After handling hundreds of divorce cases over the years, I have noticed that many of my clients have similar objectives in mind as they seek out the right attorney to represent them. Three common priorities have emerged. First, people go to an attorney because they want someone to really fight for them–someone to have their back and to be in their corner. Second, the divorce process is unpleasant, and although everyone wants an outcome they feel is fair, a top priority in hiring an attorney is to help achieve that fair outcome as quickly as possible to end the divorce nightmare. Third, every client wants to be kept informed–to have their attorney and his staff communicate with them about what is going on in their case.
1. “I want an attorney who will fight for me.” Everybody needs an advocate. In the criminal justice system, even those accused of the most heinous crimes are entitled to a defense. In the divorce litigation process, while a person’s very freedom is not typically at risk, other precious issues are at stake, the outcome of which will have a profound impact on a person’s life. Child custody, the ability to survive financially, keeping a share of the assets a person has worked for years to accumulate–all must be resolved either by agreement or by an unfamiliar judge at trial. Virtually all who consider hiring a lawyer do so because they need a champion–someone who will stand by them and fight for them in one of the darkest times of their lives. Good divorce lawyers must be that champion for their clients.
2. “I want the divorce nightmare to end.” When a person is going through a divorce, she goes to bed thinking about it. She wakes up thinking about it. She thinks about it several times a day every day. While every client wants an outcome they believe is fair and, when applicable, an outcome that will be best for their children, a top priority of most people going through a divorce is to achieve that outcome as quickly as possible. They want the divorce over. They want to move on with their lives. They want peace–something hard to achieve while one is in the midst of divorce litigation. To meet this objective for their clients, good divorce lawyers must use settlement conferences, mediation and other tools to try to resolve cases fairly, yes, but also quickly. When settlement discussions fail, effective divorce lawyers do all in their power to bring their clients’ cases to trial promptly.
3. “I want to be kept in the loop.” This one seems so common-sense, so simple and so easy for a lawyer to do for his clients. But over the years I have been shocked by the number of already-represented clients who have come to me complaining that they have no idea what is going on in their cases. A divorce is one of the most stressful things a person can ever have to go through. The unknown only compounds the “degree of difficulty”, and there is no reason for it! There are many things a lawyer cannot control, but one he certainly can control is his own communication with his own client. Good divorce lawyers simultaneously copy their clients via email on every document that goes in or out of their law offices on their clients’ cases. A good lawyer with good staff will return client phone calls and emails promptly–always within one business day. A client should never have to wonder what is happening in her case or to go weeks without hearing from her lawyer. Good divorce lawyers communicate with their clients and keep them in the loop.
Divorce lawyers, even the best ones, cannot control every outcome in every case. But every good divorce lawyer can and should do all in his power to meet his client’s highest priorities. A good divorce lawyer must be an advocate–a champion for his client. A good divorce lawyer will try to help his client achieve a fair outcome in the quickest, most efficient way possible so the client can get on with her life. And finally, a good divorce lawyer will keep his client informed at all times about the progress and “plan of attack” in her case.
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