Insider Tips for Choosing Your Divorce Atto ey or Mediator

Whether you're a man or woman, the dumper or dumpee, one of the very first things you probably realized you needed to do to get divorced is that you need to hire an atto
ey. If you're like most people, you probably asked a friend or family member who's been divorced who they used and then promptly hired that atto
ey. It wasn't until after you'd already plunked down your retainer that you had any idea of what working with this atto
ey would be like.

If this sounds like you, you might be in for some surprised. This article will help you to better educate yourself about what you can and should expect from your atto
ey. AND how to select a new one if you decide to adjust course on your representation.

If, however, you've not yet selected an atto
ey, then READ THIS BEFORE you retain one.

STEP 1: Develop your short-list of atto
eys. You need to interview (yes, interview) at least 3 atto
eys before deciding whom you want to represent you. Go ahead and ask your friends and family for referrals, if and only if, your friends and family felt comfortable with their atto
ey.

STEP 2: Decide on the questions you want to ask your short-list of atto
eys. One of my atto
ey friends wrote a great article for my website - "How to Choose an Atto
ey". You can check out her article on my website with the link below. In addition to the questions she suggests you use to interview your short list of atto
eys, I also suggest you ask about the minimum billing increment. Atto
eys typically bill by the hour for their services and have a minimum billing increment. What this means is that if an atto
ey has a minimum billing increment of 15 minutes and they receive a call from a client that lasts for 10 minutes, the atto
ey will bill their client for 15 minutes of time.

STEP 3: Schedule the interviews. Atto
eys are busy people and you might not be able to get in to see them as quickly as you'd like. You probably knew this already on some level, but sometimes having the reminder helps.

STEP 4: Prepare for the interviews by getting yourself a notebook that you use to track the answers each of the atto
eys provide to the interview questions you decided on in STEP 2.

STEP 5: Interview each of the atto
eys on your short list. The key here is to remember that the atto
ey will work for you. You have the responsibility to make sure you're choosing differently if your first choice doesn't work. If you decide you need to choose differently, just start at STEP 1 again.

STEP 6: Select and retain the atto
ey you believe you will be best able to work with during your divorce. Once you've completed all of the interviews, allow yourself some time to review all the notes you took during each interview and then choose your atto
ey.

Choosing the correct atto
ey to represent you when you divorce is vitally important. Divorce changes your life in ways most people can't predict. Because of the changes, you're going to want someone in your corner who has YOUR best interests in mind. By following the 6 steps above you'll be able to find the best atto
ey for you.

Your Functional Divorce Assignment:

If you've not yet hired an atto
ey, follow the steps above. I rarely believe it's a good idea to divorce without the help of an atto
ey or mediator. OK, I've not yet seen a case where it's a good idea to divorce pro se. There are just too many things that can get misinterpreted in filing paperwork on your own. So, please, do yourself a favor and save future headaches by working with a professional now.

If you've already hired an atto
ey, remember your atto
ey works for you. It's not unusual for me to hear stories from clients that their relationship with their atto
ey isn't working. (These are the ones who hired me AFTER hiring their atto
ey.) What I remind them of is the fact that their atto
ey works for them If your atto
ey isn't representing you the way you expect, then schedule some time to discuss your expectations. Most atto
eys are more than willing to understand how best to serve their clients. Oftentimes, it only takes a simple conversation to clear the air and get things back on the correct path again.