Divorce is an overwhelming event that not only can affect you emotionally but also disrupt your daily routines such as work and taking care of your family. You may be thinking of wanting to get over with the divorce fast but you must not be too rush into finding a lawyer. Divorce requires knowledge in the family field so you need to find a lawyer that has an educational background of graduating from a respectable law school. There are a few things you want to know prior to hiring a divorce lawyer.
Free Informational Guide
Many family law attorneys offer free consultation sessions for the first meeting. However, you must know that the free consultation session is only a short session that lasts for 20 – 30 minutes. You are likely to have the opportunity to ask only a few questions and not all the questions you want since the lawyer will probably speak at slow speed. For this reason, you should also ask the family law attorney for a free informational guide. The free informational guide will provide additional information on divorce that is not discussed in the consultation.
Know How the Law Firm Operate
Secondly, you must observe how the law firm office operates. Not all law firm offices are organized. For example, some law firms don’t have secretaries because they want to save money. Instead, they handle all the work themselves. In some offices, the lawyers are so busy with new clients that they forget all about the existing clients. You don’t want to hire an attorney that is busy and overloaded with work. You want an attorney that has spare time and can give you full attention. A busy attorney will have no time to attend to your call in case you want to speak to him about an issue related to your case. It is best if you can hire an attorney that can give you a return call most of the time and not ask you to leave a voicemail message all the time. Get more details on divorce lawyers near me with free consultation.
Level of Experience
Experience in the lawyer is the key to winning a divorce case. So, look for a lawyer with relevant experience in your case, for example, if you need the lawyer’s help to settle some minor arguments with your spouse and you want them to be settled out of court, you must look for a lawyer who has a track record of success in out of court settlement. On the other hand, if you feel that your case needs to be tried in the court to help you achieve your goal, you should look for a lawyer who has experience in arguing before the judge before because they know how the judge will rule in your case.
Billing Rate
Finally, you must learn about the billing rates of the attorney. It is common for attorneys to bill hourly and collect an initial retainer amount. Retainer is a deposit that you pay upfront. For example, if the attorney charges $300 per hour and asks for a $3000 retainer, it means he has to work at least 10 hours to earn the full retainer. When looking at the billing rate, you must keep in mind that attorneys that charge you more not necessarily possess a higher level of experience.