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What Do I Do When: I need a Family Law Attorney

September 21, 2016

When someone is looking for a family law attorney there are many items to take into consideration.  Location, price or retainer options, experience, practice area, and availability are all important qualities to consider.  I’ll address each in turn below.

Location

Where do you live?  Where is the attorney’s office?  Where is the courthouse?  Why does location even matter?  Because it can affect the cost of the representation and the quality of the representation.

Often in family law cases, attorneys will charge for the time it takes them to get from their office to the courthouse.  So if you want to have a St. Paul attorney, but your case is in Sherburne County, you’ll want to factor in that additional travel expense.  This doesn’t mean you should only hire local attorneys; in fact, there might be a very good reason to hire an attorney who isn’t in your community.  Location of your attorney’s office is simply something to consider.

The other issue is whether your attorney practices in your county on a regular basis. The laws and rules are the same across the State of Minnesota for family law.  However, the practice can vary county by county.  Some counties handle the Initial Case Management Conference different than others.  Sometimes the Social Early Neutral Evaluation is different.  Choosing an attorney who knows these differences is important.

Price or Retainer Options

When a potential client calls me, price is often the first question they have.  As it should be.  Knowing how much a divorce or custody case is going to cost is important.  It is also not always possible to accurately guess a final cost.  Instead of asking how much in total it will cost, ask their hourly rate.  That is often more helpful than the initial retainer.  Because the initial retainer is just that – the first payment.  However, knowing if your attorney charges $150 per hour or $450 per hour will give you some indication how quickly you’ll go through the retainer.

You should also ask if they offer payment plans, or alternative methods of representation: flat fee, limited scope, or unbounded services have become increasingly popular.  One of those options might work better for you (and cost less money) than a traditional hourly-fee representation.

Experience

How knowledgeable your attorney is in their field is important.  But more years practicing aren’t always better.  Quality of knowledge is the key.  Certainly ask how long they’ve been practicing family law.  But also ask if they’ve had a case like yours, and how that case ended up.  What worked? What did not work?  You want to work with an attorney who can fit to your needs and to your case.  Not an attorney who makes you fit to them.

Practice Area

Ask the attorney what areas of law they practice.  Is it only family law?  Family law and other areas?  Or other areas and only a few family law cases? Many attorneys add family law as an additional area even though their primary focus is really criminal law, or business law, or education law.  Make sure the attorney you hire isn’t just a family friend or former business law attorney helping out, but someone who actually knows the field.  This really makes the case progress smoother – when your attorney knows what to expect, and can guide you through realistic settlement offers (or know what is a reasonable offer and what isn’t).

Availability

This isn’t just about how available they are from the first phone call or email (although that’s important too).  Ask them how quickly they usually get back to clients.  When can you expect a returned phone call or email?  By the next business day? Within 48 hours? Do they do evening or Saturday appointments (and do they charge extra for after hours work)?

It is important to set up those expectations early on.  If you work a third shift job, or work evenings, make sure your attorney is available when you are awake and at home to talk with them.  If you prefer to have contact via email, phone, or face-to-face, talk to the attorney about that.

Overall Impression

There is one final piece to choosing an attorney.  And it’s probably the most important.  What is your impression after the initial consultation? Have they had a case like yours?  Or if they haven’t, do you have faith in their ability to navigate the field?  Will they have good communication with you? Will you be able to pay their fees? Did you like their approach?  Do their values align with your values?

When in doubt, talk with two or three family law attorneys before selecting one.  I always tell people who call me to talk to other people, because someone might be a better fit for them.  And sometimes you can’t see who is a good fit or not until you’ve heard from a couple different perspectives.