Family Law: What Are You Paying For?

At first glance, it sounds like a pretty basic question. What are you paying for? Are you paying for an image? Are you paying for the skill and knowledge? Are you paying for a name?

There are some professionals who have the impeccable public image: Fancy car; $1,000.00 suits; top-dollar office location. Based on this persona, we are given the impression that the professional is better. The question is, does paying more for something mean it is better, or just better packaged?

What you should be looking for:

When hiring an attorney, you should be most concerned with a few important issues (while there are many other considerations, these are, in my opinion, the most important):

. Experience; how long has he/she been doing this?

. Ability to Work with you.

. Reputation in the Community (with colleagues and judicial officers).

. Attitude; level of aggression and mindset towards settlement v. litigation, etc.

Why Family Law is different:

Family Law matters bring a whole different set of considerations for your attorney to consider and deal with. There are monetary issues; familial issues; emotional issues; and property issues. You have to, therefore, have someone who knows their way around this oftentimes convoluted terrain.

Because of the emotional components, you also need someone who can guide you through this process with perhaps a greater degree of compassion and empathy than, say, a commercial or civil litigator might have.

Another reason you need a skilled professional is that (no big surprise here) family law matters can often become very heated and acrimonious. Having an attorney with a good reputation in the legal community and among your colleagues can definitely aide you and lend credibility to your position(s).

Every Story is Different

Of course, everyone’s story is different and what works well for one person might be the wrong approach for another. If you’re dealing with any of these issues right now, contact me at MBreddan@divorcedigest.com or give me a call at 818-888-1144; we can have a chat and see if we need to set an appointment to discuss your issues in greater detail.