Hiring an attorney in any capacity can be a daunting task. Hiring an attorney for your divorce can be especially difficult because you will be sharing a great deal of information with this individual and the results of the representation will have lasting impacts on you and your family dynamic. Therefore, it is critical during your consultations to ask the right questions to ensure you are comfortable with your Orlando Divorce Attorney and their qualifications.
Experience with Divorce Cases? It is important to know if the lawyer representing you specializes their practice in the Family Law area or if it is simply a minor part of their practice. Attorneys, although all are educated in many different areas of law, some have spent a great deal of time, experience, and gathered knowledge specifically in the area of divorce and family law. You may want to inquire how many cases they have handled, their education relating to family law, or any honors or accolades they have received for their practice in the family law area.
Do you encourage or practice collaborative divorce?/ How many of your cases have settled and how many go to trial? Typically, this question revolves around the attorney’s specific strategy for divorce cases. Each attorney has their own method and process for concluding a case. However, in many divorce cases, collaborative methods can lessen costs and encourage a settlement that you are involved in personally.
Are you familiar with my spouse’s attorney, the court system in the area, and judges? Having prior professional relationships and contacts with the legal community in the area can assist your case with scheduling, knowledge of timelines, and knowledge of the other attorney’s and judge’s methods of case conclusion and approaches.
Who else from the firm will be involved in my case? In many firms, paralegals, legal assistants, other attorney’s, or case managers are used to assist in cases. Knowing which individuals, you can expect to be in contact with, and who will particularly be involved in your case is important because you will also want to know their own experience with the divorce process.
What is your availability for questions during process?/ Do you prefer in person meetings, phone conferences, or emails? It is inevitable when proceeding through a divorce that questions will arise, as you are likely not to have any experience with this form of legal process. Therefore, knowing what the availability of your attorney is, and how you can reach them, is important because confusion during your divorce can cause you a great deal of unnecessary stress and worry.
How will I be kept informed regarding my case and how often? Having a timeline and set expectations as to when you will receive updates on your case can ease your concern about the development of your divorce. Further, having knowledge of the specific documents filed and correspondence between the attorneys can allow you to have even more knowledge of your specific case.
Finally, ask about the specific issues you are concerned about in your divorce and their experience with them. For instance, if you are a military spouse it will be important for the attorney to know and have experience with the unique factors of a military divorce. Further, if you anticipate child custody and child support to be an issue request their level of experience in child issues. Other issues that you feel will be prevalent in your case could be businesses, large volume of assets, or alimony.
Before entering any consultation, make a list of the qualities you are looking for in an Orlando Divorce Attorney and contemplate the questions necessary to ask to discover these qualities. Although we are prepared to provide you with as much detail about our experience, knowledge, and personal qualities do not hesitate to question your Orlando Divorce Attorney on the items that are most important to you.
Speaking to an attorney at our Orlando office is free of charge, and we accept calls 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Contact us at 407-512-0887 or complete an online contact form to get in touch with a member of our team today.