Hiring a family law attorney can be expensive and you want to make sure that you don’t make any mistake in hiring the wrong person. To find out whether the attorney is capable, you will have to meet with him face to face and interview him with a series of questions. The following are 5 questions you can ask before hiring a divorce attorney.
- Do You Regularly Deal with Family Law Cases?
You want to hire a family law attorney who regularly deals with family law cases. They will be more experienced and know what to do to tackle your case since they have handled many similar cases even though they don’t have the exact same circumstances as your case.
- What is the Legal Cost?
Legal cost is a big factor when coming to hire a lawyer. You can ask how the lawyer charges for handling the case such as hourly rate or contingency fees. If he does not collect contingency fees, you can ask him about hourly rate as well as the billable and non-refundable retainer fees. You can ask about the fees that the lawyer will include in the bill such as telephone fees, and research fees. If he charges contingency fees, you can ask about the percentage that will be taken from the compensation of the settlement. You can save money by choosing to attend Phoenix family law attorneys free consultation sessions when narrowing down the list of eligible attorneys.
- What are the Major Problems You See in the Case?
You can ask the lawyer what are the major problems he can see in your case. Every case has problems. Even small problems in an uncontested divorce can be important. So, it is important to ask the lawyer about the problems he sees in the case. You should avoid a lawyer that only says good things and does not want to share the bad news with you.
- What are the Possible Outcomes for the Case?
Besides, you can also ask the lawyer for his opinion on the possible outcomes of your case. Easy cases can be solved amicably through a settlement. However, cases that are more complicated particularly those that demand equitable distribution of the assets and properties will take longer time to settle. When evaluating a possible outcome, the lawyer can let you know whether the goal that you set for the case is realistic. It is not with every custody case that the judge will grant 50%/50% custody to each parent. You can ask the lawyer on this and he can give an estimate on how much shared custody you can get.
- Who Will Be Handling the Case?
Next, you need to ask the lawyer who will be personally handling your case. Sometimes, the lawyer you see in the consultation is not the one that will handle your case. It could be an assistant or another attorney that will be assigned to handle your case. There may be another person that handles your day to day contact for less important questions. However, the office needs to contact the attorney when you need to talk about an urgent matter. You must not forget to ask about the communication method such as email and phone number.
