While there are many things you should ask your divorce lawyer, you should really also ask yourself many things such as simply “do I feel good about him or her.” There is often not much time to decide upon which lawyer to choose, so your gut instinct may be your best guidepost. But to help you, here are some questions you can ask that might help you determine whether or not a certain lawyer will be a good fit for you.
5. Tell me how your fees work?
Any good lawyer should be more than willing to discuss his or her fees with you. Not just what their hourly rate is, but what could make the case more expensive and how to conserve costs. While it is impossible to predict what a divorce will cost (unless it is a flat fee because it is uncontested, or the lawyer is willing to set a flat fee, or flat fees based on certain criterion), a lawyer should be able to give you a general idea of what it could cost and why. If the lawyer won’t answer this, or does not answer this to your satisfaction, maybe that’s a bad sign?
4. Do you know my spouse’s lawyer, and what do you think of him or her?
While you may think it is good to hire a lawyer who already dislikes the other side’s lawyer, this is often the opposite of what’s in your best interests. Good lawyers know and respect each other and will try to move the case along with as little friction as possible. Of course this can be difficult, given the emotional nature of divorce, but adding a layer of hostility (lawyer to lawyer hostility) on top of the potential hostility between spouses is not a good thing.
3. How experienced are you in handling divorce and family law cases?
Many lawyers are experienced in a variety of legal areas. However, you may be best served by hiring an attorney who handles divorce and family law cases on a daily basis. That is because lawyers who handle those cases on a daily basis are likely to be familiar with trends in the law, the relevant statutes and cases that may be applicable to the facts of your case, and are more likely to be familiar with the predilections of a particular judge that may be assigned to your case. While you do not need an attorney who only handles divorce and family law cases, and often a broad knowledge of other areas of the law will help the lawyer have a perspective in handling the various issues that may come up in your case, you still want someone who is highly experienced in handling cases such as yours.
2. May I meet your staff?
Often you may be working as much with the lawyer’s staff as with the lawyer. They may be the ones notifying you of court dates, helping you gather information and getting personal information from you to help the lawyer prepare. Staff can be vital (and can save you the cost of always having to talk to the lawyer). But you need to meet, and like them. You will be sharing very personal information with them and good or bad staff can make all the difference.
1. What should my expectations be for my case?
It is always better for you to have an attorney who will discuss what your reasonable expectations should be, rather than one who tells you that he or she can accomplish every one of your goals. An experienced divorce and family law attorney can help ground you so that at the end of your case, you do not feel that promises were made to you that can’t be kept.
Our law office is located in Manalapan. Contact us by contact form or call (732) 972-1600 to schedule a convenient appointment. Evening and weekend appointments are available.
We take cases throughout New Jersey, to include Monmouth, Middlesex, Ocean, Somerset, Burlington, Mercer, Morris, Bergen, Essex and Hudson Counties.
