You will likely encounter many different challenges during your divorce, and one of the first ones is choosing a lawyer to represent you. Choosing the right attorney is important because this person can make a difference when it comes to facing the other challenges that still lay ahead.
If you’re like most people, though, you’re not quite sure how to find the right attorney. You know probably realize that not just any attorney can help you with your specific needs, but you’re probably equally unsure as to how to find the one who can.
While the information below isn’t official legal advice, we hope it can help guide you toward legal representation that helps you feel confident during this difficult time.
1. Know What You Want out of Your Divorce
Divorce is all about disentangling your life from your spouse’s. For the most part, that means dividing your property and establishing child custody and visitation agreements.
Even in these two broad categories, you’ll want a lot more than you may think you do. You’ll want to protect your separate property, the family home, and ensure there’s a fair spousal support order (if one is needed at all). You’ll also want as much time as possible with your children, which involves splitting up days of the week, months, and/or important holidays.
Your attorney should be someone who’s focused on all of your wants and needs. That means offering advice and action to help you achieve your goals and providing proactive support that can inform you of options you may not have realized were possible.
2. Research Lawyers in Your Area
There are many online resources out there that you can use to find a divorce attorney. Super Lawyers can be a good place to start because attorneys listed on there are nominated, vetted, and awarded by other lawyers. Our own Lance R. Claery was selected as a Rising Star in 2021!
You can also use other business-rating services like Yelp to get a feel for who’s around your area and what their previous clients say about their experience. Just keep in mind that people who have a bad experience with a business are more likely to write a review online than those who have a positive experience.
As you conduct your research, make a list of the lawyers who stand out to you as people who seem like good candidates.
3. Look for Free Consultations
Free consultations are a good way to assess a lawyer without spending more than a little bit of your time, but not all lawyers offer them.
We offer free consultations at Claery & Hammond, LLP because we want to become a little more familiar with what someone’s going through before explaining how our legal representation can meet their needs. This is a brief meeting, but it’s a completely free and non-obligation way to get a feel for our attorneys and who we are as a firm.
4. Contact Your Top 3 Lawyers First
From the list of lawyers you created earlier, pick at least three that you feel are good candidates and schedule a consultation with each.
5. ‘Interview’ the Lawyers You Select
When you meet with each lawyer, come prepared with a list of questions to ask. Try to prioritize your most important questions first because there may not be time to go through them all. Also, keep in mind that the lawyer might not be able to answer certain questions because the client-attorney relationship isn’t established at this point.
6. Record Your Experience with Each Attorney
After you meet with each lawyer, record your experience as soon as possible. This will help you remember what was said or how you felt during the meeting, which can make it easier to choose your lawyer.
7. Choose Your Attorney
If you feel you’ve met a lawyer that’s right for you, reach out to them to learn more about the next steps you need to take to secure their legal representation. If you haven’t found your attorney yet, though, you can contact the next three attorneys on your list and repeat steps 5 and 6 until you find someone who inspires confidence!
Add Claery & Hammond, LLP to the Top of Your List
You can go through the steps above to find the right attorney for you, but you can also reach out to us at Claery & Hammond, LLP and see why so many clients choose our representation for divorce. We are compassionate legal advocates who focus on optimizing the possible outcomes for our clients.
We know divorce is challenging, but we can reduce your stress and frustration with the process by providing the advice and services necessary to achieve a better future.
To schedule your free consultation with Claery & Hammond, LLP, contact us online now!
