{"id":1421,"date":"2023-01-31T04:31:46","date_gmt":"2023-01-31T11:31:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/?p=1421"},"modified":"2023-01-31T16:31:35","modified_gmt":"2023-01-31T23:31:35","slug":"early-settlement-saves-most-in-fees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/2023\/01\/31\/early-settlement-saves-most-in-fees\/","title":{"rendered":"Early Settlement Saves Most in Fees"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you want to save on attorney’s fees, settle your case.\u00a0 If you want to save a lot, settle early.<\/em><\/p>\n

One of the biggest motivators in settling a divorce case is to save on the significant attorney’s fees involved in taking a case to a court trial.\u00a0 In some extreme cases, such as those involving the trifecta of a child custody dispute, a spousal maintenance claim, and a fight over a business all rolled into one case, each party\u00a0may easily incur well over $50,000 in attorney’s fees taking\u00a0the case to trial.\u00a0 In a case that will ultimately cost $50,000 in attorney’s fees to take to trial, a settlement reached\u00a0on the day before trial may only save each party $3,000 – $5,000 in fees.\u00a0 If the settlement is reached within a few weeks after the case is filed,\u00a0 however, the savings in fees could be $40,000 or<\/em> more. <\/em><\/p>\n

A few years ago, I was able to settle a case that was set for trial about three business days away from the date the settlement was reached.\u00a0\u00a0 By the time we reached the settlement, we had already drafted our pretrial statement, had organized and prepared all of our trial exhibits, and had done significant other trial prep work.\u00a0\u00a0While the parties in that case certainly realized some savings on their attorney’s fees, the fees saved were thousands and maybe tens of thousands of dollars less than the savings would have been had the case been settled early on.<\/p>\n

If there is so much money to be saved by an early settlement, why do so many cases\u00a0not settle till the “eve of trial”?\u00a0 In my opinion, this occurs because as humans, we often want to put off for another day what we don’t absolutely need to deal with today.\u00a0 When\u00a0the trial is four or five months off, it’s difficult to get people–the parties as well as the lawyers–to sit down and take a realistic look at the strengths and weaknesses<\/em> of their cases.\u00a0 It is simply easier to wait and not think about it.<\/p>\n

As the trial approaches, however, the parties become uneasy.\u00a0 They start to recognize they might not win on every issue.\u00a0 Things might not turn out exactly the way they want.\u00a0 They decide that maybe they in fact\u00a0don’t<\/strong> want to leave very important decisions about their lives\u00a0in the hands of a judge who, though well-intentioned, doesn’t know them and will be exposed to their case for only a few hours.\u00a0 When those realities start to set in, often not until the week before trial,\u00a0the offers and counteroffers start flying back and forth between\u00a0the attorneys.\u00a0 It is actually quite common for a case that both sides thought was unsettleable to settle the week before trial, and sometimes only the day before.\u00a0 A few years ago, I even had a\u00a0case that settled during the lunch break between the morning and afternoon sessions of the trial.<\/p>\n

