Family Law

Step 1: Find a Wise Guide

An experienced divorce lawyer I know is fond of telling his clients that you don't need a lawyer to get a divorce, but you need them for the consequences of your divorce. He is right. You can likely get a divorce by finding some forms on the internet or hiring a lawyer that advertises for cheap uncontested divorces. If you have no children, a marriage of only a year or two in duration, no assets or debts have been accumulated during the marriage, and you and your spouse agree on everything, then you probably don't need a divorce specialist. There are some people who can handle the divorce process on their own, without hiring an attorney. At a minimum, everybody needs two meetings with a lawyer. First, before you file for divorce, so that you understand the process and what the Court will expect of you. Second, when you are at the point of making a final agreement (for example, Separation Agreement), have a lawyer look it over so you understand what you are signing and what the consequences are of each of the pieces that you and your soon to be ex-spouse have decided on.

Look for a lawyer that has at least 5-10 years experience practicing primarily divorce and family law. I've been practicing law for 9 years and family law for 6 years. At least 75% of my practice is family law. You want to know how long an attorney has been practicing and what types of law they practice in. I like looking at the Find a Lawyer at the Colorado Bar Association website and seeing what attorneys put as their areas of practice. Of course, some attorneys list their practice areas alphabetically, but most attorneys list their primary areas first. You want to know if someone practices family law mostly or does a bit of real estate, contracts, collection work, bankruptcy and family law.

Find out the lawyer's philosophy regarding litigating cases versus settling them. My personal opinion is that you should want a lawyer who makes it a priority to attempt to acheive a fair settlement for you, but who is capable and willing to litigate the case before a judge. My feeling is that many clients benefit from settling cases but not all do. I'm always willing to litigate cases in order to protect my client's interests. Attorneys need to be willing to litigate cases -- otherwise there is no bite to the bark --- if you don't agree... I will file a motion with Court.... If other attorneys know you never like to go to Court, then it isn't much of threat is it?

The other thing that I think is important in choosing an attorney is a combination of reputation and knowledge. Many clients say that they want "aggressive" attorneys but do not understand that having an "aggressive" attorney can come with consequences. Sometimes the Court sees those "aggressive" attorneys as blow hards and disregards much of what they say. Other times, those "aggressive" attorneys yell at their clients or treat their clients poorly. A client told me once about an attorney who had a penchant for kicking the client hard with pointed shoes under the table when they did not like the answers the client was giving. So you have to balance your attorney's style with what will be most successful in Court. Yes, of course, everyone wants to get exactly what they want in Court but you need to know whether your attorney will help you get that or not. "Aggressive" does not always equal successful in the Courtroom.