One of the most difficult and stressful events of your life can be a broken relationship, and you’ll almost certainly have to use the Family Court to settle your issues (either through litigation or an application for consent orders).
To streamline the process and enhance the overall experience, you must know how to maximize the abilities of your divorce lawyers. To help you out, here is how to go about it:
Work with a qualified attorney
You will not have a good experience with your attorney if they don’t have the necessary knowledge. Before starting with the attorney, verify their family law expertise and experience. Are they accredited specialists? Do they only practice in that field, or is it just one of several subjects they offer guidance on?
Even if you’ve previously looked them up online, don’t be afraid to ask questions about their background and credentials during your initial meeting. If you don’t think your lawyer can handle your case promptly and competently, don’t waste your money. Go somewhere else, as chances are that you will have a bad experience.
For a great experience, list the three qualities you should have in a lawyer before you meet with any possible candidates. For instance, is it more critical that your attorney be attentive, empathetic, and aware of how “legal dollars” are being spent, or are you just looking for someone who will battle for you no matter how much it costs?
There is nothing particularly wrong with any of these traits; what matters most is selecting the lawyer you think would best assist you and fight for your stated objectives.
Yes, it is crucial that you set goals, but be ready for the possibility that these needs will change as your case develops.
Give your attorney all the information they need
To support your case and properly defend your interests, your attorney will want precise and in-depth information about your case. Tell the whole truth to your lawyer, even the awkward details and any incidents that might not support your case, as everything you say is confidential and cannot be revealed to the court or any other party without your express consent.
Your attorney is there to represent you, not to pass judgment. It’s also not to “twist” the facts of your story by leaving out possibly detrimental details to get a particular result.
But, if they lack all the information or if information that could harm your case is discovered much later, they won’t be able to act in your best interests. Tell your attorney if your situation changes: you get an inheritance, start a new job, or get into a new relationship.
Let your attorney inform you of the possible solutions and alternatives.
Most attorneys will be competent enough to manage your case in family court. Is your attorney “solution-focused” and seeking a suitable end to your issues? Are there alternatives to going to court to settle disputes? Inquire with your attorney about non-judicial dispute resolution options such as informal gatherings, counseling, arbitration, or mediation.
These procedures are growing in popularity due to the high cost of even “basic” litigation and the Family Court’s protracted case processing backlog.
It takes at least two years from the beginning of a case to its resolution at trial. Although most cases settle somewhere during those two years and don’t go to trial, the delays nevertheless significantly impact those who want to put their lives “back on track.”
Maintain open lines of communication with your attorney
First, you should decide on your preferred method of communication with your lawyer. It’s email for most people. This is the most effective way for the legal practice to keep track of correspondence.
Certain lawyers decline to interact via text messaging, and it’s okay to respect this. There is no right or wrong way to communicate with your attorney. You must find the best way out that suits both of you. There is more to effective communication than merely using the right words.
Managing the time you spend asking your lawyer questions is essential to effective communication. Your next bill will have five-time entries, one for each day; if you email your lawyer once a day for five days in a row with a single, non-urgent inquiry in each email, there will be five entries. Still, there will only be one entry if you want to save and submit those five questions in a single email.
Usually, the time attributed to a single entry is less than the sum of the times for five distinct entries.
To have a great experience with your attorney, you must agree on the best communication and how to go about it. Remember that you should respect each other’s preferred mode of communication.
Be organized
Compared to others, some consumers are significantly more organized. Some people are spreadsheet enthusiasts, while others adopt an organizing style that involves packing hundreds or thousands of pages of entirely disorganized documents into enormous plastic containers.
Experienced family lawyers Fairfax VA have handled cases at every end of the “organizational spectrum.” Since analyzing and arranging several boxes of documents costs money, you often pay less in legal fees when you are well-organized.
While this is the case, when you are going through a divorce, don’t expect to suddenly become well-organized if you are not organized in your daily life. Some people try to be organized but often waste too much time.
It is preferable to admit that you struggle with organization and let your lawyer know they will have to organize for you. You will pay more legal fees, but your case will start soon as time won’t be wasted.
The cool thing is that if you had chosen the right attorney, you wouldn’t have anything to worry about. Your documents will be put in order expertly and in the shortest time possible.
