the attorney will likely take you more seriously, increasing your chances of winning your case.
Ask as many questions as possible.
Even after you have settled on an attorney, you should not sit back and wait for their recommendations. Instead, you should ask them as many questions as possible, especially regarding their recommendations.
Doing this shows that you are engaged and want to understand the reasoning behind various options and recommendations.
Your attorney should be able to explain the reasoning and foundation for their advice. If they can’t, or if they offer a “just because,” you should consider whether the attorney-client relationship is as effective as possible.
Remember that you can change your attorney as you find right. If you are asking the right questions but the attorney is dodging them, it might be wise to find another who is willing to listen to you and answer all the questions that you are having.
Be organized
Some customers are better organized than others. Some people enjoy spreadsheets, while others prefer an organizing style that involves stuffing large plastic containers with hundreds or thousands of pages of entirely unstructured documents.
To have an easy time with your attorney, you should be organized. This calls for you to be organized, put all your documents in order, and ensure that you can easily find anything you want.
Remember that a genuinely well-organized client will most likely incur lower legal fees because you will have all the necessary documents and fewer lawyer engagements, as you will always have the required documents when the attorney asks for them.
If you are not very organized daily, don’t expect to become one – especially after a sudden divorce. So, if you know you are not the most organized, you should hire a professional to guide you and ensure all the vital documents are in order and you can easily access them when you need to.
Listen to the recommendations given by your attorney
You should always listen to the recommendations given by your attorney. You should take the advised action if you agree with your attorney’s analysis. If you disagree, you and your divorce lawyers Fairfax VA should consider the matter further.
It is usual for individuals around you – family, friends, and casual acquaintances – to offer counsel and assistance or, better yet, to tell you precisely what you should do. It should not do what you are entitled to during a divorce.
You should not ignore the advice, but you should approach it with caution. Most of the time, the person offering counsel has good intentions. However, no two divorces are alike, so “comparisons” are, at best, ineffective and frequently destructive.
This is not to say that advice from a family member or friend will be meaningful to you. In this case, you should consult your attorney and determine your options.
