What do you look for in a family law attorney?

After the lousy but expensive representation I had, I’d want some one who takes immediate actions to preserve assets and move for fair and equitable custody of the children. An attorney that lets a client know that “being nice” or “equitable” is a matter of concession to the other side.

I haven’t had to look for a family law attorney, but when looking for other attorneys, I tend to look for someone who’s website indicates their speciality matches what I am looking for. I want to feel confident that they are up to date with all of the current trends and that they do this type of work a lot, not just occassionaly. I also look for good response rate. If your website gets me to click or call, how long does it take you to respond?

When I was going through my divorce, on thing that was very important to my now-ex-husband and I was having attorneys who were ‘mediation friendly’. We had an amicable divorce, and didn’t want our attorneys going in for the kill. We used a mediator to hammer out our separation agreement between ourselves, and used lawyers who were open to that.

Another important thing for us was having lawyers who understood that we wanted what was best for our children, not necessarily best for either one of us.

I like a lawyer with a working filing system. I had a lawyer who had boxes spread out all over his office, full of client material. It was ridiculous.

I just went through a divorce. My ex got a local ‘celeb’ lawyer and taunted me regularly that I’d better settle for what he wanted or I’d be very sorry. I somehow, through a legal clinic got a very expensive, total butthole for an attorney- he was ruthless and totally unimpressed with the opposition. He researched everything, and was very well prepared. He was very reassuring when we had to do depositions. We settled out of court, and I’m sure my ex is still reeling in disbelief at what I got. I did a lot of checking before giving up the retainer, he got right back to me, personally, after my initial phone call.

My concern would be reputation. How good are you?

In divorces, do you represent the client or the family? Tricky, eh? As a citizen of the world, I hope you represent the family. As a client, I want you to be a bulldog for me, but also look out for my kids. You need to be open to talking to the other side. But that’s just me.

And if you think the other side is not dealing in good faith, you need to get me to defend myself by defending me and my interests. But don’t spend too much money doing it.