Selecting a divorce lawyer to handle your family law case is a very important choice. The following are a few important criteria to help in finding the right divorce lawyer.
Experience and Focus
Any divorce lawyer you consider should have substantial experience in handling divorce cases in your area. An experienced divorce lawyer will know the trends of the various judges in your jurisdiction and should be able to use this knowledge to your advantage. Additionally, that lawyer should practice primarily in the area of divorce legislation. Often people will hire a lawyer who practices primarily in some other area, thinking that any attorney will do. However, divorce law is a very specialized field that needs particular skills and expertise in order to have a probability of reaching a successful conclusion.
Past Client Testimonials
Possibly the best way to decide which divorce lawyer to use for your divorce case is to find out what former clients have to say about that lawyer. While divorce is never an enjoyable process, some divorce lawyers have more success at satisfying their clients than the others. If you do not know somebody who has been a client of that particular divorce lawyer, you should consider asking the lawyer for a list of customers which you can contact who can describe their experience with the attorney. While client confidentiality is important, any good experienced divorce attorney should have at least a few former clients that are willing to vouch for her or him.
Accessible
If a client becomes dissatisfied with a divorce lawyer, one of the most common complaints is that they were not able to communicate with the attorney. It's very important your divorce lawyer be accessible and prompt in responding to your phone calls, emails, and requests for meetings. While you can ask the divorce lawyer about their office policy, this is another area where you can best evaluate the divorce lawyer by hearing what former clients have to say.
When a former client of the lawyer tells you that they found it rather hard to contact the lawyer, or the lawyer either didn't return calls or respond to emails or would take several days to do so, you should definitely avoid that attorney. Divorce is an unpleasant and frustrating process under the best of conditions. If you cannot achieve your divorce attorney, or at least someone on their staff, the frustration level can increase exponentially.