What to Look for in a Family Law Firm

If you’re considering legal action or just need advice about your situation, navigating the courts on your own is difficult, confusing, and often a bad idea. Finding the right legal help for your family law matter is not just important, it could affect the entire rest of your life.

Here are some guidelines to help you choose the right legal help for your family law issue.

Make sure you feel comfortable

It’s a lot of work and very stressful to change law firms in the middle of legal proceedings so make sure that you choose someone that works for you. Once you’ve picked a law firm to work with it’s often the case that you will work with them for quite a while, so pick one that makes you comfortable.

Meet your lawyer face-to-face when you can. It is more cost-effective than emails and phone calls, and can expedite an already harrowing process.

Expertise and experience

Finding an expert in divorce law is great until you need to negotiate alimony or child custody. If a divorce starts amicably and then gets complicated, is this law firm going to be able to go to bat for you?

How experienced is this lawyer? Have they been in practice for years or are they relatively new to the Family Law practice? Will they be assisted by an experienced attorney from your city? You’ll probably want to find someone who can cover all of your needs currently while anticipating the other issues that may arise.

Honesty

Finding a lawyer who gives you honest and constructive advice is harder than it might look. Many lawyers know that the first time they meet with a client may be their only chance at representing them as a client and can become anything from boastful to nonchalant. Look for someone who is looking out for you rather than trying to land their next client.

Personable and Responsive

Prompt communication is something that can save you sleepless nights and keep you from dwelling on an unpleasant legal battle as much as possible. Knowing that you can reach out to your lawyer with important questions about alimony, amicable separations, child custody, and other family law issues can really save you from a lot of worry.

The firm you choose should have a strong desire to represent you well, but part of representing someone's interests is knowing what those interests are. A lawyer that asks the right questions and makes an effort to get to know you and put you at ease can speak volumes later in the Florida court system.

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