Family Law Lawyer and Real Estate Lawyer Blog(Vol I.5)
by Craig Franklin Chambers, Esq. The Littleton Lawyer.
As a family law lawyer and divorce attorney in Littleton, Denver, Highlands Ranch, and the surrounding areas, and as a Littleton real estate attorney, I meet people of all economic backgrounds and capabilities. All of them want to get through the legal process efficiently and cost-effectively.
Here are a few quick tips on how to save money on attorneys fees.
1. Hire someone you trust. You need to let the attorney do his job. Even though he works for you, you should not attempt to second guess or micro-manage him.
Each attorney has own style and that style should be compatible with your personality. You should trust and be honest with your attorney. Your communications with him are confidential and privileged under the attorney-client privilege.
He needs to know the facts to propose proper strategies for your case.
2. Don't Talk to your Attorney as if he were your Marriage Counselor, Therapist, Priest, or a Friend.
An attorney charges for his time and his expertise. Not only for his higher education, but for his experience in presenting similar facts and legal considerations in front of the very same judges and magistrates who will hear your case.
Don't run up the attorneys fees by engaging in long phone calls with your lawyer, or phone calls on unrelated, personal, small, or irrelevant matters.
3. Help the Attorney with Developing the Facts.
Help the attorney by being responsive and precise with responding to his questions and requests for documents necessary for your case.
Create time-lines and help the attorney by organizing your documents, usually by theme or in a chronological order so the documents help tell your story..
The case needs to be presented first to other side in a well-organized manner with the hopes the overwhelming evidence will convince the other side to settle.Ultimately, the evidence is part of a professional presentation to the judge.
It is your case, after all, and the simpler you can make the case, and more compelling the story, the easier and less expensive the case will become.
4. Be Reasonable in your Demands and Expectations
Understand that surviving the divorce with minimum stress is also important, especially in a divorce where children are involved.
If there are children involved, their stability is the first priority. Do not put them in the middle of the divorce or use them as a weapon.
You have to deal with your Ex the rest of your life, and for your child's sake, you should hope to have rapport with your Ex. You will want to be invited to your daughter's graduation or wedding.
Don't argue over small amounts of money. Don't make demands that are based on spite. Don't pursue claims you are unlikely to win. Most importantly, don't bully the other side and make them look like a victim.
The judge doesn't want to be involved in this case anymore than you do, and the judges are generally unmoved by emotional outbursts, hyperbole, or exaggerations.
You can't control what your soon-to-be-ex does in the divorce, and a high conflict divorce results in substantially more stress and costs for litigation.
The party who is reasonable and rational in court usually gains the most credibility with the judge.