Every person is entitled to his or her day in court.\u00a0 In some cases the parties are so polarized in their positions that they never do reach agreements, and that’s okay.\u00a0 That’s why we have judges.\u00a0 But in the vast majority of cases, particularly when the parties are represented by counsel, \u00a0the parties should evaluate their positions and make serious efforts to settle their cases early on.\u00a0\u00a0 Remember, the meter is running.<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2012, 2018, 2023 by Scoresby Family Law \u2013 J. Kyle Scoresby, P.C. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you want to save on attorney’s fees, settle your case.\u00a0 If you want to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[109],"tags":[30,88,98],"class_list":["post-1421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-divorce-process","tag-attorneys-fees","tag-settlement","tag-trials"],"yoast_head":"\nEarly Settlement Saves Most in Fees - Arizona Divorce & Family Law Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/2023\/01\/31\/early-settlement-saves-most-in-fees\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Early Settlement Saves Most in Fees - Arizona Divorce & Family Law Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you want to save on attorney’s fees, settle your case.\u00a0 If you want to […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/2023\/01\/31\/early-settlement-saves-most-in-fees\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arizona Divorce & Family Law Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-01-31T11:31:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-01-31T23:31:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"SFLadmin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"SFLadmin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/2023\/01\/31\/early-settlement-saves-most-in-fees\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/2023\/01\/31\/early-settlement-saves-most-in-fees\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"SFLadmin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/24d0e6438c2b80e3aed92036129e7cf7\"},\"headline\":\"Early Settlement Saves Most in Fees\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-01-31T11:31:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-01-31T23:31:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/2023\/01\/31\/early-settlement-saves-most-in-fees\/\"},\"wordCount\":590,\"keywords\":[\"attorney's fees\",\"settlement\",\"trials\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Divorce Process\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/2023\/01\/31\/early-settlement-saves-most-in-fees\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/2023\/01\/31\/early-settlement-saves-most-in-fees\/\",\"name\":\"Early Settlement Saves Most in Fees - Arizona Divorce & Family Law Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-01-31T11:31:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-01-31T23:31:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/24d0e6438c2b80e3aed92036129e7cf7\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/2023\/01\/31\/early-settlement-saves-most-in-fees\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/2023\/01\/31\/early-settlement-saves-most-in-fees\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/2023\/01\/31\/early-settlement-saves-most-in-fees\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Early Settlement Saves Most in Fees\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Arizona Divorce & Family Law Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/24d0e6438c2b80e3aed92036129e7cf7\",\"name\":\"SFLadmin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b84580a43b3dade92a73c9c6a806d6e95673567a6b391f047adcc6efbe0779c8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b84580a43b3dade92a73c9c6a806d6e95673567a6b391f047adcc6efbe0779c8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"SFLadmin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/author\/sfladmin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Early Settlement Saves Most in Fees - Arizona Divorce & Family Law Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/2023\/01\/31\/early-settlement-saves-most-in-fees\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Early Settlement Saves Most in Fees - Arizona Divorce & Family Law Blog","og_description":"If you want to save on attorney’s fees, settle your case.\u00a0 If you want to […]","og_url":"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/2023\/01\/31\/early-settlement-saves-most-in-fees\/","og_site_name":"Arizona Divorce & Family Law Blog","article_published_time":"2023-01-31T11:31:46+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-01-31T23:31:35+00:00","author":"SFLadmin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"SFLadmin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/2023\/01\/31\/early-settlement-saves-most-in-fees\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/2023\/01\/31\/early-settlement-saves-most-in-fees\/"},"author":{"name":"SFLadmin","@id":"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/24d0e6438c2b80e3aed92036129e7cf7"},"headline":"Early Settlement Saves Most in Fees","datePublished":"2023-01-31T11:31:46+00:00","dateModified":"2023-01-31T23:31:35+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/2023\/01\/31\/early-settlement-saves-most-in-fees\/"},"wordCount":590,"keywords":["attorney's fees","settlement","trials"],"articleSection":["Divorce Process"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/2023\/01\/31\/early-settlement-saves-most-in-fees\/","url":"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/2023\/01\/31\/early-settlement-saves-most-in-fees\/","name":"Early Settlement Saves Most in Fees - Arizona Divorce & Family Law Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-01-31T11:31:46+00:00","dateModified":"2023-01-31T23:31:35+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/24d0e6438c2b80e3aed92036129e7cf7"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/2023\/01\/31\/early-settlement-saves-most-in-fees\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/2023\/01\/31\/early-settlement-saves-most-in-fees\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/2023\/01\/31\/early-settlement-saves-most-in-fees\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Early Settlement Saves Most in Fees"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/","name":"Arizona Divorce & Family Law Blog","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/24d0e6438c2b80e3aed92036129e7cf7","name":"SFLadmin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b84580a43b3dade92a73c9c6a806d6e95673567a6b391f047adcc6efbe0779c8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b84580a43b3dade92a73c9c6a806d6e95673567a6b391f047adcc6efbe0779c8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"SFLadmin"},"url":"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/author\/sfladmin\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1421"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1421\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3383,"href":"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1421\/revisions\/3383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scoresbyfamilylaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}